Tainted Black - Williams Shanora - Страница 51

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He walked to his mom and told her good morning as he kissed her on the cheek. She smiled, asking if he wanted her to make him a plate. “Sure, Ma. That’d be great.”

I figured he’d sit at the counter with Dad who was reading the newspaper, but instead, he came to the dining table, picking up the carafe of fresh coffee and pouring himself a mug. After mixing in some sugar and Bailey’s Irish creamer—the same way I loved my coffee—he sat across from me, taking a long sip.

“Morning,” he said when he placed his brown mug down.

“Good morning.” I finished my slice of bacon, looking him over thoroughly. There were small bags beneath his eyes, his lids droopy. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

His brows shifted, and he fought a smile. “Long night.”

“Doing what?”

He didn’t respond right away. He took another sip of coffee first. “Catching up on a lot of files. Organizing music sheets… stuff like that.”

“Oh.”

He nodded, and Margie walked over, making it easy for the conversation to end. I picked up my empty plate and went to the sink to wash it. Of course, I felt the same familiar gaze on my back.

God, why did he always watch me?

Turning, I kissed Dad on the cheek and then I walked through the mouth of the kitchen, purposely avoiding Sterling’s line of sight. I jogged upstairs and changed into one of my less appealing one-piece bathing suits, grabbed my goggles and a towel, and hurried back downstairs. I had to pass the kitchen to get to the deck, so I walked by with the towel around my waist. Thirty minutes had surely passed me by. I was good for a few laps.

“Going for a swim, Margie. Let me know if you need me.”

“Take your time, sweetheart.” Her voice was lighter. Cheerier. She was pleased about her weird son being around. I guess I didn’t need to ruin that. Maybe he was being weird and watching me because he didn’t trust me. Perhaps I scared him when I barged in that first day, causing him to lose all trust and safety in our home. Maybe this creeper approach of his was a way to keep his guard up, protect himself.

I rolled it off my shoulders, the bottoms of my feet landing on the warm, polished wood of the deck. I dropped my towel on one of the lounge chairs and went straight into swimming. I did three quick laps. I thought I heard the slam of a door, but I ignored it, assuming it was the neighbors.

When I surfaced, gripping the gravelly cement edge of the pool, I was so wrong. Standing right above me was Sterling, glowering right at me. I leaped back, water splashing with my startled reaction. “What the hell are you doing?” I lowered my upper half in the water, as if it would conceal my breasts. It didn’t do much. Clear water, and all.

“Nice day. Thought I’d take a swim too.”

“Um…” I paused, moving back, glad the water covered at least some of my frame. “I was just about to get out.”

“No, you weren’t.” His face was straight. “You normally swim eight laps, right? You have five more to go.”

Okay. Yeah. He was really, really starting to creep me the fuck out. I pulled out of the water as he jumped in, hiking towards my towel and snatching it up to cover myself as quickly as possible. “Why are you such a fucking weirdo,” I muttered with my back to him and yanking off my goggles.

“I didn’t realize I was bothering you so much.” He looked at me beneath furrowed brows.

“Yeah,” I scoffed. “You really are.”

“Well, you know what bothered me?”

I turned when his deep voice got louder. “I don’t really care.”

He went on. “I wasn’t up grading papers, you know? It was just really fucking hard to sleep with people talking and doing things they shouldn’t have been doing so late at night.” He dropped his arms in the water, starting a thoughtless float. “So, who was it that snuck through your window last night, Chloe?” My eyes expanded like never before. I stilled, staring down at the creep as my heart slammed in my chest. He continued. “I heard you two arguing… saw him leave about an hour later and go into the house across the street. Saw him this morning too, expecting a young boy but was definitely mistaken and surprised by who I saw. Older man?” He smirked, brow piqued. “I knew there was something different about you. Is that what you like?”

“What?” I said, my voice a gasp and a whisper. “Why were you even listening? Most people pretend things like that don’t happen.” More proof he was possibly a psycho with mommy issues.

He lifted his hands in the air innocently. “Kinda hard not to when I could hear everything. Including the noises of pleasure.” He shuddered a little, as if a vivid image of Theo and me crossed his mind. I wanted to shudder too, die from complete embarrassment. “You’re lucky my mom slept downstairs and your dad was drugged up in his bedroom. Just saying.” He sank under the water and swam to the other end. When he came back up, I started to ask him what else he heard, but he went back under in the same amount of time, purposely ignoring me. He obviously didn’t want to speak on it anymore, but it wasn’t okay with me. He… heard me. Oh, God, he heard me. I needed to know what all he heard.

I huffed as I watched him swim back and forth without much need for air, and then I rushed to the door, yanking it open and storming through the kitchen. Dad and Margie were no longer there.

I wanted to tell Margie that Sterling couldn’t stay here anymore, that he needed to be in a hotel, but she would have hated me for it. The last thing I wanted was to get on her bad side. It seemed hard to get on her bad side. She was too nice, and somewhat of a pushover, but something told me she didn’t mess around when it came to her son.

I zoomed upstairs and into my bedroom, shutting and locking my door behind me. My phone was ringing on my bed, and I sped for it, momentarily putting the thought of Sterling’s eavesdropping behind me.

Izzy’s name appeared on the screen, and surprisingly, I was relieved to see her calling. I answered without a moment of hesitation. “Hey Izzy! Busy?”

“No. Chlo! Just going with the flow.”

I laughed. That was our greeting. Something we picked up when we had finally gotten cellphones at fourteen. “What’s up? How’s summer school going?”

“It fucking sucks. I need a damn break already.”

“It hasn’t even been that long!” I laughed.

“Yeah, but… ugh, who cares? This is so pointless.” She groaned. “I regret partying so hard now.”

“Well, that’s what happens, kiddo.”

“So, how are things? How’s your dad?”

“He’s… taking it day by day. He has his days where I just want to break something, maybe punch a hole in my wall out of frustration, but he’s fine. I think the new meds are helping. He seems to have more better days than bad ones now.”

“Oh. Good. That’s awesome.”

“But there’s this one fucking problem…”

She gasped, ready to indulge in my drama. That was a first. She must have been really, really bored. “What?”

“My caregiver, the sweet, amazing woman I told you about?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, her son is staying here for a few days. Honestly, he’s really hot, but Izzy, he’s a freak. He scares the shit out of me, I swear.”

“I stopped listening after you said he was hot,” she teased. “Hold on, how is he a freak? What has he done to you? Do I need to bash his junk in?”

“Nah, he hasn’t touched me or anything, but since he’s been here, he’s been watching me do my laps in the pool. I’ll see the guestroom window wide open and he’ll be standing there, just watching me. Then, today, when I was doing my laps, he just popped up at the edge of the pool. It scared the shit out of me.”

“Seriously? Oh my gosh, he sounds fucking craaazzzy!” She sang the last word.

“I’m starting to think some psychological issues make him that way. But that’s not even the freaky part.” I sat down on the edge of my computer chair. “He said he wanted to join me on the swim, and I told him I was just getting out. Then, he said I wasn’t, that I had five more laps to go. I had only done three laps. I normally do eight, but isn’t it weird that he knows that? He’s too observant. Fucking weird.”

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