SKIPPING TIME

Chapter 21

Jess stepped out of the shower just as someone knocked on the bathroom door. "One sec." He toweled off and pulled on the jeans Ray left for him before opening the door with a smile. "Couldn't wait for me?"

Ray eyed him sardonically."Actually, I'd be happy if you stayed locked in here forever. As a matter of fact,--" Ray pushed past him and opened the door on the far side of the bathroom to reveal a small storage area, lined with boxes and a deflated air-mattress. He finished, "you can plan on staying in here for the rest of your visit. There's even a TV back here that might work. All the comforts of home."

Jess shrugged. "That's cool. As long as Cace stays with me."

Ray's answering laugh was sharp enough to cut glass. "Yeah, right."

Jess tensed, his neck burning and his hands itching to swing on Ray. "If you want to push the issue, we're both aware of whose side Cacee will take. I either stay in the main room with her or she stays back here with me. Those are your choices."

Brazen overconfidence oozed from Ray's smirk. "Trust me, kid. This won't be an issue. When you're done, come over to the couch. We need to talk."

Jess grabbed a towel and ran it through his hair to hide the way his hands were now shaking. "What do we need to talk about?"

"I'm sure you can figure it out."

"I'm afraid you're gonna need to break it down for me."

Ray stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, "Okay. I want to discuss the lies you've told my daughter about your jail time, your record and your past. That clear enough?"

Jess didn't understand why Ray bothered talking in a quiet voice Cacee wouldn't overhear. He tried to swallow. Couldn't. Managed to ask, "Why didn't you tell her?"

Ray's lip curled in pure disgust. "Because, unlike you, I care about Cacee. She's been through enough. She doesn't need to learn that the one person she trusts, probably above all others, is a lying piece of shit."

Jess flinched, unable to come back with any response through the shock tearing through him.

Ray finished, "If you don't want me to tell her you just fed her another pack of lies to top off the first, come over when she falls asleep."

Jess barely had time to nod before Ray strode away. He forced his hands to relax at his sides although his first impulse was to go knock the smug expression off Ray's face. He should have known Ray wasn't sleeping. Jesus. How did Ray find out so much about him? How?

Jess shut the bathroom door and leaned against it, trembling with a mix of anger and fear. He forced his hands to steady and methodically finished dressing, willing his mind to utter blankness. When he was done, he opened the bathroom door, not even looking in Ray's direction as he returned to Cacee's side.

She was sound asleep, sitting against the wall, her head tilted at an uncomfortable-looking angle.

Jess's ability to stand deserted him and his knees hit the slate by her bed with a dull thud.

She didn't stir.

He realized he'd had some vague idea that he would come over here and kiss her and tell her that she changed his whole life and that he'd do anything for her and she would magically forget how he'd looked her in the eye and swore he wasn't lying.

Reality crashed over him. He might as well count on a few fairies to sprinkle pixie dust on her so she could only have happy thoughts. If Ray told her the truth...