Chapter Thirty-Five

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SONG: Enrique Inglesias - Bailando

🌸

April Levesque

I creak the kitchen door open, thirsty. The mumbling-discussing brothers flinch and revolve so fast, Tanner loses balance, almost floundering. Registering it's me, Derek's tense shoulders and wide chest eases. A square-like object is clutched in-between his fingers.

"Uh ... Is everything okay?"

Derek stashes whatever he is holding in his pocket. Cheeks pale, his muscled arms are bare, two canvases of scars abnormally encircling his arms like bracelets — the palms, to the wrists, to the elbows, to the shoulders, more disappearing beneath the tunic shirt. "Yeah," he mutters as Tanner picks up the broken vase and twists the neck of the upper and bottom close.

The door groans open again. Derek's dogs trot inside. Duke, the silver-collared, pit-patts to me for a caress. Honestly, as much as this lake house is so comfortably aesthetic, I doubt I can sleep properly. Since Rhett ... It is a difficulty I never thought I'd have to face. He touched my core. I wanted to ask if Derek's dogs can sleep with the girls and me in the bedroom — mostly me — though that is odd. As if sensing my discomfort, Atlas whines and joins his brother, brushing his snout against my knee.

Derek silently observes his dogs standing beside me, tongues out and grinning. Slowly, his icy stare lifts to my neck. A protective anger fluoresces. I gingerly and mildly tilt my head sideways, my brunette hair curtaining. He knows someone hurt me. To think I thought the bruise would quickly fade over the days ... No, it's stubborn, as if it won't vanish until action.

His glacial eyes barrels my warm browns, the chilliness prickling my arms in goosebumps. That vexation consolidating his chiselled jaw is menacing. I respect him for not demanding. I respect him for understanding I need to be comfortable in order to confess. Mum did for a while, but I knew she momentarily gave up — the worry got to her.

Tanner surveys us. "I'll get going." He remarks something to Derek in ... French? Derek ripostes in the tongue. Tanner sniggers. He high-fives me and leaves in a swift wink.

Derek is ... so sweet recently. A fool wishes it is all an act, as a fool is used to being lied to so many times, so easily. I can see how genuinely concerned he is — how he genuinely wants me to get better. He told me what Jasmine and Naila did without hesitation. He knew it was betrayal to a trust I willingly gave the two girls. In a way, that is enough to trust himt.

The rooftop is so marvellous, so breath-taking. For some reason, I adored how we incessantly met up — accidentally or intentionally; for either a deep deliberation of life (verbally or mentally), or for a humble read, and city, cloud and star gazing, — and how we contently indulge in the Sri Lankan takeaway he bought. Time is nonexistent in the rooftop, despite the glass walls. I once fell asleep til the brink of dawn and witnessed a glorious sun rise. I expected Mum to be furious when I got home, although she was relaxed as it was Marlene Everston's skyscraper.

And the List — that was the sweetest thing ever.

Suddenly, the kitchen landline rings. Derek answers in an instant assumption: "Gareth?" His stare snaps to me. "Yes, she's here. Put him on the line." He hands me the handset, the coil cord extending. "Take your time."

I frown, about to ask who it is, but Derek leaves with a soft smile, closing the door. I press the handset to my ear. "Hello?"

"Good ... evening?"

I gasp. "Dad?"

The phone resonates his titter. "Surprised?"

I sit down on a chair. "How ... How ..."

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