Free Secret Storm by Amelia James Page B

are."
    Jack smiled uncertainly. "There's no escaping
me."
    She knew he was flirting, trying to make her
want him again, but it wouldn't work. "Get in here." Wait—don't
I mean get out?
    His smiled brightened. "I found your clothes
in my room."
    "Thanks." She took them and tossed them onto
the coffee table, debating whether she should ask him to sit down.
He looked so pathetic standing there with an awkward smile on his
face. She knew she couldn't force him to talk, but maybe she could
prompt him a little. "Is there something else you wanted?"
    "Yeah. I uh...." He ran his hand through his
hair. "We need to talk."
    "Oh. That can't be good."
    "That's not what I meant." He sighed and
lowered himself onto the couch, resting his elbows on his knees and
hanging his head.
    She sat down beside him, keeping a friendly
distance. He looked completely defeated, something she'd never seen
in him before. He was always so strong.
    He lifted his head, the playful light that
normally danced in his eyes clouded by a rolling black storm.
"There are some things you need to know about me. Bad things I've
never told anyone about. Austin only knows because he witnessed it.
He helped me through it. I owe him my life."
    Words failed her. What could she say... or
ask... or...? "I'm listening."
    He gave her a small smile and tried to sit up
straight, but whatever he wanted to tell her pressed his shoulders
down. "He beat my mom and me. Mostly my mom. He drank too much and
he hit her. He hit me when I tried to protect her. I was too little
to help much. We finally got away from him when I was in the third
grade. He drove us out of our own home. My mom and I lived in fear
that he would find us, until...." He put a shaking hand over his
face. "Until she told me he was dead."
    "Yesterday? When she called you?"
    "Yeah. She's going to the funeral, and thinks
I should go too." His eyebrows drew together, and he pinched the
bridge of his nose. "Something about closure."
    "Do you want closure?"
    "No. I closed the door on him a long time
ago." His lips made a firm line and his jaw clenched, teeth
grinding.
    "Can I ask you something?"
    "Sure."
    "Is that why you don't drink? Because your
father—" She stopped when Jack cringed at the word 'father.'
"Because he hit you when he was drinking?"
    "When I was little, I blamed his drinking. He
was always drunk when he hurt us, so I thought if I took his beer
away, he wouldn't. Boy, was I wrong."
    "Drinking is usually a symptom of a larger
problem."
    "Yeah, like being an asshole. I choose not to drink. I won't ever lose control like he did."
    "Did he ever get treatment?"
    "Not by choice."
    That's an odd answer. Something about
Jack's story didn't make sense, but she couldn't put her finger on
it. "How did you get away from him?"
    "My grandparents, his parents, snuck us out
of the hospital one night while he was locked up in detox. Took us
to a shelter."
    "They knew?"
    "Not at first, but when he claimed me and my
mom fell down the stairs on the same day, they couldn't deny it any
longer. It hurt them to know their son was a monster."
    "He hurt a lot of people."
    "Not anymore." His grim smile sent chills
down her spine.
    "Are you sure?" She fought back a shiver of
fear and moved closer to him.
    "What does that mean?"
    "He's still hurting you."
    His eyes flashed and his lip curled. "I'm
not—"
    "Stop trying to deny it."
    "The past is behind me."
    "He's hurting us ." She reached out and
touched his rigid arm.
    Jack flinched, denial written on his face,
but when he looked at her, his controlled mask slipped back into
place. "I know." He laid his hand on hers and squeezed it. "I don't
ever want anything to hurt you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you last
night, but I just couldn't.... I wanted to protect you."
    "I know." She laced her fingers with his,
holding him tight. "I know you need help, but I need to know
how."
    "I don't need you...." He shook his head and
pulled away from her. "I don't need help." His body stiffened