Free Covering the Carolinas by Casey Peeler Page A

question
as Brett looks at me confused as hell.
    “ Mar, you know GC?” Brett questions as she
confirms she knows me. “It’s obvious you need a minute, so I’ll
meet you at my car.” he says as if he knows something I
don’t.
    “ Brett, everything okay?” I
question.
    Brett gives a half laugh, “Oh, it’s totally not
okay.” Then he walks away without another word.
    As I look at her, she looks terrified. Why is she so scared of me? I try to
touch her arm and she pulls away. “What did I do, Mar? Just tell
me, please?” I beg.
    “ It’s not you; it was me.” I hate that fucking line. “Look, Brett’s waiting
on me and blondy over there is shooting daggers at me. I gotta
go.”
    She steps away from me and I close my eyes
feeling like I’m losing her all over again. “Meet me, Mar. Please . That’s all I’m asking. Just
to talk. You name the time and place.”
    She pauses and turns. “Tomorrow, two o’clock at
Coastal Java.” Then she walks away.
    “ What the hell was that?” Summer questions as
soon as I walk out of the locker room.”
    “ She’s here, and I had to talk to
her.”
    “ When are you ever going to let it go? If she
wanted you, she wouldn’t run so far away. Besides, you have me, and
I love you, Del Valle.” God, I hate a girl calling me by my
nickname. Then it hits me, she’s running, she never runs so what
did I do to make her run from me? “Del Valle, hunny, did you hear
me?”
    “ Sorry. I got distracted. Whatcha want to do
tonight?”
    As she gives me a wry grin, I know exactly what she
wants. I kiss her briefly. “Let me stop by my apartment then I’ll
be over.”

Chapter 18
    MARLEIGH
    Breathe, Mar, breathe. I tell myself as I press my body against the lobby wall.
After a few deep breaths, I make my way outside. I can see Brett
standing at his car and my sisters are nowhere to be found. Great. Walking toward him, I hold my
head high and smile as if he’s all that matters.
    “ Marleigh, do you think I’m an idiot?” he asks
as soon as I reach the car.
    “ No, can we please go and talk?”
    He opens his car door and gets in. I do the same.
During the entire ride back to the beach, my heart is pounding. I
want to talk, but I’m afraid. When we arrive at his house, we walk
toward the sand. Once we are looking into the waves of the ocean, I
start to speak, but he cuts me off.
    “ Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “ Tell you what?” I still continue to play as
if he doesn’t know.
    “ Don’t play dumb. It took me about two seconds
to know how you know him.”
    Tears begin to pour down my face, “I was going to
tell you. I promise I was.”
    “ Don’t lie to me. You had no plan of telling
me. Hell, what have we been doing for months? The fact you told me
about Gunner is one thing. You had me thinking this whole time he
was some guy who left you to raise him on your own but the GC I
know is a really good guy, I don’t understand. He looked completely
shocked to see you. Like you were a ghost.”
    “ Because I am. When I found out I was
pregnant, I broke it off with him. He doesn’t know about Gunner.”
As Brett starts to interrupt me, I cut him off. “Look, I know you
don’t understand. It was my choice and why I’ve steered clear of
him, school, and any place that might cross paths with him. I did
what was best for him .”
    “ That’s bullshit. In fact, that’s the most
selfish thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”
    I pull the necklace from my pocket as tears begin to
stream down my face. I show him GC and Gunner’s inscriptions. “I
brought this with me tonight to tell you about everything. GC
mailed this to me after I broke it off with him. It was the last
thing I ever got from him, and when Gunner was born, I added his
name and birthday on the back.”
    Brett runs his hands through his hair, irritated.
“Marleigh, why? Why keep his kid from him?”
    “ Because he has a dream!”
    “ So do you! You should have worked on this
together or at least