Misplaced Trust (Misjudged) (11 page)

“
Right, so if it wasn’t you, and it wasn’t Zach, then who the hell broke into my father’s home?”

His complexion turns pale, and his eyes dart around the room, bre
aking the contact we had, “This … this is what we’re still trying to figure out.”

I notice he’s still not willing to look at me, and so I assume this is where my mother fits into all of this. “You think it was the one who was threatening
you,
with me
, don’t you? What? They were after something? Evidence that could have framed them if anyone had have gotten a hold of it?”

Only nodding his answer, without so much as another word, he picks up his wine and practically throws it down his neck. Reaching for the bottle, he offers me a refill, before filling his glass
right back up to the brim.

“They must have figured
there was something there that they needed, I don’t know, I really have no idea,” he eventually answers, “I did as they asked and I left, I was willing to accept I would never clear my name of everything, so I have no fucking idea why this is happening. All I wanted was to stop all of this, so I could come back … so I could come back to you.”

“They planted your ID in the house so the cops would come after you. They want to see you go back inside.” It’s f
inally beginning to make sense, well, most of it is. “But why?”

Sighing, h
e slumps himself against the back of his chair, looking completely drained, “I really have no fucking idea, beautiful.”

Brandon’s cell phone sounds, and I watch him as he stands and walks slowly through
to the kitchen to grab it.

He didn’t leave because he wanted to, he left because he had to, in order to protect me.

The guy that I thought was guilty of everything that’s been happening lately, is in fact Brandon’s cousin, and is completely on his side. He’s not against him at all.

The cops found Brandon’s ID card at my father’s home, but it wasn’t him who broke in there, because he was told to leave everything behind
before he left.

“Zach,” he says while entering the room and holding his cell up to me. “He’s on his way over here now to collect you and take you home.”

Walking passed me, and through the sliding doors which lead onto the terrace, he looks miserable. I stand, follow him out there, and see him gazing out over the lake, which looks to be about a mile or so away. “We’re not going to have our forever just yet, are we?” I ask, my voice laced with sadness as tears begin filling my eyes.

“You
still want a forever with me?” he asks, his voice tight as he turns to face me. He puts his arm out for me to go and join him by the small fencing.

Stepping forward and into his reach, he places his arm around me and pulls me into him. Resting my head against his chest, I can hear his heartbeat thundering and his hands softly stroking up and down my back, “Yes, I want our forever,” I tell him, making the most of the time I have left with him, until I have to go back to the campus, alone.

“Then we’ll have our forever, even if it fucking kills me getting it, beautiful,” he says, kissing the top of my head, and keeping me firmly embraced in his arms as we look out over the water.

The drive back from the cabin was quiet.

I think Zach knew that I wanted to stay with Brandon, but because the cops are expectin
g for him to be by the lake at midnight, I need to be around in case they come looking for me. It would most certainly raise suspicions if I wasn’t at home, if or when they decide to drop by.

Stepping inside the dorm, I
pause by the doorway when I hear the sound of, well, sex, travelling out from Neil’s room.

The noises they’re making could rival Ryan and Alyssa,
which makes me smile to myself, happy to know that he and the girl he has been seeing have managed to work things out.

My cell phone sounds, and when I check the messages, I see a new one from Brandon.

Fuck I miss you x

I miss him too, and altho
ugh it’s only been around forty minutes since I saw him, time really doesn’t matter when you’re separated from the one you want to be with the most.

Me too. X

I send in reply, tucking my cell phone away in my purse as Neil’s bedroom door flies wide open. He stills in the doorway, his face appearing to drop when he notices me home, and I think you could quite easily cut the atmosphere in here with a knife.

“Hey,” I make the first effort to break the
awkward silence that’s beginning to surround us. “How are y—?“

“Baby, hurry up and get back in here,” I hear the woman
call from the inside of his room, stopping any kind of conversation I was trying to strike up with him. Stepping back into his room, slamming his door with a greater force than was really necessary, I head to my room to change.

Grabbing
a pair of shorts and a tank top, I decide to head for a shower, noticing that it’s almost eight o’clock.

Walking back through and towards the bathroom, from the corner of my eye I see Neil’s bedroom door opening up
again, this time with a brunette stepping through into the living area.

“Next time you want a fuck buddy,
it would do you good to remember her pissing name!” she scowls, and I watch as she storms towards the main door, throwing me a filthy glare as she makes her way out of the dorm.

Wow, well I guess that wasn’t the same gir
l he was pining over last night in there with him after all.

“Alex, did you go meet with him?” I hadn’t realized Ryan was
standing right behind me, and I see a glimmer of hope entering his eyes as he waits for my answer when I turn around to face him.

“Yes, I did,” I
tell him, smiling when I see his eyes beginning to brighten, “You’re right, I believe him too.”

Just as I say the words,
I notice Neil has come out from his room, looking much worse than he did even last night. Ryan glances between the two of us, obviously noticing the tension that’s running between us.

“Neil, can I talk to you?” I ask, stepping closer towards him.
“I don’t like us being—“

“
Later,” he answers, walking, no,
stumbling
over to the couch and throwing himself down on the one that’s opposite to the widescreen.

Glancing over to Ryan, I see him shrug his shoulders at me as he backs away, before making a hurried beeline towards his room. Ryan really dislikes uncomfortable situations, and this is most definitely one of those times right now.

Deciding on doing what I had originally planned, I head for a hot shower, wondering when
Neil and I will be able to sort this mess out, and when I’ll be able to see Brandon again.

***

Fiddling around with my cell phone, desperate to message Brandon a goodnight, or something, anything so that I hear from him, it vibrates in my hand, making me jump. I feel excited when I see his name pop up on the screen.

Not being able to stop the huge smile that’
s spreading over my lips, I open it up, feeling the butterflies surging around in lower abdomen again.

Zach just called. The cops are heading into your building.

Well, that wasn’t what I’d been expecting him to say, but at least I have a warning so I can try and compose myself for when they knock the door.

Taking some long and deep breaths, I place my cell phone in my purse again, switching it to silent before they get here. Lord only knows Detective Bitch will
assume it to be him right away if she were to hear it sound out, especially at this time of night.

Here we go.

Three loud knocks, as always, and I head over to open the door.

“Miss. Harper, is Mr. Kelly
home?”

What? They want to speak with Neil? Completely taken aback by this, I only just manage to nod my reply.

Allowing them inside, I call for Neil and after a couple of seconds, he leans around his door, “What’s up?” he asks, glancing between the three of us, his eyebrows furrowing and eyes narrowing over at me. He looks as confused as I’m feeling.

“Could we speak with you, Mr. Kelly?” Detective Bartz asks, although I don’t think they would plan on leaving here until they had gotten what they wanted anyway.

“Um … sure, I guess so,” he answers, stepping to the side and allowing them into his room.

Deciding
to wait in my room for them to leave, I switch on my table lamp, grab my cell phone, and lean back against my pillows.

They’re here, but they didn’t come to see me. They wanted to talk with Neil. X

It doesn’t take long for me to receive a reply.

WTF? Alright well keep me posted.

That’s it? Well he certainly knows how to make a girl feel special.

And I love you ;)

Better. Much better. A warmth spreads over me and I laugh lightly, wishing he was here with me. Who knows how long it’s going to be before I can lay in his arms for a whole night again.

When can I see you again? X

Tears begin to creep into my eyes, knowing he’s on his own at the cabin, out of the city, and nowhere within my reach.

Soon beautiful, I promise.

I feel my heart sinking when I don’t get a definite answer from him. I slide my cell underneath my pillow and lay down, pulling the covers over me. I know I won’t be able to sleep just yet, but I’d rather stay out of the way while I wait for the cops to disappear.

Hey are you sleeping?

No.

I’m sulking.

Hearing the sound of a door closing, I make my way out to see what on earth the cops wanted with Neil. It appears as though he was expecting me to quiz him as soon as they’d left, by the way he’s walking over to me.

“They just asked routine stuff, like when did I
last see or hear from Brandon, and all that crap,” he tells me, before I even have the chance to open my mouth and ask. “Listen, last night, I really overstepped the mark.”

“You did, but you’re hurting,” I say. “
People do crazy things when they’ve been hurt by someone they really care about.”

Nodding, he cautiously walks over to where I’m standing, lifting his hand out for me to shake it.

“Friends,” I laugh, take his hand, and watch the smile appearing over his face as he lets out a huge sigh in relief.

“I couldn’t agree more,” he says,
before kissing me on the cheek and heading back over to his room. “Goodnight, Alex.”

“Goodnight, Neil.”
             

***

Deciding to try and sleep in my own bed tonight, knowing that one day, and hoping that that one day will be soon, Brandon will be back in here with me again. I climb into bed and pull the covers over me. Turning over on my side, I grab his pillow and hug it tightly, inhaling the spicy smell of his cologne.

I think I might actually be able to
sleep in here from here on out, knowing now that he does love me, he does want to be with me, and that he’s been going through as much hell as I have, from having to be apart from each other.

I don’t know how long I’ve been laying here, clutching his pillow and pretending it’s him I’m holding
onto, but I finally feel myself drifting into a surprisingly restful state. Just as my eyes draw heavy, the sound of my bedroom door creaking open disturbs my peace.

Sitting up and glancing over at the door, I see a tall
, shadowed figure creeping through, “Beautiful.”

“Brandon? What are you doing here?” I ask, surprised he’s here after knowing the cops had been sniffing around not so long ago.
Reaching over, I switch on the table lamp, and see him throwing a sparkling blue eyed gaze and wide smile my way.

“You didn’t reply to my earlier message,” he says casually, as though it’s the most normal thing in the world.

“You don’t get a reply via text message, so you creep into a woman’s room late at night. Right, well if I knew that this was all it would take for you to come over here, I would have ignored the first message that you sent,” I smile, moving over when I see him perching on the side of my bed.

“Not just any woman’s room
, Alexis,” he says, while climbing in beside me and snuggling up close. “
My
woman’s room.”

Turning into him,
he smells fresh and feels slightly on the cold side as his hands skim tenderly over my stomach as he wraps them around me, “Are you staying the whole night?” I ask, feeling his warm breaths breezing gently over my nose and lips as I go to kiss him.

“Why? D
o you have something in mind?” he asks, with a mischievous grin appearing over his face as he winks at me. “Do you need me to show you just how much I’m in love with you?”

Nodding and feeling a rush of excitement spreading through my inner core, I
moan and lean over until my lips are softly brushing with his, “Yes, I want you to show me exactly how much you love me,” I whisper, keeping my eyes firmly fixed on his.

Pulling a face, as though he has to think hard about this, his eyes
begin to fill with extreme intensity. Leaning forward, he nibbles at my bottom lip before placing one of his hands behind the back of my head, pressing me as close to him as he can.

Groaning into my mouth, I
feel him pressing his hard length against the apex of my thighs, directed firmly onto my sweet spot, “Here,” he whispers, moving his mouth just a fraction away from mine as he lowers his hands, until they’re resting on either side of my waist.

Lifting me until I’m straddling him, he presses
up harder against me, making me moan in delight at the sensation he’s making me feel.

La
ying on top of him and moving both of my hands up into his hair, he places his hands on my behind and firmly grips me, rocking me against his hardness and kissing me with a pure need.

Attempting to move my hands away from his hair and lower them
, so that I can reach down and take him in my hand, he shakes his head as his breaths become shallow, “I want to make you come just like this, beautiful,” he whispers.

Sliding his hands under my vest, he runs his fingers lightly across my naval and higher, until he’s cupping
both of my breasts in his hands, and rolling his thumbs over my nipples as I let out another moan from his touch.

Sitting
up straighter again, I grind myself over him, seeing his eyes are on me the whole time as I feel myself beginning to climb towards my peak.

Throwing my head back, m
y movements become more demanding as the overwhelming feeling deep inside of me intensifies. I cry out as I feel the waves of pleasure rippling through my veins, and it’s then when I feel his hands moving away from my breasts and skimming down my body, that he flips me over on to my back.

In the next moment, he’
s making his way further down my body, moving my shorts to the side with his fingers, with his tongue now circling over my wetness.

Gripping at his hair and
arching my back, pressing myself into him, I hear him letting out a growl at the same time that I let out an uncontrolled moan, with my whole body beginning to tremble.

Unable to get my b
reathing back under control, I allow the most pleasurable feeling I’ve ever experience before take over, as his tongue slips inside of me.

When I feel my whole body
beginning to relax, he moves himself until he’s hovering back over me and gazing into my eyes, “If I could do that all fucking day, taste you, watch you and hear you come like that every time,” he whispers, and I notice his disheveled hair as a smile spreads over his lips, “then trust me, I would. You’re so fucking beautiful, Alexis.”