Forbidden Paths by P. J. Belden Page B

ground, I kick an invisible rock.
    “It turns me on,” I mumble.
    I hear her gasp and it causes me to look up.
    “It does?”
    “Yes, it always has,” I say softly.
    “Wow,” she breathes.
    We stand there in an awkward silence for a moment or two before I see her shiver.
    “Can we go inside and talk? You’re cold. Please.”
    After a moment or two, she finally nods her head and we turn and start walking inside. I want to wrap my arm around her. To pull her into my arms and never let her go. But it has been six years. Six very long years. A lot has happened, probably more to her than me, but either way. We have a lot to talk about.
    Once we reach the house, I can hear the telltale signs of the others having sex. I groan inwardly. If I hadn’t been so concerned with finding out why she ran, we’d be making love again…
    Whoa, wait! Making love?
    Shaking my head, I hold the door open to my room for her.  She walks in almost careful not to touch me. I motion for her to sit on my bed and I pull the blanket around her.
    Pulling a chair over in front of her, I swallow hard. “Let’s talk.”
    She doesn’t say anything for a moment.
    “What do you want to know?”
    “Are you married?” I ask bluntly.
    Her head snaps up and she glares at me.
    “Really? You think I’m that kind of person to be married and sleep around with other guys regardless of how much I hate him?”
    “I never thought you’d sell your body to begin with, so…”
    She sighs. “After you left… After I left, I was in a major depression. I didn’t care about anything anymore. My life wasn’t mine and I wasn’t allowed to have a say in it. I hated myself. Beau would check in on me constantly, afraid of my state of mind.”
    She looks up at me and my heart constricted in my chest.
    “I was heartbroken. The one thing I wanted was taken from me.”
    “Yes, but you could have stayed. We could have left together. You chose to leave me.”
    Her eyes drop down to her hands again. She’s playing with her nails.
    “Yeah I did choose. I chose to save you instead of myself. I chose to protect you, sacrificing my own heart,” she says sadly.
    “Your own heart,” I gasp. “You shattered mine into a million pieces when you ran from me. You hurt me more than your irate father ever could have. The pain you inflicted on me that day has stayed with me all these years,” I hiss unintentionally, but the pain consumes me.
    Our eyes meet again and I see what looks like loss in her eyes. Loss?
    “I know, but you don’t know much about my father. Hell, I don’t know much about my father. I’ve only been finding out bits and pieces over the years. That day, when I left, he threatened you, your life, if I didn’t walk away.”
    She lifts her hand to wipe away her tears, sighing.
    “Whether you believe me or not, that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I hurt myself just as much, maybe even more because I’m the one that walked away. There’s not been a day that I’ve not relived that, saw your face, felt the pain. Beau kept me away from the river for a while.”
    I laugh sadly. “I found that out. I still went to the river for a while after that day. I guess he got tired of me showing up and told me that if I came back the next day that he’d let your dad know that I was there. So I came back and he told me that you were hurting too, but for your sake to stay away.”
    Faith hangs her head and shakes it slowly. “Things haven’t been the best for me. I found out not long after walking away that he had a wife and kids. There’s money or something being exchanged for our wedding. I just haven’t nailed down what. That’s when I decided if they wanted to make me look stupid, I’d do the same. So I called Lia and told her I wanted to do it. Believe it or not, but it saved me.”
    She meets my eyes and I can see she’s not telling me everything. Her eyes have always been so expressive.
    “Saved you? How?” I ask hoping she’ll tell