My eyes collided with Faith’s as his words sank in, but honestly, I’d known all along it was going to be difficult to see her.

He couldn’t have known it at the time, but he’d issued a challenge and I’d accepted wholeheartedly. He wasn’t going to keep me from what I wanted, and I wanted Faith. End of subject.

I nodded and turned to go back to my Jeep. I had to keep in control if I didn’t want my mom having to spend money we didn’t have to bail my stupid ass out of jail. I shut the door behind me, cranked up the Jeep, and then sat there and stared at Faith through the dusty windshield.

She held up her hand as if to say good-bye, with sadness in her eyes. I could see it in her face that she thought I was done. She thought I was just going to walk away from her so easily—let them win. Well, she had a lot of things to learn about me. I wasn’t going to give up. When it came to her, I was just getting started.

Eleven

Faith

That night I went to bed with a bruised cheek and more welts on my legs than I’d ever had. One of them actually bled to the point that I had to cover it with a bandage. It wasn’t pretty, and for the first time in a long time, I cried because of the pain.

I was slowly coming to realize that my dad had something wrong with him. No person should feel enjoyment over beating another person, and what I saw in his face as he took his belt to me after the police left was joy. It had been a bad one. So bad in fact that my mother, who usually stayed out of it, stepped in and told him to stop.

Honor thy mother and father, and I did, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t allowed to hate them. I’d never used the word hate before. I had no idea I was capable of the emotion, but I was. I hated my father for what he’d done to me. I hated my mother for sitting by and watching it for so many years.

I rolled onto my side and stared out at the moonlight that drifted in past my white lace curtains. My mind hadn’t stopped going since I’d stepped foot in my yard earlier that morning, but finally, I could feel myself getting tired. I’d never begged for sleep so much in my life. I wanted it all to go away for a few blissful hours until it was time to get up and run to school.

My eyes were heavy and slowly closing. Sleep was just beyond my reach and I was grabbing at it in full force. I was almost there when a shadow crept across my room. With wide eyes, I sat up and screamed, but a hand over my mouth stopped any noise from getting out.

My body tensed up and I went into full freak-out mode. I bucked in my bed in an attempt to get away, scratching at the hand with my nails and thrashing so hard that my mattress springs popped loudly. If I was being murdered or kidnapped, I wasn’t going down without a good fight.

“Faith, it’s me,” Finn whispered.

I gave up my fight and took a minute to let my panic subside. My eyes adjusted to the darkness around me, once again allowing me to see his silhouette in the moonlight. I was so happy to see him, but at the same time, all I could think about was my dad coming in and catching him. He’d let Finn off once. I seriously doubted he’d let him off twice. The last thing I wanted was for Finn to get arrested. I wasn’t sure what breaking and entering would get you, but I knew it was more than community service.

Once he removed his hand from my mouth, I sat up and threw my arms around his neck.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered into his shoulder.

Leaning back, he captured my face in his hands. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. I’m sorry about what happened today.”

I wanted to see his face. I needed to see his smile and know that he was really there with me. Reaching over, I turned on my small bedside lamp so I could see more of him. Once the light was on his face, the smile he wore dropped. He softly fingered the bruised side of my face with heartbreak in his eyes.

I pressed my sore cheek into his palm. “I’m okay.” I smiled.

“I should’ve moved faster. I shouldn’t have let him touch you,” he rasped.

“Stop.” I pressed my finger to his lips. “That wasn’t your fault. I’m just sorry you had to see that.” I used a finger to move a strand of hair from his eyes. “No more depressing talk. How did you get in here?” I asked.

His frown was replaced with his signature cocky grin. “I told you sneaking in and out of windows was super easy for me.”

I got up and made sure my bedroom door was locked, and then I opened my window wider so Finn could have a quick escape in case my dad came to my door. Once I was done with that, I turned back toward my bed and caught him staring at me.

“What?” I asked.