A Song of Sin and Salvation: A Rockin' 80s Romance by L.H. Blake

Author:L.H. Blake [Blake, L.H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781738657223
Publisher: L.H. Blake
Published: 2023-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

Part-Time Lover

REBECCA

In one swift movement he scoops me up at the thighs and tosses me over his shoulder. My surprised shriek echoes off the water and a flock of birds take flight on the opposite bank. “James!” I giggle. “Put me down, I’m too heavy to carry around.”

He’s heading back toward the van and my heart starts to pound. “Oh please, if you were any lighter you would blow away on a light breeze.”

Plunking me down next to the sliding door of the van, he opens it, then turns to me.

“Speaking of which, how’s our deal going?” he asks.

“Huh?” I’ve been so preoccupied with the way his fingers had gripped my thighs that it takes me a minute to remember what he’s talking about.

He faces me with a serious expression. “You’ve been eating more, right?”

My face drops. “I’ve been trying, I swear, but . . .”

“But what?”

My eyebrows pull together with the shame of it. “My mom packs my lunches and stuff. I can only eat what she gives me.”

His face pulls back, his brows furrowing. “So . . . then you eat everything she gives you.”

My hand shakes. He doesn’t get it. That my mom insists that restricting my food is the way to be closer to God.

“Becks?”

“She usually only makes . . . a small amount.”

His head twists to the side. “What do you mean, a small amount?”

“Please . . . I—I can’t—”

He lets out a huge sigh and opens the driver’s side door, reaching up to fold down the sun visor where a new pack of cigarettes falls into his hand.

“No!” I say, my hand darting out to push them away.

He pulls out of my grasp and opens the pack. “That was the deal.”

I watch anxiously as he tears into the pack, pulls a cigarette out and places it between his teeth, his eyes scanning my face before he pulls a lighter from his pocket.

“Wait!”

He stops, eyebrows lifting and waiting for me to continue.

My knee bounces and I huff out a short burst of air. “Hand me my backpack,” I say.

Eyeing me a little suspiciously, he leans over the seat into the car, the next moment he pulls my bag out to hand to me. Opening it, I grab the paper bag my mom gave me for lunch today and hold it out for him.

“What’s this?” he asks.

“My lunch.” My voice treacherously cracks on the delivery.

He slowly reaches out and takes it, opening the bag and peering inside. For a moment he’s confused, tilting the bag back and forth, but I know what he’ll find in there.

“Where’s the rest?” he asks.

I swallow hard. “That’s it.”

His hand clenches around the bag and he tears the unlit cigarette from his mouth. “Your mom sends you to school with half a granola bar for lunch?”

I’m not going to cry. I’m not, even though my eyes are burning as I nod my head.

James face contorts, his nose scrunching and his fist comes up to his mouth. “Rebecca . . .”

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