with vanilla ice cream for dessert. It was, without a doubt, the best dinner I had
ever had in my captivity. By the time we were done, I was so full I could barely
move. Darren would have been very happy with my appetite for once. So much was
still left, I’d hoped we could enjoy the leftovers for the next few days.
After dinner, we retired to the entertainment room and watched all the
Thanksgiving Day parades from all over the country. I loved the parades, but they
only made me think of family—the one thing I was never supposed to mention or
probably even think of ever again. In a way, Darren was right, though not for the
same reasons. I needed to forget them so I could focus on the task at hand, but no
matter how many times I’ve told myself that, the memories always seem to slip
through the cracks.
My dad had always found pride in carving the turkey when my family would get
together for holidays, even though he was terrible at it. You’d think he had cut the
damn thing with a hatchet or something. Sometimes, my brothers would hand him
one right when he was about to get started just for laughs, and then one year, he
finally indulged. Thankfully, my mom was the pro in the family when it came to
barbecuing it. God, those were the best.
Jason and I were usually always late because of his job, but we always managed
to witness my father’s hack job of the poor bird. Jason worked at a tank plant as the
man responsible for making sure the cannons went boom. Ever since he was a little
kid, he loved to blow shit up. His hands had small scars caused by burn marks from
handling fireworks and firecrackers back when he was young and dumb. He’d since
then grown into an explosives expert. I should know. Bastard blew my world up
when I met him, and now, another one had turned it to ash.
Fuck, I missed my family.
I fucking missed my best friend, too. On Black Friday, she and I would skip the
stupid crowds and curl up on my couch to drink our weight in wine and watch all
the Home Alone movies. It was another holiday tradition for us. Fuck, I missed that
bitch.
“You okay, Jaden? You’re crying,” said Holly softly, as she looked over at me, her
face washed with concern.
Shaking myself from my thoughts, I quickly wiped my face with my hands to
find my cheeks were, in fact, wet.
“Shit, sorry,” I mumbled. “I’m fine, I just … I just miss them.”
Holly rubbed my arm in an attempt to comfort me, a sad look on her face.
“I’m sorry, Jaden. I wish things were different, but we can’t change the past,
unfortunately.”
“I know.”
But I can sure as fuck change my future.
17
READY
“Maybe it’s your weight distribution. Ya know, from one foot to the next?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s more than that. I’m not raising my knees high
enough for the lift. That’s what ensures the height.”
Holly and I currently had our legs strapped around thick tree trunks while our
upper bodies ached and trembled to hold our remaining upper body weight up.
We’d been doing sit-ups earlier, and now, we were resting to see who could hold it
the longest while discussing why my butterfly kicks lacked the height they usually
did.
“I don’t know; you’re the expert. Maybe you just need more spring in your step,”
she said, her voice strained behind clenched teeth. She was sweating, but she was
doing well. My arms were casually folded in front of me as I fought to hold my
weight up. My core was burning, but I loved the pain. No pain, no gain.
A few seconds later, I heard the sound of a boat approaching and looked over to
see Darren and Scott pulling into the docks with a few of Darren’s men. It was then
that Holly gave out.
“Okay, I quit.” She gasped in pain as she clutched the tree with her arms to drop
her legs. She immediately collapsed on the ground, clutching her core. “You win.”
I held my position as I watched Darren climb off the boat and walk across the
docks, his eyes suddenly catching mine when he looked over. I could suddenly no
longer take the burn. I was low enough to the ground to bend down backward and
place my hands on the ground. Releasing my grip of the tree with my legs, I folded
backward with a kick over, landing on my feet and into a standing position.
“Show off,” Holly muttered under her breath. I smirked as I watched Darren
enter the house with Scott at his side. They were in a deep discussion over
something. I was a little surprised I hadn’t been warned of his pending arrival, but
maybe he just didn’t want me to know.
“I’ll see you later, Holly,” I called out as I took off in a jog. I
