Craving Redemption by Nicole Jacquelyn Page B

over and over with cold water, filling my mouth with the cool liquid—but nothing could take away the bitter taste of bile in the back of my throat.
    A knock at the door warned me that someone was coming in before it opened. When Gram pushed her head in and walked inside, I wished for a moment that I would’ve taken the time to lock it. She was pissed.
    “Calliope Rose Butler, what in God’s name was that all about?” she hissed at me, crowding me into the space between the countertop and the bathtub. “If I didn’t know you were hurting so bad, I’d slap your mouth for spewing crap like that to your brother!”
    I don’t think she expected me to answer her, but I felt the need to defend myself, so I stood up tall and answered her.
    “They were calling my name, Gram,” I told her, sucking in my breath with a deep sob, “I could hear them!”
    I clenched my eyes shut, the pain of those words seeping through my body as I lost all sense of control. I couldn’t hold it in anymore; my voice was making god-awful noises, like the barking of a seal. I couldn’t hold them back.
    Gram reached for me as I started to slide to the floor, wrapping one arm around my waist and the other at the back of my head.
    “You are absolutely not to blame here, Callie. Not at all, sweetheart,” she whispered into my hair. “You got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s all it was. Those men weren’t after you, baby.”
    The tone of her voice had me raising my head as I tried to understand what she was alluding to. She wasn’t giving away anything with her expression, but once she knew I was keeping it together, she pulled me by my waist out of the bathroom and down the hallway.
    Once we reached the kitchen, she sat me down at the table and walked to the fridge where her apron was hanging on the handle. It reminded me of a suit of armor as she tied it on; it was a way to protect herself.
    “Poet, Asa, and Cody!” she called to the guys sitting in the little living room. “Get in here. We need to clear some things up.”
    As the men made their way to the table, she started pulling things out of the fridge and setting them on the kitchen counter. That’s when I knew that the conversation we were about to have wasn’t going to make anyone comfortable—Gram was cooking.
    As Asa walked into the kitchen, he stopped behind my chair and rested his hand on my shoulder for a second before sliding it across my collarbone and up my neck. When he reached my chin, he tilted my head back so I was looking at him upside down.
    “You okay, Sugar?” he asked me quietly. Once I nodded my head, he leaned down and kissed the spot between my eyes slowly. “Okay, I’m gonna sit over by your Gram so your brother can sit here. You need me, you just rub that spot between your eyes, and I’ll get you the fuck outta here. Okay, baby girl?”
    When I nodded again, he swept his hand back down my throat and moved to the other side of the table. He was so gorgeous; I couldn’t help but watch his movements, but when Cody sat down next to me I had to stop myself from cringing in guilt at the train of my thoughts.
    “Hey, sister. You okay?” he mumbled, his eyes sliding between Asa and me.
    “Yeah—” I cleared my throat and tried again. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry,” I told him, my eyes locked on his face. It seemed like every time I didn’t see him for a few months, his cheeks became more chiseled or he had just a little more scruff on his face. He was growing into a man, and I wasn’t sure I was comfortable with that.
    He opened his mouth to speak when Gram interrupted him, her voice rising above the noise of pots and pans clanging as she searched for the one she needed. “Poet and Asa, Callie is under the impression that those men were there for her. Apparently they were calling her by name. You boys want to explain that to her?”
    If I hadn’t turned to look at Asa when Gram started talking, I wouldn’t have noticed the color