Sinner

29| Grave

Chapter 29: Grave (Venus's POV)

I was helping Clarissa with her homework and she was nearly done when she asked me, "Why did you run upstairs so quickly when you got back? Is something wrong?" 

"Tell me first, are you done with your homework?" I asked, rocking my legs back and forth as I sat on the barstool. 

She wrote down the answer to the final question and then closed her notebook. "Done." 

I bit my bottom lip in thought. "Do you want to see something?" I should say, someone. 

"What?" she asked, bouncing in excitement.

"Come with me." I grabbed her hand and pulled her upstairs with me. She walked ahead of me and I kept my hands on her shoulder, stopping her at my door. "Don't freak out, don't scream, and most importantly." She spun around to look at me. "Don't tell mom and dad." 

"Promise." She stuck her picky out. 

I linked mine with hers and then opened the door. 

Caden was lying on my bed and then he sat up when he heard us, his eyes widening when they landed on Clarissa. "Venus. Clarissa, hi," he cleared his throat, sitting up straighter. 

I pushed Clarissa further into the room and then shut the door behind. "Clarissa, meet Caden. Caden, meet Clarissa." 

"Who is he?" she asked. "I mean, I know who he is but why is he here?" she asked, her nose scrunching up while she folded her arms across her chest. I went and sat beside Caden, linking my arm with his. "Dad is so going to kill you," she said to me.

"Caden," I glanced at him and then looked back at her. "Is my..." 

"Boyfriend," he answered, sticking his hand out. Her jaw dropped and her arms fell to her sides. 

"What?" she sputtered. "We're meant to hate them, Vee!" She stomped. 

"Are you telling me you hate Axel?" I arched a brow at her. 

She hesitantly shook her head. 

"Just how you don't hate Axel, I don't hate Caden." 

"But Axel isn't my boyfriend," she argued. 

"Yet," Caden smirked. 

I elbowed his ribs gently and looked for her reaction. 

"He's really your boyfriend?" she asked. 

"Mm-hmm," I nodded. 

"So you'll marry him?" 

I glanced at Caden who was grinning at me. "Just because he's my boyfriend doesn't mean I'll marry him." 

"But she will," Caden nodded. 

"What is daddy going to say?" she mumbled. 

"Daddy doesn't know," I admitted. "And you won't tell him, will you? You gave me a pinky promise." 

"No, I won't tell him. I'll take it to the grave," she shook her head quickly. 

I don't know about that grave bit. She may not need to. We'll probably end up spilling the beans on our own. 

"What do you think?" I asked. 

"He's... okay," she shrugged. 

"Did you know Axel really likes you, Clarissa? He talks about you all the time," Caden said. 

She narrowed her eyes at him before shrugging. "Okay. I like him," she shrugged again a little more happily this time. "Oh, Vee. Can I go to Maddie's house? Mrs. Betty said she'll take me. We have a stage to make."