Torn

Chapter 24

"Damn it Mark!" Nikki yelled when Mark squirted more fuel onto the grill. I took a seat at the picnic table he had set up to the right of the pool. It wasn't far enough away from him for my taste…but I dealt with it nonetheless.

"

I've got to keep the fire going Nikki." Mark explained before turning over one of the hamburgers.

"Yeah but I'd rather you not roast my hair follicles off either…" she said before grabbing two Pepsi's and walking over to me. Mark shook his head and continued finishing up the food. I couldn't help but glance at him as he stood there in front of the hot grill.

"Uh….hello? Earth to Katrina?"

I looked at Nikki who just sat down across from me. I tried not to blush but my body was really betraying me at that point.

"So….are you sure there's no crush?" she whispered.

I glanced at him once more while rubbing the back of my neck. I leaned in and whispered, "As I said before….he's attractive….that's all."

She smirked as he started piling the hamburgers and hotdogs in a pan. He picked up the pan and brought it to the table, followed by the buns, condiments, and the paper plates.

"What you havin' Nikki?" he asked.

She chuckled, "Oh please…you know I can get my own food. It's Kat's ass you should be kissing."

My mouth fell open, "Nikki!"

"No no she's got a point." Mark said before turning his attention to me. "What can I get you?"

I glanced at Nikki who shrugged her shoulders in encouragement. I looked into his eyes and then folded my arms.

"I'll get it myself."

He shook his head, "You still that angry with me huh?"

"Wouldn't you be?" I snapped. "I get that you had it pretty rough but that doesn't change the fact that you kidnapped me from my home, took me to Texas and tried to force me to marry you! That's not something you just get over you know!"

"Katrina relax." Nikki said.

I glared at her, "I've heard enough from you too! How dare you help the man my uncle hated!"

"He still does." Mark said as he calmly made himself a hamburger.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Nikki sighed, "John is still alive Kat….Mark we agreed we weren't going to tell her all of that."

I gasped, "Oh so you are still hiding things from me! You know what when you two are ready to stop lying to me I'll rejoin your little party but until then leave me the hell alone!"

"Kat wait!" Nikki yelled but Mark stopped her.

"Let her go…she needs to calm down." He said.

And he was right. I was harboring so much anger in my heart that I just needed to be by myself for a while. My life had changed so drastically and all because of Mark Calaway and his gang. I just wanted my old life back, to finish high school properly and then go off to college. I wanted to meet the man of my dreams and then get married and have children. I wanted…a normal life.

I sat in my bedroom and cried for a little while. I missed my uncle and wanted to know where he was. I figured he was probably left behind for some reason that they weren't going to tell me. Gosh I was so sick of this!

Later that night I found myself extremely hungry and decided to head down to the kitchen to see if there was something I could eat. On my way down there, I glanced out at the backyard where I saw Mark swimming around in the pool. I thought about what I said to him earlier and somewhat felt bad about it…after all the man was trying to keep me safe now and here I was being a spoiled brat.