Read Shelter You for Free Online Page B

he says, tossing it on the table. He shoots daggers in my direction. “I found your birth certificate and license too.”
    The shock and fear start to dissipate and my blood quickly begins to boil. Anger takes ahold of me; the fact that he went through my personal belongings makes me feel violated. “How dare you go through my things, Logan! You had no right!”
    A muscle jumps in his neck and I know that the level of his anger matches mine, but I don’t give a shit. I’m ready for battle, my temper getting the best of me. “You’re a stranger staying in my house. I have every right.”
    “I’m here because you wanted me here!” I yell, my voice getting louder with every word. “You insisted, I didn’t ask you to come to my rescue! That was all you.”
    He takes several deep breaths. He appears to be walking a fine line between control and complete insanity, but I refuse to back down. “I want you to sit down now and tell me what the fuck is going on.”
    “Or what?” I spit out, my voice dripping with defiance.
    “Mia, so help me God. Do NOT test me,” he says curtly, the well of his patience running dry.
    “Last night you said I wasn’t a criminal, but now you’re treating me like one.”
    “No. I’m not treating you like a criminal, I’m treating you like a liar. There’s a big difference.”
    “You son of a bitch!” I shout and lunge for my passport on the table simultaneously. He gets to it before I do, and with his free hand he grabs my wrist. “Let go of me and give me my things back. I’m leaving.”
    “You’re not going anywhere until I know what’s going on here. Is that little girl upstairs even yours?”
    “What! Are you crazy?” I shriek, pulling my arm away. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that. Of course she’s mine.”
    “Then why, why are you lying about who you are and where the hell did all of that money come from? I get that you don’t know me that well but I’ve never given you a reason not to trust me.”
    His eyes sear through me, the ice that crackled in them before is gone and now reflect his concern.
    My anger from moments ago starts to disintegrate and it’s replaced with my earlier remorse for having lied to him. “I didn’t want to lie to you. I didn’t have a choice at first, but after last night…I felt guilty. I knew I couldn’t stay here without being honest with you. I was coming down here to tell you, I swear.”
    He says nothing, just looks at me, possibly weighing my words. The silence is deep, consuming, I shouldn’t care but his forgiveness matters to me. “Tell me now.” He finally says.
    “I got pregnant in my senior year of high school. I was seventeen years old.” I look at him searching for something only I’m not sure exactly what it is I’m seeking. Comfort, understanding maybe.
    “Go on.” His voice is soft, calm yet imploring, urging me to go on with my story.
    “When I found out, I was terrified,” I say taking the seat across from him. “I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I knew that I needed to tell my parents. I knew I couldn’t go through with terminating a pregnancy and there was no way I could have hid it from them.”
    He nods, the simple gesture telling me that he understands where I’m coming from. His eyes never leave mine, coaxing me to continue.
    “They were angry, when I told them, humiliated. They couldn’t believe that I had done this to them, that I had been so reckless. They were concerned about what their friends would think, what the community would say.”
    “That must have been hard for you.”
    “It was. I was devastated. To think that how they would appear to their friends was more important than their daughter and what she was going through was a hard pill to swallow. I mean, I know I got myself into the situation but I’m still their daughter, right? They told me to keep quiet, made me promise that I wouldn’t tell anyone at school, not even my best friend.”
    “What about