Rampage ✔

Chapter fourteen

Ten minutes later, Reece pulls into his driveway and turns off the bike.

"Is Terra home?" I inquire.

He pulls out his phone to check the time. "It's still kind of early. She's probably still at work."

I follow Reece up to his room silently. The house is dark, emphasising its emptiness, and for a moment I feel a stab of sadness for the boy in front of me. He and Terra live all alone here and she's at work half the time. I mean, I know she has to work to provide for Reece and I respect her so much for taking him in since something clearly happened that forced her to take care of her nephew, but it must get lonely for him sometimes. Especially since it seems like his only friend was Seb.

When we get to his room, he motions for me to sit on the bed so I climb up and rest my back against the headboard.

He throws his jacket on the floor making me roll my eyes. Boys...

Reece heaves a sigh as he sits on the edge of his bed with his back towards me. "I never knew my dad, my mom told me that I was the product of a one night stand on a drunken night and she never got his last name or number."

My eyebrows shoot up so high they must be at my hairline. Reece's mom told him all this? That must have been an awkward conversation.

"She never regretted having me," he continues, "she used to tell me that I was the best thing that could have ever happened to her and she doesn't regret how I came about. I never resented her for the way I was conceived either. Sure, I missed out on having a father but she was the best mother."

I scoot a little closer to him. "She sounds like a great woman."

"She was," he mumbles wistfully, "she died when I was sixteen."

My heart drops even though I knew where this story was headed. I knew his parents were probably dead even though I hoped I was wrong. I was wrong about his dad, but that isn't necessarily a happy situation either. Reece has had such a rough life, first not knowing his father and then his mother passing away. He's lucky Terra took him in or else he would have had to go into foster care.

"A few weeks before, she told me that she had started dating someone and that she really liked him. It was about time she found someone. From what I can remember she was always single."

Reece's face scrunches up in pain as he tells me about his mom and I want to reach out to comfort him, but I don't think it would help. He probably doesn't want me touching him anyway. Leaning on my arm, I can see his shaky hands fidgeting on his lap.

"She was so excited about this guy and she wanted me to meet him. That was a huge deal for her, but I never got the chance."

He stops talking, his head hanging dejectedly.

I give in to the urge to touch him and rest my hand on his shoulder blade. "What happened?"

"They got into a car accident," he breathes, his voice shaky. "She died instantly along with the guy she was seeing. He was driving her home from their date."

I squeeze his shoulder slightly and whisper, "I'm so sorry, Reece."

"When they notified his family I found out he had a wife and a son."

My eyes pop out of my head and I cover my mouth in horror. "She didn't know he was married?"

His head jerks around to glare at me. "She had no idea, she wasn't a homewrecker!"

    I flinch away at his gruff tone and his face visibly softens when he notices.

    I clear my throat hoping it won't crack when I speak, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to sound like I thought she was."