Page 97 of The Twisted Beats

“Cash, you knew she was a mess. Why would you do this?” Bren tips his chin toward the mattress. “You took her virginity when she was having a?—”

“Bren, I’m fine. It was my decision.” She tightens the linens around her.

I check out the surrounding area. Crescent smears are all over the bed. Too much if you ask me. I lift the pillow covering my dick. It has a little blood on it, but nothing like the story the sheets are telling.

I raise my confused stare. “I’m not sure that’s all from…”

Bren studies the blankets more. His brows furrow and he turns to Livianna. There’s nothing but guilt written all over her face.

What’s that about?

He stalks over to her. “Show me.”

“No.” She backs up.

“Do it now, Livianna, or else I’ll go get Mom and Dad and they can deal with it.” He looks at her with resolve.

She glares. “I would never do that to you.”

“You wouldn’t have to.” He reaches for her arm.

She flinches. “Don’t. The sheets will fall off.”

“I don’t care if I have to strip you bare. Show me your arms.”

She glances at me with terror washing over her expression. “But?—”

“Livianna, now!” Bren’s shoulders broaden.

She lowers her head and holds out one of her hands. Blood slides down her skin.

My chest caves in. What the fuck happened to her? Did I do that?

Bren growls. “The other one, too.”

She changes arms and again the same thing.

My heart pounds. “Guns, I swear I didn’t do that.”

“I fucking know that, Cash.” Bren spins to me, more angry than I’ve ever seen him. “Get in the shower and get dressed. Livianna and I need to have a chat.”

I nod, grab my clothes off the floor, and stride into the bathroom, feeling like I’m in the Twilight Zone.

I’m shutting the door when Bren lays into Lily. For a second, I wanna go defend her, but he says something that stops me.

“You couldn’t wait until I brought you these? When the fuck are you gonna stop with this shit? Because if you don’t, you’ll screw up one day and the results will be something you can’t come back from.”

I peek out to see what he’s doing. He hands her two blue pills. She takes them and slams them into her mouth.

“They’ll calm you down.” He hands her a glass of water. “Swallow and show me you took them.”

She takes a drink, opens her mouth, and sticks out her tongue. “Are you satisfied now?”

“No. We need to cover this shit up.” He flings his hand toward the mattress. “You need to get dressed, change the massacre of the bedding, put the blankets into the laundry, make the bed with clean sheets, and straighten up the room. Cash’s mom is trashed and plans on staying the night.”

“But I was going to sleep down here with him tonight.”

“He’s staying in my room, so you can forget about that.” Bren turns his back to Livianna so she can get her clothes on as he tears the linens off the mattress. “Are there any transparent bandages down here?