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The guys don’t take their eyes off each other, and I thought that the tension just before Nolan’s arrival couldn’t be worse. I was wrong. There’s a palpable animosity emanating from Nolan, and when I catch them staring at each other, I wonder which of the two will punch first. They want to jump at each other’s throats, that’s obvious.
“Nolan,” I try. “Leave us.”
My voice is reassuring, but I know I’m shaking. I don’t feel comfortable. This is the first time I’ve been in the same room as him after what happened, and it had to benow. With Corey.
“I won’t leave while he’s here.”
“Please, Nolan, we were just talking,” I say.
“Just talking?” Nolan asks.
He crosses his arms against his chest and eyes Corey with a murderous look, answering me without turning in my direction.
“He doesn’t seem like he wants to talk. I don’t like how he touches you.”
“She’s my girl, I do what I want,” Corey snarls.
Nolan gives me a quick look.
“You don’t belong here,” Nolan says.
I don’t know if it’s the look Nolan gives me, the way he comes between Corey and me, or just the electricity around us that makes Corey react, but he growls, “Are you fucking him?”
Corey stands in front of me, ignoring Nolan, to look at me with all his smugness.
“Of course not,” I say defensively.
Yet my distress causes my voice to tremble and I’m far from sounding sure of myself.
“That’s it! You’re leaving me because you’re fucking this guy! It’s not just because you don’t want me anymore, no. You had to screw your roommate, the one you swore you considered abrother.” He laughs, frowning. “Afamily, don’t make me laugh.”
“It’s not what you think,” I say.
I focus on Corey. His attitude, his defensive posture, his strong and angry glances. I dare not look any further, aware that Nolan has not moved and that he’s witnessing this accusation without blinking.
“What I believe is that you are both trash,” he says. “A girl who cheats on her boyfriend with a loser who can’t even keep his hands off his best friend’s sister. You make me sick.”
I don’t know if the comment hits Nolan, but I suddenly tense up. Corey hits a spot that hurts. The one that proves that Nolan and I are doomed no matter what. It’s not just us in the equation. There’s my brother too. Their friendship. I tend to forget it the two times our mouths met.
“Get the hell out.”
Nolan stepped forward, placing his body between Corey and me. Forcing my ex-boyfriend to step back. With contracted shoulders, the straight neck, and the frank voice, Nolan towers over him. I don’t see his face, but his icy tone confirms to me that he is close to coming to blows.
“Get out or I swear I’ll make you regret being born.”
Corey huffs hard, fists clenched, he raises his head slightly at my roommate, challenging him with his eyes. Then a grin distorts his features, he looks at me for a second and hisses with contempt, “Fuck you both. You’re just a bitch, Scarlett Martin.”
I don’t have time to say anything when Nolan throws himself at Corey and shoves him aggressively against the front door. His back slams into the surface, and Nolan barely has time to grab the collar of the T-shirt before I step in to stop the massacre. Corey is pissed, he may be overreacting, but he certainly doesn’t mean what he says. Hedoesn’tknow what happened, he imagines, deduces in a state of jealousy. He reacts like a man who has just been dumped and whose ego has taken a hit.Except if I let Nolan hit him, I’m afraid the fight won’t be fair. Corey is slender, but when faced with the power of an angry hockey player… he’s no match for it. And Nolan doesn’t deserve to be involved in a fight at the risk of injury before a game.
“Nolan, don’t do this.”
I place a hand on my roommate’s wrist, ignoring the tingles in my chest as I see his face contorted with rage. He comes to my defense and, even if it’s not the first time, his presence today makes every muscle in my body tingle. My fingers glide over his skin and I feel his grip slowly loosening.
“Corey, you should go away before you say any more hurtful things out of pure spite,” I say. “We’ll discuss if one day you’ve calmed down.”
He sneers, straightening his collar properly, cursing Nolan. “I don’t ever want to see you again.”
Then, without a word, he slams the door, making me jump. My tears begin to flow on their own and a huge sob crushes my chest. I don’t hold anything back, upset, shocked, and sad at the same time. Nolan’s hand caresses my cheek, gently wiping away my tears. I push him away with all my strength before his chest even presses against me, ignoring his protective gaze, and run to my room. I feel miserable and at this moment I only want to flee. Nolan, this living situation, my pain, my feelings.
