AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I bit my lip hard.Oh, crap.The way he said my name still got to me.
“I missed you.” When I shook my head at him, he said forcefully, “I’m not lying. I did miss you—-”
“Then you must also think I’m stupid!” How could he miss me when he had been painting the town red practically every night? How could he possibly miss me when he didn’t really even know me?
His jaw clenched, and I suddenly felt tired. I hated that he was making me act out again, but I just couldn’t help it.
Everything in my life used to make sense.
Everything was meant to make sense, but he was proving to be the lone exemption, and he was making everything fall apart.
“Can we just stop this?” I swallowed. “Please?”
Marcus’ face became expressionless, and I suddenly had the most awful feeling that I had somehow...hurt him.
And I didn’t want it.
I really didn’t want it.
But before I could think of something to say, I heard him speak—-
“Nic and Jaak often told me stories about you, you know.”
I froze.
“We go to the same soccer club, your brothers and I. It’s how we met.”
Oh.I knew what he was talking about. It was an annual one-week sports camp that Jaak and Nic had started attending as part of their therapy, following our parents’ unofficial exile from Amsterdam.
“I also went for therapeutic reasons.”
Marcus’ tone was casual,toocasual—-
“That’s how – or rather, it’s the reason why your brothers and I mainly got along, when normally we would’ve beaten each other up because we were too similar.”
And it hurt.
“Was it—-” I tested a tentative smile on my face. “Too many big fish in a small pond, that kind of thing?”
“More like too much ego and trauma for one soccer team to handle, but yeah, you could say that, too.” His ironic tone made me smile a little, but his words also made my heart squeeze.
“They’d probably never admit it to you, but your brothers were always homesick when they were away from camp, and telling me stories – about you in particular – helped make them feel better, I suppose.” His lips twisted. “There were times when I wished I could have my turn. I wanted to tell them stories, too. But I didn’t have any.”
“I s-see.”
And I did see.
I was beginning to see why he needed a reminder about the world being a good place, and it just made my heart ache even more.
“Why were they telling you stories,” I heard myself ask, “aboutme?” Why not Fleur? Or why not just our family in general?
“They thought I was too cruel with the girls I dated.”
“Oh.” I was seriously stunned, and because I couldn’t help it, I blurted out, “Really?”
He smirked. “It’s the complete truth.”
Now I was even more confused. Jaak had been a notorious playboy even when he was still in high school, and he had only gotten worse over the years. Nic, on the other hand, was devastatingly ruthless when it came to getting rid of girls he found too clingy, stupid-—the list went on, really. Nic was rather picky when it came to the girls he dated.
