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God. I really shouldn’t have done that. I couldn’t forget he had it on video somewhere, and he could use it to make my life miserable.
“I suppose I can’t force you to do anything, but know that whatever the consequences are, they’re on your shoulders, not mine.” His gaze fell to my feet, slow to lift, taking in the way I stood, how I was still very much left breathless after how close he’d been to me. He said not another word, leaving me confused, pissed off, and embarrassed.
My eyes returned to my work, taking in Gareth’s sketched-out face and the skeletal half I’d just started. Alistair’s words echoed in my head, long after he was gone. I couldn’t move. I was rooted in place, staring at the sketch on the canvas, wondering if, all this time, I was so into art not because it was in my blood, but because it had become something else.
An outlet.
Chapter Twenty-One – Brianna
Erin met me at my locker Friday afternoon, when school let out. She hadn’t stopped at hers yet, still holding onto her textbooks from her last few classes, holding them against her chest like a barrier. Her red hair was wild and free today, uneven kinks in its frizzy length.
“Wow,” I muttered, glancing at her for a few seconds before doing my combination. “I’m surprised you’re here and not talking to Gareth like you have been.” Try as I might to keep the jealousy from my voice, a bit of it peeked through, and I hoped she was too busy thinking about Gareth to realize it.
“You and Kaity just hate him,” Erin spoke, her brows coming together. “Is he really that bad?” I gave her a pointed look at that, and she let out a sigh. “I get it. I do. It’s just… he never really talks to anyone, so—”
“Exactly. Don’t you think it’s weird he’s suddenly taking an interest in you?” I sounded a bit mean, but I didn’t care to temper myself. I’d been struggling all week to make Erin see the truth: talking to Gareth was a mistake. “Why now? Why didn’t he start talking to you before? You’ve gone to school with him your whole life.”
She pouted. “Kaity said the same thing. You’re his stepsister. You should talk to him about me and see what he says.”
“I have.” I stuffed what I had to take home for the weekend into my backpack and pulled it out of my locker, tossing the straps around my shoulders, well aware Erin had sucked in a hard breath of anticipation.
“And? What’d he say?”
Now it was my turn to pout. Couldn’t Erin crush on literally anyone else in Eastcreek? Seriously, I’d rather listen to her drone on and on about a teacher than about Gareth. Of course, the youngest teacher in Eastcreek was, at the minimum, forty, but still.
Forty wasn’t too far off from thirty-five, let’s not forget, and I clearly had a thing for Alistair when he got all serious and commanding.
And let’s not forget how he was so full of praise when I did exactly what he wanted…
“Brianna,” Erin’s voice cut into my thoughts, “what did he say? That bad, huh?” She took my silence as something bad, when in reality, it was more so I couldn’t tell her that Gareth was only talking to her to get to me, to break me. “I knew it was too good to be true.”
I was slow in closing my locker. “Look. He’s… he’s not all there, Erin. He’s not someone you want to go out with, or hook up with, for that matter. He’s literally the worst person for that. I really wish you’d stop talking to him. I’m sure Kaity agrees.”
Erin had been flying high all week about the sudden attention from Gareth, which damn near the whole school had noticed, too. And that would make things even worse if Gareth did hurt her, if she went missing. Everyone would point their fingers at Gareth, not just me. There was no way local law enforcement could ignore everyone.
But was I willing to sacrifice Erin just to get Gareth behind bars?
It took me way too long to answer that in my head, but the answer was no.
“Yeah, okay.” Erin sounded ridiculously mopey and sad. “Have a good weekend, okay? I have to go.” She said nothing else, spinning on her old, worn-out boots to walk away.
I watched her go, praying to whatever god would listen that she would drop it and start to ignore Gareth. If she could manage to do that, then we wouldn’t have a problem, and I wouldn’t have to tell Gareth that I belonged to him.
I was in a better mood than I’d been before as I exited the school building. Gareth had beat me to his car today, and as I got in, his green eyes were on me. His brown hair was slicked back, like it always was, the glasses sitting on his nose making him seem more intelligent and dignified. The clothes he wore were always crisp and clean, more like suits than clothes high schoolers wore.
One look at him, and you’d never think serial killer, but I guess that was the point.
“You look happy,” Gareth commented, those eyes of his narrowed in my direction. “Is there a particular reason you look so happy, Brianna? Perhaps you’re excited we’ll have the house to ourselves again. I assume your mother told you about the charity dinner in the city tomorrow. They’ll be gone all afternoon and well into the night.”
I waited until we were out of the school parking lot and on the road before answering, “Yeah, I know. I’m not happy about that.”
“Then what is it?”
“I just had a talk with Erin. I’m pretty sure I just convinced her to stop talking to you.” I saw a muscle in his square jaw throb at that, and I couldn’t help but smile. “Looks like it’s your next move.”
His hands tightened on the wheel. “You like playing games, don’t you?”
“As much as you do, apparently.” I shrugged, turning my head to look out the window. “I was always a loner growing up. Never made friends. Didn’t really care to try. I always sat by myself at school during lunch and recess and drew. Every waking hour I could spend on my art, I did. I never had time for games. But when it comes to you, what can I say? I want to fuck you up, Gareth.”
