AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gripping her wrists in my hands, I lock them together and hold Blue in place in front of me.
“This is exactly the time for this. You have scars, and so do I. Except, this time, the game changes.”
Giving her a minute to find out she’s not wrestling herself free of my hold, I stifle my laughter when she blows out a breath and her shoulders slump.
“What’s the new game? I probably don’t want to play it.”
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. A memory for a memory.”
After a few tries, I finally take pity on Blue and allow her to tug her wrists from my hold. She crosses her arms and glares up at me.
“That’s it? I get to keep my clothes on this time?”
I rub at the back of my neck. “I mean, it’s not mandatory, but I won’t object if you feel the need to strip down or anything.”
“Very funny.”
A few seconds pass before she sighs heavily and turns to walk to the bed.
“Three questions?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And you think now is a good time to run through the hellscape of both of our pasts?” She turns to look at me. “What about Brinley?”
“We can’t do anything about Brinley until the rest of the group arrives. So you can either spend that time worrying yourself to death about what’s going on in the present, or we can pass the time by talking about what occurred in our pasts.”
At that, she chuckles.
“I guess. What else is there to do?”
I round the bed then drop my weight down on the mattress.
“Damn good choice, since I wasn’t really giving you one to begin with.”
Blue attempts to sit primly on her side of the bed, but I reach over, snatch her by the loop on her jeans then tug her down with me.
“We don’t need to be cuddling, but I’m not playing this hating me bullshit, either. I won’t bite unless you ask, so you might as well lie down and get comfortable.”
She shuffles into her spot, making sure not to touch me.
“Who goes first?” I ask.
Rolling to her side to look at me, she blinks her violet eyes.
“What about the scar caused by the edge of a desk? You never went into detail about that one.”
I close my eyes and try to block out the images but then remember I won’t be the only one fighting them.
It got your brother to fight…
Next time, you won’t be so lucky…
It takes several breaths for me to find the words to explain what I’m seeing. Thankfully, this memory isn’t the worst one, but it was the first moment I knew those weekends would only get worse for Ezra and me.
My teeth grind, and I swallow hard, forcing the words out that cling to my throat and tongue. It’s as if just saying them will free the darker memories from my locked box.
“Ezra and I were dragged off every other weekend for fights. You know stupid shit. Men wanting to get their rocks off by beating on teenagers or some shit. It was easier to convince me to play along. There was already so much anger inside me—so much hatred for my father-that I always saw it as a way to blow off steam.”
