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He whirls around and slams his fist through the wall, right next to another fist-sized hole that wasn’t there this morning. Some shit has gonedownsince Levi wiped me out.
Sid’s ghost looks on from the corner and shakes his head sadly.
Brooks pants, his shoulder muscles rippling as his body trembles with…rage? Or something else?
“There goes the security deposit,” I sigh. “Brooks, can you forget all the bullshit and just talk to me like we don’t hate each other? Can you just tell me the fucking truth?”
He fixes me with those devastating eyes.
“You want the truth, Lily Dean? The truth is that I’ve been in love with you since you were sixteen years old.”
I burst out laughing.
He makes a face. “I’m not joking.”
My heart stutters against my chest, and my amusement dries up.
“Explain yourself. Because you’ve been a dick to me ever since the night of my sixteenth birthday. That is, when you weren’t abandoning me and the twins, or kissing me in an alley, or ignoring me when I needed you.”
His full lips press together. “I can’t tell you everything, but you have to know I did all of it to protect you.”
“So that’s it? You drop that bombshell, and then you don’t trust me enough to give me the full truth?” I huff. “That’s great, Brooks. You really seem like you’re in love with me.”
“Are you doubting me?” He steps towards the bed, and the look in his eyes is so dangerous, it brings me straight back to that day in the alley, when he saw me in my prom dress and kissed me like he needed me to breathe.
And damn if my whole body isn’t on fire right now.
Because ever since I was sixteen, I’ve been dreaming of hearing those words come out of his mouth. Hell, any of theirmouths. I’ve been wishing for things that Brooks made clear he would never give me, and now…
…and now…
I pinch the inside of my arm. Hard. I can’t let myself get sucked into his bullshit. “And what about the night my parents died? You saw me covered in blood, and you left me. That’s not what you do to someone you love.”
His face drains of all color. “W-what? What the fuck are you talking about?”
I curl my hands into fists, relishing the sting of my nails embedding themselves into my palms. “Prom night. You know, when my date tried to kill me and then I returned home to see my parents had been killed by demons. Ring any bells?”
He begins to shake his head from side to side, his entire body trembling. “I didn’t know. I didn’t… Fuck, Lily.” His throat bobs as he swallows. “I didn’t know. I had no fucking idea your parents died. FUCK!” The roar seems to be pulled from deep within his chest, and he begins to pace. I can’t help but compare him to a caged animal. There’s something predatory about each of his movements, something savage and lethal. Abruptly, he stops walking and turns to face him. His broad chest heaves with his ragged breaths.
“I was covered in blood, Brooks.” My voice is embarrassingly weak. There’s no fight left in me. I just feel…hollow and empty, a vessel that has been picked apart by vultures. The pain of my parents’ death is a wound that hasn’t yet scabbed over. It’s not fresh by any means, but the slightest provocation can cause it to bleed anew.
“Lily, I swear to you, I thought the blood belonged to Chase. I thought—” He swallows and squeezes his eyelids shut. His entire body shudders before he forces his eyes open and focuses on me. “Fuck, if you knew how much I wanted to stop the car and pull you into my arms, how much I wanted to drag you onto thebackseat and push up that sexy-as-fuck prom dress and make you come all over my face until you forgot about the boy who hurt you…but Icouldn’t.”
My cheeks flare with heat. “Why not? Why couldn’t you stop the car? You have to tell me that much.”
“Because…” He whirls around and slams his fist into the wall again.
Only this time, it makes the air between us crackle with tension.
He spins back to face me, and the look in his eyes is allhunger.“Because I had to do a terrible thing to save my brothers. A bad thing. A thing that I will never regret but has cost me everything. And to make that choice, I had to give you up. I didn’t know about your parents. I swear. If I’d known, I would have stopped, and I would have pulled you into my arms, and I would have torn those demons to pieces with my own hands.
“If I’d known, I never would have let you endure that on your own, even if it cost memorethan everything. I love you, Lily Dean, and that’s the only truth you’ll get from me tonight, but it’s the only one that matters. I love you, and if you say the words, I will crawl between your legs right now and make you scream my name.”
Well…fuck.
“Beg me,” I hear myself say.
“What?”
