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Me: Can we talk? I can explain some things.
16
BRENT
Right after talking to Lance, I’d left. I needed to clear my head, so I sweated my arse off in the gym and then went to the barbers to sort my hair and beard for graduation, at least Mum would be happy I’d made myself presentable. Still, I couldn’t shift the hollowness that had grown in my belly. I hoped I had sufficiently tired myself out to get some sleep tonight, but that was feeling like wishful thinking. I climbed the stairs, getting home just as the sun had set, the house was dark and felt empty. But, as I got to the top of the stairs, I saw the light under Elle’s closed bedroom door and the sounds of her moving around.
I wondered if Lance had said anything to her yet and my chest suddenly ached. What was that? Guilt? Fuck that. I had nothing to feel guilty about, right? Sure, maybe I’d thought about myself a little, but it didn’t mean that a clean break from Elle wouldn’t be best for both her and Lance too. I was stood on the landing trying to justify myself when a loud bang followed by Elle’s screamed curse came from her room and I burst through the door in a panic.
I found her sprawled on the floor, the stool she usually sat on to do her makeup was toppled over in front of her wardrobe. Her hands covered her face, and her shoulders were shaking.
“Shit, hey, hey, hey, you okay?” I went to her, crouching to examine her body, checking for injury.
She batted my hands away and jumped up with enough sprightliness to cool my concern for broken bones. “I’m fine,” she snapped before sniffing.
She turned her back to me pretty quickly, but not quick enough. Her face was red and puffy, her eyes bloodshot and glazed. She wasn’t crying from a fall thirty seconds ago; she’s been crying for a while. “What’s wrong?” I asked, trying to keep my voice gentle, not a natural tone for me. That ache in my chestturning to a sharp pain as I knew it was likely she was crying because Lance had spoken to her.
“Nothing, I said I’m fine. Leave me alone.” Her voice was thick with tears, she couldn’t hide it if she’d tried. I should have left her to it but my feet were planted. It was then that I noticed her room. Everything was in disarray. I mean her room was usually quite messy, but this looked like vandalism. Clothes and books were strewn everywhere, an overflowing suitcase lay open on her bed and there were a few boxes dotted around.
“What are you doing?” I asked with a frown.
“Packing, can you leave?” She still didn’t turn to look at me.
“Elle...”
“Oh my god, what do you want?” She finally turned, throwing her hands up in frustration. Fuck. She looked awful and my heart actually broke. What had Lance said? “What?” She repeated when I just stared at her. “Lance has had his fill, so you thought you’d have a shot, is that it?”
“Excuse me?” My eyes narrowed, her unusually harsh tone surprising me but her words putting me on edge.
“After all,” she continued like I hadn’t spoken, tears streamed down her cheek. “I’m just the campus hacky-sack, right? Only fair you get to play, too, since everyone else has. Then, once you’re done, you can just fuck off and get on with your life and I will just wait around until some other man deems me worthy of just a moment of his time!” She was shouting now and her voice cracked over her devastation.
As hypocritical as it might be, as I’d set this circumstance into motion, in that moment I wanted to pummel Lance’s face into the ground. I wanted to rip his head from his body and lay it at her feet. The fucker broke her. He broke my princess. “Jesus. Fuck,” I bit out, “Whatdidhe say to you?”
Her whole body seemed to sag slightly and her teary eyes went from anger to resigned hurt. “So, you knew? You knew he was planning on breaking my heart?”
“I…” No. I wanted to say no. It was true to some extent. I thought he’d break up with her. He’d tell her that they couldn’t see each other anymore. But clearly, he’d decided to make it so there was no changing his mind. I couldn’t excuse myself from this. “It’s for the best,” was all I managed, speaking quietly to the floor.
Her chin wobbled. “Right. Because I’m not good enough to be associated with him, or you, I guess. Well, don’t worry. I’m leaving, I won’t bring down your statuses any further.”
I moved without thought. If I had taken a second to think about my actions, I would have just gone with the story Lance had obviously created, nodded my head and left her there. But my body and my heart wouldn’t go for that. I was in front of her in two strides, cupping her face in my hands and wiping the tears from her cheeks with my thumbs. “You have it all wrong, princess,” I said gently. “You’re too good for him, too good for anything he can offer you, andespeciallytoo good for me.”
I pressed my lips to hers in a hard kiss, sliding my fingers into her chocolatey brown hair. Her mouth parted on a gasp, and I took the opportunity to sweep my tongue inside. She whimpered into me, pressing her body against me. No doubt she felt my cock as it hardened against her belly because, fuck, I had been thinking about kissing her again since that night we’d nearly been caught on the sofa. Her hand trailed down my torso, over my hip and down to cup the bulge in my jeans.
I growled into her, all semblance of control lost to the lust surging through my veins in place of blood. Reason and logic were foreign concepts. Everything I’d told Lance earlier today fell to the floor, forgotten and discarded.She was mine. I gripped her arse with bruising force, lifting her. Her arms went round my neck as her legs wrapped around my waist and I walked us to the wall so her back was pressed against it, pushing my erection to her centre.
I took one hand away from her lush bottom to palm her breast roughly. As her gasps sent electric pulses straight to my cock, I kissed down her throat. I was just thinking of slipping my fingers into her leggings when the sound of a throat clearing made me freeze. Elle’s entire body tensed against me, both of us breathing heavily. Never had I wanted to see Hayden as much as I did in that moment. But I should have known fate wouldn’t be so kind.
Lance stood on the landing shrouded in darkness, his face lit softly from the light of the room. The look he was giving me had bought lesser men to tears. As it was, it made my heart stop. Hiseyes were cold yet scorching as they bore into me, his jaw so tight I imagine his teeth buckling under the pressure. His nostrils flared and his mouth tipped down. I could only stare back at him. Everything seemed to stand still for several seconds until Elle pushed at my chest, disentangling herself from me and disappeared into her bathroom, her shame leaving the air stale in her wake.
The silence stretched for eternity until he finally broke it. “Change of plans. Hayden is coming to the city with us. The flat I’d found will be too small for the three of us. Call the agents and pull out of the sale. There’s a four bed in the same building that’s sitting empty. Tell them that we will buy it, cash, and move in immediately, paying rent until the sale is finalised.”
He spoke to me like the employee I was, not the cousin I’d been for the last six years. I nodded and he started toward his own room. “Lance…”
“I suggest you stop whatever it is you’re planning on saying. Nothing you have to say will make me want to kill you any less right now.” He wasn’t saying that metaphorically, he probably was contemplating ending my life and I would let him right now. My chest had completely cracked open; I felt like I’d broken two of the most important relationships I had in the matter of minutes.
Lance spared me one more seething glare before retreating to his own room. I contemplated knocking on Elle’s door but I couldn’t make matters worse, so I just left to follow through on Lance’s orders. I had some way to go to redeem myself to him and so the sooner I started the better.
17
