Page 136

“Are,” I correct. “I’m not supporting a man who thinks assaulting a woman is okay.”

“I never touched her.” With the swat of his palm, he sends his lamp flying across the room and shattering into the wall over the dresser. The crash is deafening but overruled by the roar of his voice. “She’s a manipulative bitch—”

“Watch it!”

He’s not listening to me. “—she asked me to come over. I did. She called the sheriff crying that I was beating down her door.”

“You were!” I snap back. “I saw you.”

“So what?” He throws up his hands. “I had every right to get pissed when she locked the door in my face.”

I stop myself from pointing out it was six in the morning. It won’t matter. He genuinely believes he’s in the right and nothing I say is going to change his mind.

“I don’t care. Get your stuff. I want you out by the end of the day.”

I expect rage. I expect him to rant and rave and break more stuff. I don’t expect the slow curl of his lips. The vile gleam lighting the emptiness behind his eyes.

“Finally fucked her, huh?”

“Bron—”

His laugh is cold and bitter. “I wondered how long it would take before she whored herself to you. Took longer than I anticipated, honestly.”

I don’t remember closing the distance between us, but his collar is twisted in my fist, and I have his face inches from mine.

“Keep talking. You think I won’t flatten you?”

His smirk never dims. If anything, it extends as if I’ve proven his point.

“How did she feel? Was she everything you’ve been fantasizing about while jerking your meat? The thought of touching her repulsed me, but watching your face when I did made up for the vomit in my throat. Watching you both stare longingly at each other from a distance amused me for a long time. Knowing I could make her do anything, give me anything I want while you watched was the highlight of those two years.”

Every word layers a fresh coat of disgust, of loathing across my already receding affections, deepening the chasm shattering between us. Even when I shove him away from me, send him stumbling back into his computer desk, it’s not far enough from the fist I want to break into his jaw.

“What is wrong with you?” I bite out.

“You are.” His smirk dissolves back into a sneer. “You’re what’s wrong with me. From the minute you came into my life, you ruined everything. Me and Mom were fine. We didn’t need you. I didn’t need you. But you pushed so hard. You wanted sobadly to ...bond,”he spits the word as if it were something foul, “I hated you. I still hate you. You’re sad and pathetic. A disgusting pervert fucking his best friend and the little orphan whore.”

I swing without thinking.

I don’t even register the motion until my knuckles crack across Bron’s jaw, clacking his teeth together and snapping his whole head back. It bursts the cut Van had given him the day before, sending fresh blood down his chin as he flies back into his desk.

The momentum tips the table back. It upends the cup of pens off the edge, scattering pens across the carpet. The monitor crashes over the edge and shatters.

But all I see is the face of a kid I broke my back for. The kid I didn’t even want but stepped up without hesitation or question to care for. I never asked him for anything, never pushed or demanded. I accepted him, clothed him, fed him. I put up with every tantrum, every foul mood and taunt.

But I am done.

“Get out of my house,” I grind out through gritted teeth. “Pack your shit. I don’t ever want to see you or—”

“Careful now.” He pushes up, rubbing the back of his hand across his bloody mouth. “I saw what you fuckers were doing last night. I have a full video of you and that piece of shit friend of yours tag teaming that little whore. Never thought she’dfuck so good. I’d have taken her for a ride if I knew she’d squirt like that.”

I have both fists curled into the front of his top and shoving him back into the desk, flattening him.

“You followed us?”

Teeth stained crimson flash. “I headed down after I was released. I thought she’d be there alone. Imagine my surprise when I look through the window to find you in her ass while Van fucked her throat. What do you think the town will say if that video accidentally leaked?”

My grip tightens. “That won’t happen.”