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That was the most intense sex I have ever had, but my heart was still broken. When he leans back, his heavy-lidded eyes searching mine, I notice every other emotion that he bared to me has vanished, and I know why.
That was goodbye.
Tillie
After the cemetery drama, Nate was serious when he said that I’m not to wear anything else by any other man, so I wore his suit shirt and he walked back shirtless. We didn’t speak.
He picked up my heels from the ground before we continued around to the front of the house where he grabbed my purse. He led me back downstairs to my room, and when we passed Daemon’s, he stopped outside of it momentarily. Just when I thought he was going to say or do something, he carried on.
He tossed my shoes and bag onto the floor in my room and then left.
Without another word.
He stole the last part that there was of me and now I’m so drained I can’t keep my eyes open.
After the longest shower in history washing away every aspect of the night, I wriggle on some underwear and slip beneath the sheets, willing myself to sleep for weeks.
Thunder crashes above me as I stand in front of Daemon’s grave. Water pelts down over my face, mashing my hair to my skin. “Why am I here!” I scream through the heavy drops of rain and loud crashes of thunder. “What do you want from me!”
Daemon appears on his gravestone, his head hanging between his shoulders while his arm rests delicately on his knee. I watch as the rain soaks through his long hair, pushing it all forward.
“Daemon?” I whisper, stepping forward. “You’re—you’re?”
Slowly, his head comes up to meet me. “Find it, Tillie. Set me free…”
I wake, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. My phone is ringing. My phone is ringing? I quickly dive off the bed and onto the floor where Nate left it last night.
“Hello?”
“Tillie?”
I freeze. “Gabriel.”
He sighs. “It’s me. I have something for you that you might want back.”
“Wait,” I whisper, afraid someone can hear me. “Where are you? I thought Nate took you?”
“That’s not a conversation for right now. I need to meet you to give you this book. Can you meet me at a parking lot?” he yaps off, giving me directions.
“Yes,” I murmur. “I’ll be there at one.”
I hang up my phone, massaging my temples. I’ll finally get Daemon’s book back and hopefully, I can navigate through it enough to solve why I found it and what it damn well means.
Nate
Tillie stands from the floor in her room, cell phone in hand. Her little body disappearing into the bathroom.
“I’m telling you, if it was anyone else, we could have put a camera in there too,” Cash mutters, smirking at me.
“Put a camera in there and I’ll kill you,” I snap, glaring at him.
“What?” Cash mocks. “So Brantley gets to see her, but we don’t?”
“He got to see her,” I correct, my finger running over the top of my lip.
The table falls quiet.
“You two finally sort your shit out?” Brantley’s mouth turns to a half-smile.
“Is she in my bed?” I pine, my eyebrow quirked.
“No, but she’s on your dick, so I’m just wanting it to be a bit clearer,” Brantley further teases.
“I like you better when you’re angry at the world and not speaking.” I go back to the camera.
Brantley chuckles. “Fucker.” Then he flicks his finger to the camera. “You think that was him?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“And she’s going to meet him?” Brantley asks again.
“Yeah,” I repeat. “I need this shit done. She needs it done.”
“You think this will fix her?”
Putting a joint in my mouth and blazing up, I blow out a thick cloud of smoke and shrug. “Fuck knows. Maybe she has completely lost it.”
“Would that be an issue for you?” Brantley asks, and I turn to face him, giving him my undivided attention.
“You’re asking an awful lot of questions this morning, Bran Bran. You get your happy place licked last night?”
He laughs, his grin stretching wide. A few of the boys snicker.
Brantley’s eyes darken on me.
“Don’t fucking say it,” I snap at him and his grin only deepens. “Asshole.”
Bishop has been quiet through the whole thing. His eyes remaining passive on the same spot on the table.
I hand him the J and he takes it, biting it between his lips. “I don’t know what the fuck to do about Madison.”
Brantley shakes his head. “This is why I’m single.”
“Are you though?” I ask, my eyes going to him. Your turn now. Bastard.
He narrows his. “Fuck you.”
“Wait!” Cash interferes. “What does that mean?”
I chuckle, taking the J back off Bishop and putting it to my mouth. I smirk, shaking my head at Cash. “Nothing.” … that you need to know.
“She’ll come around.”
Bishop leans back, his eyes closing. He has been struggling a lot for the past couple of months, we both have.