Page 116 of Mine

My stomach twisted with the familiar rage I felt whenever I thought ofhim, my fucking punk of a cousin who she was in love with. He was a smug prick who stole her right from under my nose, altering the course of our lives forever. He was a bad apple, and I knew he would end up dragging her into his life of crime and bullshit.

Where was he anyway?

Hopefully he had died.

“Yeah, I’m good. You here with your parents?”

I scanned the surrounding crowd before my eyes met hers again, her face an open book. I sighed as I realized he was still in the picture—the look of guilt she wore told me that much.

Without thinking, I reached out, my fingertips running down her arm as she let out a shiver.

Oh, baby, you have no idea what I could do to you.

“Are you still with him?” I asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

I moved closer to her as her eyes fell to my lips, her mouth parted slightly.

Did she want me to kiss her? I would if so, no problem.

“I’m still with Cal, yes,” she was breathless now as I placed my hands either side of her on the wall, our bodies pressed together.

Fuck, she’s already making me hard.

We’d never had a chance to explore one another sexually, but I knew it would be dynamite.

“You’re still as beautiful as you were then.”

I brought my face close to her, leaning in, desperate to feel her lips on mine. I felt her hands on my shoulders as she pushed me away softly, as though she didn’t really want to, but had to.

“Luke, I’m sorry but—”

“She’s with me.”

I closed my eyes as I dropped my hands from her sides, feeling the breath leave my body at his voice. I turned slowly to see the bastard standing there with a deadly glare as he took in our position.

“Cal/. Leo. What a pleasant surprise.”

I stood facing him, my blood boiling as though I had lost her a second time. I remembered her reaction to me touching her earlier, and I found myself snapping at him.

“When she was with me, she didn’t flinch if I went near her. She didn’t jump when she was touched. What the fuck have you done to her?” I took a few steps towards him as I stared him straight in the eyes, my fists clenched.

The bastard had the audacity to push past me, towards Gretchen.

“Well, I didn’t cheat on her for a year,” the dickhead smirked at me, his eyes dropping over me with disinterest. “She’s not your concern; she’smine.”

I watched with agony as he pulled her into his arms, her eyes meeting mine over his shoulder. I looked at her as I turned to walk away, my heart breaking again.

“I told you he’s no good. I tried to warn you.” I shrugged as I walked into the crowd, out of their sight.

I turned and stood by a vendor stall, able to see them through the crowd. He pushed her against the wall as I had earlier, except he got to kiss her the way that I wanted to, more than anything. Her legs wrapped around his waist and I got a glimpse into how they probably fucked: animalistic and raw. Her hands were wrapped in his hair as they spoke, their heads close together before they kissed again. My jaw tightened as I watched them, my stomach in knots.

I felt violently sick as I watched his hands roam over her body like he owned her.

How did I still feel this way, years later?

Something was wrong; it didn’t feel right. Maybe I needed to convince her how wrong he was for her. Something had already happened to make her react the way she did to being touched.

I just needed to find out what.