Chapters (43)
I get up from the couch and straighten out my clothes.
Those three simple words.
They came out of Owen’s mouth so easily.
Why couldn’t Nicholas say that?
Why couldn’t I say it to him?
“What about that girl you slept with?”
“What about her?”
“I thought you liked her.”
“I do. But I love you.”
“Owen, you’re my brother,” I say, shaking my head.
“No, I’m not,” he says, his voice getting deeper and more forceful. “The sooner you get that through your head the better.”
“Don’t talk to me like that!” I snap back.
I stand here for a second, at a loss as to what to do.
Then I grab my bowl and bring it to the sink.
I open the faucet to try to tune out this whole thing, both what he did and what he said. But then anger starts to rise up within me.
“Why did you have to do this?” I ask, turning around. “We were having such a nice dinner and everything was good for once.”
He glares at me.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
He shakes his head. “Don’t you get it? Don’t you get that I have been in love with you for a long time?”
“I don’t think about you like that, Owen.”
“Why not? Because I’m not some con man that lies to you all the time and makes you feel like shit.”
“It has nothing to do with Nicholas. You’re my brother and nothing is going to change that.”
“Oh, yeah?” he says, taking it like a challenge.
Before I realize what’s happening, he has me pinned against the wall, pressing his body into mine.
His hands are all over me and down in between my legs.
His tongue is in my mouth.
I try to push him away but he doesn’t give me an inch to budge.
“Get off me,” I mumble, squeezing my legs shut, but when he presses his forearm against my neck I struggle to breathe.
I gasp for air as my windpipe closes from the pressure.
“How about now? You still think of me as your brother?” he whispers into my ear.
Cold sweat runs down my body.
He releases his hand and I start to cough.
He puts his lips on mine again.
I push him away and this time it works.
He takes a step away from me.
There’s a sad puppy expression on his face as if I’ve done something that hurt him to his core.
“Get the fuck away from me,” I say, going to my room.
I throw a few things into a backpack and walk out through the sliding door into the backyard.
I make my way around the pool and go through the side door into the garage for the car.