Chapter 14 My Girls.
GINGER:
I want to believe him, but then I remember my conversation with Katelyn downstairs.
What was I doing thinking we actually had a shot at working out? He's my stepbrother, of course we never stood a chance. I was supposed to be angry with him, bringing down hell on his hide for everything he's caused me. How did I let myself get so blindsided?
I step out of his hold, anger warring with shame. “No. No, you don't get to do that,” I say, meeting his eyes. “You don't get to breeze into my life whenever you want, acting like you've done nothing wrong.”
He frowns, taken aback. But I keep going.
“You can't fight to keep off every guy that comes within three feet of me one second…and then turn around to treat me like your sidepiece the next.” My eyes are tearing up, chest tightening, and I'm not liking it.
Grayson looks genuinely confused. “Where is this coming from? You're not my sidepi—”
“Are you even sorry about what you did? Any of it?” I cut in.
“If you're referring to what happened with Jayden, then no, I'm not.”
“Oh? And what about lying to me?”
His jaw clenches. “That's different. You know I never meant to.”
I had really hoped for a different response.
“Guess that answers it then.” I turn, marching towards the door, “It's probably best if we don't see each other.”
He peers at me like he thinks I might be joking. I don't laugh. Neither do I move. The silence stretches long and tight between us, an insane thing that creeps up my back, ready to bite.
And then, his gaze hardens and I see those walls coming back up—worse than before. He storms out, slamming the door behind him, and I just want to curl into a ball and cry.
Wood snaps open and then shut as the house settles. I pull myself together long enough to strip out of my uniform and into a comfy black number before diving beneath the covers.
My phone comes alive with a chilling version of CHIHIRO and I groan, reaching for it. There's a video call request with an unfamiliar group icon. Awesome, someone has me on Skype. Right in time for the waterworks. I swipe up before I can overthink this too.
“Girl, I was five minutes away from tracking you the hell down,” Tisha says the moment her face comes on the screen. “You've been radio silent since you left. What happened to Facetime, Viber?”
I sit upright at the sound of her voice, mood slightly lifted. God. My girls. It's only been a little over twenty four hours since we last saw each other, yet, somehow, it feels longer. I'm scrolling through my facetime history, having minimized the screen to check. Eleven missed calls, from both of them. Jesus. Now I feel worse.
I take a hand through my hair, wiping a stray tear that slipped out. “I promise it wasn't intentional. I just…haven’t really had the chance to check my socials since I’ve returned.”
Tisha, of course, doesn't miss the action. She never does.
“Come on, spill it,” she says.
“There's nothing to sp—”
“I'm not blind, Ginger. You look like shit, and you probably feel even worse.”
“Wow. Way to be literal.”
“I'm serious. The only other time I've seen you like this was when your stepbrother sent you an audio of him drunk-fucking some other chick during your second week here.”
Her words prompt a disturbing mental imagery as the memory replays itself in my mind. Grayson pistoning into some raven-haired slut on her knees as the sharp sound of skin-meeting-skin thrust for thrust resounds in my ears. The girl had been moaning so unforgivably loud calling it a lie would have been a crime.
At that thought, another face flashes in my mind. Could that have been Katelyn? Was that how she spent her first visit here, ‘getting to know him’ better?
God. I don't even want to consider it.
The ache in my head worsens, and I move my fingers from my hair strands, massaging my temple. “Urgh, don't remind me.”
Whatever my best friend's about to say in protest gets trumped over as we both hear a door open and close.
“Is that Ginger?” Kaia’s voice filters in through the speakers.
Tisha nods, and she immediately drops onto the bed in her cute pink PJ's, luscious waves around her. She scrambles in beside her twin, who has her hair down in a similar way, coming into view. “Oof. Do I want to know who just took a dump in your O.J?”
There's no point pretending anymore. These girls know me, and they noticed. Might as well just come out with it.
“He's engaged,” I say, throat heavy. “To someone else.”
Silence.
“How long?” Kaia asks.
“Could’ve been anything from a week to three months ago.”
I think they might be mates. And that's besides the fact that they both got their wolves today, I want to add, but I hold myself back.
Revealing what I witnessed would only make it real, and despite how much I tell myself it's over between us, the fact is, deep down, I’m hoping he comes around to see what's been right in front of him all along.
“Son of a bitch,” that's Tisha talking. “And you're still involved with him?”
“Not anymore. I only just found out today.”
“Have you met her?”
Letisha's gaze is levelled on me, eyes narrowed. The rest of her room looms tall in the background behind her, all black-themed with descending light rings in the middle. From her tone, I know she's concerned on my behalf.
“Yes, and I already wish I didn't. But that's not even the worst part,” I say. “Roman already proposed last night.”
Their mouths fall open.
“No offence Ginger, but your Alpha has awful timing.”
I couldn't agree more.
“Have any of them chosen a date?” Tisha questions.
“Not that I know of.”
Kaia frowns, but then, something new seems to occur to her, because her face brightens up once more. She turns to her sister, practically bouncing on the spot.
“Would you tell her, or should I?” She's biting on her bottom lip, fighting a smile, her eyes alternating between her twin and me.
My suspicion’s mounting by the second. “Tell me what?”