“Damn right it is,” he bites out.
I dart my gaze around, making sure we haven’t drawn the attention of anyone standing around before I face him again. “Look, I don’t want to fight. I just want to grab a drink and?—”
“If you didn’t want to fight, then you shouldn’t have spread your legs for Devlin and paraded that shit in front of us.” My eyeswiden as my jaw unhinges,neverbefore has Kellan ever spoken to me like this and hearing the disgust that tinges each of his words, has anger coursing through me.
I press forward until there is only a sliver of space between us and glare up at him. “How dare you!” I hiss. He opens his mouth to no doubt protest but I push on. “None of you were there for me. You all left me and then you had the balls to tell me that my best friend died without any ounce of remorse!” I’m yelling now but I don’t care. I can’t stop now that I’ve started. “You chose my brother! You promised me you would be there for me and tell him how you felt but you lied?—”
“I didn’t lie about shit. You fucking left, Toren,” he roars. I can feel the stares of everyone around but the one that sends a shiver down my spine is the presence from directly behind me and I know it’s him.
“I didn’t have a choice, Kellan. I begged for them to let me see you, Cas and Kenna when I woke up, but Masen couldn’t even look at me. My father—” I clamp my mouth closed before I tell him the truth about where I really was. Right now, I’m regretting not wearing my pendant from Emery, that necklace is the only thing that could ground me in a moment like this. “I didn’t have a choice, but you all did.” Out of the corner of my eye I see my brother pushing his way through the crowd. I pray without words that he comes to stand beside me and back me like he always did, but my hopes come crashing down when he stands beside his friend and faces off against me.
Leaving me alone, yet again.
Pain explodes inside my chest at the betrayal I feel from him. It was always me and him against the world and now that my back is against the wall, and I’m fighting to get free of the past and try to move forward, he’s leaving me to face my demons on my own.
“I think it’s time for you to go, Tor.” I jerk backward and stare at Masen with utter disbelief.
“Thatis what you have to say to me after a year?” I scream. His face pinches in annoyance but I don’t give a fuck what any of these people think about me.
“What do you expect me to say?” he snaps.
I blank my face of the hurt and stare at my brother like a stranger, because he is. This person standing before me isn’t the person I knew and loved with every beat of my heart.
I purse my lips and nod my head. “Nothing. I expect nothing from you, Mase. All I ever wanted was a single phone call, a letter or something.” When guilt shines in his eyes, pain roars to life inside me again. He knew where I was. “You left me, Masen, when I needed you the most.”
“You don’t know anything?—”
I cut my brother off before he can continue. “Then fucking tell me!” I scream. “We can go now and you can tell me everything.” His face falls and I know without him needing to say it that he won’t tell me shit. I don’t understand the whole fucking secrecy of that night! “You’re a coward, Masen Kellar.” Anger sparks in his eyes.
“And you fucked my enemy. If you think banging Xaden Devlin is going to repair your reputation and stop everyone from judging you, you’re the fucking fool, Toren,” he snaps.
I laugh but it’s hollow. I say nothing as I turn on my heel. The crowd parts for me, giving me a clear path tohim.He stands there looking like a god of darkness. His eyes are on me as I close the space between us, with my brother and Kellan watching my every move.
As I reach him, I fist my hands in the front of his shirt and pull him to me until my lips are on his. I pull back to savor the shock on my brother’s face, but Xaden wraps his arms around my waist keeping my focus on him.
“Let’s give those bitches a real show, Tink.” I don’t get a chance to digest his words before he grips my waist and lifts me off the sand. Instinctively, my legs wrap around him a second before his lips are on mine again, but this time he pushes his tongue inside my mouth, rendering all my thoughts silent as he becomes my sole focus. The taste of him invades my senses and consumes me. My arms move of their own accord and wrap around his neck, anchoring him to me. Xaden shifts his hold on me and tangles one hand in my hair and the other on my ass as he angles my face to give him better access to my mouth.
This kiss isn’t like the one we shared on the roof. This time I’m a willing participant and getting lost in him.
Before I can fall further into the oblivion he has created, he pulls back and drops me to my feet before him. We stare at each other for a long moment, ignoring the commotion happening behind us. For a split second I forgot why I even came to him until I hear Masen roaring my name. I pull out of Xaden’s hold and turn to face my brother, who is being held back by Darren and a couple of the other Somerset boys.
The way both Masen and Kellan are looking at me now, shows me without words that I drew a line in the sand and leapt across it without remorse, causing an irreparable divide between all of us. Right now, I can’t find it within myself to care about how they feel.
“Get the fuck over here now, Toren,” Masen roars.
I open my mouth to answer him but my reply dies on my tongue when I feel Xaden against my back. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me flush against him, asserting his claim without needing to use words.
“She’s right where she belongs, Kellar.” Those few words hold so much power that it sends a shiver down my spine.
Masen’s face morphs into a mask of pure hatred as he meets Xaden’s stare. “I’ll end you for this.”
Xaden laughs. I spot Cas out of the corner of my eye coming to stand beside us. I hate that he and my brother are on opposite sides, but it’s clear he and Xaden formed a bond that even I can tell is stronger than the one he once shared with Masen and Kellan.
“The game started a year ago and you are only figuring it out now. I’ve been making moves while you buried your dick in anything with a hole, Kellar. I’m always ten steps ahead.” Xaden’s words hang heavy in the air. I’m confused by his meaning, but it’s clear from the look on Kellan and my brother’s faces that they understand exactly what he is saying.
“Go home, Masen,” Cas says in a firm tone, drawing their attention to him.
“You stay the fuck out of this,” Kellan snaps. “You allowed her to fuck that snake and now she will be nothing but a notch on his bedpost.” Kellan tears his gaze from Cas to focus on me. “He only wants you because he knows fucking you will get to your brother. I thought you were smarter than this, Tor.” The condemnation in his tone has me bristling.
