“Come on, guys. You’re making this house hostile.”
They should trust me when I tell them that they don’t want us talking. If there’s going to be any talking between Kyle and I anytime soon, it would be more hostile than our silence.
“I have nothing to apologize for; I’m not the one sleeping with my best friend’s sister,” Kyle spits as his eyes shoot fire at me.
I don’t give a shit what he says about me, but him saying that he’s got nothing to apologize for is a blatant lie. Does he really care that little about his sister?
“Corbin?” Zack prods from a responding comment.
“Sorry, mate, but he can drop dead. The guy that I knew would never have treated his baby sister like that. Until he apologizes to her, this is the situation.”
“Apologize to her? Hayley got you wrapped that tightly around her finger already, has she? She’s a big girl, Corbin, she can fight her own battles.”
I know that. Hayley is smart and strong. She could handle him herself, but she won’t, at least not right now. I’ve seen them fight only a handful of times before, and I know how it works.
They fight, they avoid each other, and then Hayley reaches out to make amends. And apologizes. Well, not this time. I won’t let her cave and be victim to his blatant bullying.
My blood begins to boil, the next words out of my mouth aren’t my proudest. “Trust me, I know she’s a big girl, it’s not exactly her finger I’m wrapped around. Nevertheless, you’ve treated her like shit. She deserves an apology and a medal for putting up with you.”
“You fucker.” Kyle launches across the island at me, his face red. “That’s my sister!”
I admit, I brought the knock to the jaw onto myself. But I had witnesses, he struck first, that makes him fair game. I strike my fist back and manage one hit before we’re pulled apart. Reece pins me in place and we watch as Zack and Travis drag Kyle towards the back of the house.
Once he’s out of sight, I turn and storm towards the front door. Before slamming it, I hear Reece call out, “Don’t do anything stupid.”
I breathe deeply on the way to my car, calming myself down. I start the car and just drive. I don’t have a location in mind, but it’s not a surprise when I pull up outside of Hayley’s building.
I buzz her and Oliver’s apartment, hoping that at least one of them is home. Unfortunately, I have no such luck.
This is getting ridiculous.
Why is she never home?
Whipping out my phone, I dial her number. It doesn’t even ring, it just goes straight to voicemail. I sigh with frustration as I tuck my phone back in my pocket.
So, once again, I find myself waiting outside of Hayley’s older brothers’ apartment, impatiently waiting for her to come home. As frustrated as I am that she’s not home, I don’t blame her. I know how busy she is, especially during the week.
She’s probably at the library studying.
I’d wait there all night if it meant the chance to see her. She may have told me to stay away, and I did, but I can’t do it anymore. No matter what it takes, no matter what she says - I need to see her. It’s been too damn long.
After the week I’ve had, the worst week of my life, I can’t go another minute without seeing her. We need to talk. I know if we just talk, we can work this whole thing out.
Of course, fear begins to settle in, in about twenty minutes.
What if she wasn’t coming home? What if she came home with Lucas?
I’ve seen the way he’s looked at her, I did hear rumors about him asking her out. But I didn’t take much notice of it. I hadn’t even considered the possibility that she might be interested in dating anyone else.
I bang my head against my fist and pray because that’s all I can do!
13
Hayley
Wow.
I don’t think there are words for how awful this date has been. I don’t think it’s him, it’s certainly not me. I just don’t think there’s anything between us. The reason he even asked in the first place still baffles me.
