I glare down at his hand on her. My blood boils. “Let go of your sister.”
“Stay away from Blesk,” he warns. “She isn’t a trophy for you to win.”
I look at Blesk to see her reaction.God,I hope she knows that’s not what this is. Her face has fallen, that light I’ve been building behind her eyes snuffed out. Erik did that to her—my jaw tightens so hard my teeth ache.
“Don’t look at her!” He draws my attention back to him, snapping my calm. “Look at me.”
“Let go of her arm, Erik.”
“Don’t tell me what to do with Blesk. She isn’t yours. What would Pembie say about you wandering off with other girls in the dark, hey?”
“You’re being a fucking dickhead, Erik.”
He releases her elbow, but Blesk doesn’t respond with relief. She doesn’t back away or move from him. She stays exactly where he left her.
She feels safe with him?
Then why do I feel she isn’t?
He steps towards me, getting up close, our chests almost touching. “So you fuck Pembie all day and then come after my sister when she goes to bed?” He snarls and shoves me backwards.
I catch myself.
Fucker!
Blesk covers her gasp.
I lock my jaw, shaking my head at him, glancing at her, trying not to fucking retaliate, because I want to knock him out cold. My fingers are curling into my palms, ready to do just that, but she shakes her head.‘Don’t.’
Fuck.
I can't figure out if she means it—or if she's trying to stop me from making it worse for herself later. I've never been in this situation. My insides are roaring to punch him, while she is telling me to do nothing. I'm tearing in two.
I gotta get out of here before I do something fucking stupid. “You’ve had too much to drink, Erik. Walk home. Don’t be an arsehole to your sister.” I shoot Blesk a quick look, fighting the urge to stay, trying to make sure she knows I don’twantto leave her, but have to.
I tear myself away from her.
From him.
From them.
Don’t retaliate…
Fucking Erik.
With Erik’s eyes burning into my spine, I jog across the road towards home, the last five minutes on loop in my mind. His hand on her elbow. The way he said her name like she was his property. The way he said, ‘Don’t look at her. Look at me.’ Not ‘she’s my sister’ or ‘it’s late.’ Nothing a normal brother would say—I know this—nothingIwould say about my sisters, Cassidy and Flick. Just pure… Fuck, I don’t know… Possessiveness? I knew that fucker hated me at times, but this is unhinged.
Blesk’s face appears in my mind again—her sad expression but the way she stayed close to him—and before I know what I’m doing, my shoe connects with a trash can. It clangs across the path, garbage spilling everywhere. Not enough. My fist slams into a tree. A hiss escapes through my clenched teeth as pain rips up my arm. I shake my hand, blood already trickling between my knuckles, skin split open.
Tree: One.
Konnor: Zero.
The throbbing in my hand drowns out the questions I don’t want to answer. Like why she didn’t step away from him when he released her arm? Why she stayed close to him despite clearly being uncomfortable? Was she uncomfortable? If she were uncomfortable, she would have backed away, right? What does that closeness mean? That… I don’t know… It’s like a conditioned response to him. The way a dog follows an owner even if the owner just kicked him.
Despite the pain in my fist, I welcome the distraction now. It's better than thinking about Blesk and Erik together or the way he grabbed her elbow. Better than letting my mind swarm with regret over leaving her with him. Better than calling this thing inside me what it is.Jealousy. Better than that.
I don’t even know her.
