Page 13 of Break Me Gently

Fucking poppet. Who the fuck did he think he was?

I swallowed the sausage and sliced the egg. The yolk burst open and spread like a pool of blood on my plate.

She wasn’t changing her surname.

Ever.

Chapter 7

Amber

I was loading the dishes into the dishwasher when someone grabbed my hips. I yelped and swung the frying pan in the air. The metallic thud was buffered by Zach’s thick hair.

He glared at me and rubbed his head.

“Everything has changed around here.”

I shook my head and put the frying pan in the dishwasher.

“What did you expect after five years?” I muttered.

When he didn’t say anything, I continued.

“Mum struggled for a long time. Luke is the first guy she’s dated since… the funeral.”

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. When he did look at me, I braced myself for those green-gold eyes flecked with brown. His eyes hardened for a moment.

“Have you dumped Nolan yet?” he asked, grabbing my wrist.

I shook my head.

“Get rid of the deadweight, Amber. I’m not messing around,” he growled.

“What’s it to you, anyway?” I hissed, trying to free my wrist.

He glared at me some more before releasing me and storming out of the kitchen.

Asshole. He was supposed to wipe the table down.

❧ ❧ ❧

I wondered if I should give Nolan his present back, but then again, I did get him that expensive train model. I tapped my pencil on my book, stressing over not wanting to hurt his feelings.

But that kiss.

It was everything I’d dreamt of.

It was so Zach.

Did I sneak downstairs and spy on him with his various girlfriends in his car, or sometimes when his bedroom door just happened to be left open?

I was young and curious. Sue me.

Or I had been, until Alisha. That vile rush of shame and heavy feeling in the pit of my belly rushed back. The way I’d wished for the earth to open and swallow me whole that day.

I’d gone from hero-worshipping to something darker. If my mum knew, she’d send me to a therapist, and instead of uni, I’d be locked up in a padded cell.

With a quick swipe, I unlocked my phone and went onto his posts. I swallowed, but scrolled until I got to the photo someone had tagged him in. Head half turned, lips curled in a half pout, half smile, thick waves of golden-brown curls, and those eyes that seemed to glow.