Page 9

I was so consumed in my thoughts that I didn’t immediately notice the door handle turning. Moments later, Graham stood in my doorway, surveying my room with his arms folded.

“What do you want?” I asked, stiffening.

He smirked. “I heard the music playing, and I thought, surely Erin isn’t listening to some girl band. I thought you were into death metal now.”

“Dying my hair black doesn’t mean I’m into death metal.”

“Yeah, but you also got the nose piercing and the funeral wardrobe,” he shot back with derision as he took a step inside my room. Everything inside me turned to ice. Graham cocked his head and folded his arms before leaning against the wall and surveying me.

“You used to be so pretty. Then all of a sudden you started to change everything about yourself. Your sister said it was just teenage rebellion, and I thought so, too, but then it became more obvious what was going on.”

“Oh?” I replied, really wishing to be anywhere else in the world right then.

“I realised that everything you did to yourself was because I said I didn’t like it at one point or another.” A flash of venom entered his gaze, and my lungs constricted. It appeared Graham wasn’t as dim as I imagined. “So you started changing your image just to fuck with me. Honestly, Erin, it’s kind of pathetic.”

“The way I look has absolutely nothing to do with you,” I lied, casually rolling my eyes and trying not to reveal how tense and scared I was. He had my back up, but I refused to show it.

He scoffed. “The only reason I gave you compliments back when Sloane and I first got together was because I was trying to boost your confidence, but you obviously completely misinterpreted it. You and your sister had been through a lot, and you needed a father figure. I was trying to be nice to you, and you took it entirely the wrong way.”

I couldn’t hold in my derision. Father figure? Graham wasn’t even a tenth of the man my dad had been. “Yeah, I really needed the local drug peddler as a new dad.”

Something flashed in his gaze at my tone. “There she is.”

“I don’t like you, Graham. There. Is that what you want me to admit? In my opinion, Sloane taking you back was the biggest mistake she ever made.”

What was I doing? Suddenly my survival instinct of pretending to be fine with him had snapped, and I was letting my true feelings out. But I just couldn’t keep them in any longer.

“Sloane and I are meant to be. It’s not our fault you’re jealous of our connection. Your sister deserves to be happy, and she’s done enough for you. You can’t have her all to yourself forever.”

Each word was like a stab in the gut because his voice was filled with a determination that told me he wasn’t going to be out of our lives again any time soon. That would require my sister to experience a massive wakeup call, but I didn’t know what would finally make her see how truly scummy her boyfriend was. I mean, his debts had landed her in the hospital, and she still forgave him.

I stood from my bed. “I don’t want her all to myself. I’d just rather her be with anyone other than you. Now get out of my room!”

He laughed darkly and stepped farther into the room instead of leaving.

“Are you jealous? Is that what this whole change is about? You punishing me for being with your sister when really you want me for yourself?”

Heat rose up my neck as I stood up from the bed, ready to run if I had to. “If you’re trying to make me vomit, you’re on the right track. And if you’ve forgotten, I have a boyfriend who I like very much. Now I said get out.”

“Oh yeah,” he scoffed. “Your little boyfriend.”

“Little?” I snapped. “He’s taller and more muscular than you are.” He didn’t like that one bit because his cheeks turned dark red, and his next words hissed out between clenched teeth. “Boys like that use girls like you for one thing, Erin, and once he gets it, you’ll be thrown in the trash pile.”

He moved again. Closer. His hand lifted before I could step back. He caught a strand of my hair between his fingers. Slowly, he rubbed it between them, like he was inspecting it. Like he had the right. My hatred screamed at me to lash out, but my survival instincts had me remaining still.

“Like I said … you’ve changed a lot,” he murmured. “Dyeing your hair. Losing weight. All of it.”

I was truly frozen then. I couldn’t move my body, even though my brain was telling me to run. My heart slammed hard against my ribs, too fast, too loud. My breath turned shallow, catching slightly in my throat like it couldn’t decide how to move.

“Don’t touch me,” I said, my voice breaking slightly at the end.

His fingers didn’t leave my hair straight away.

“I’m just looking at you,” he said, his words gentle, but I felt the danger in them. It had every pore in my body bunched tight. “Wondering who all this is for.”

My hands curled at my sides, nails pressing into my palms just to stay grounded.

“It’s not for you,” I said. “Nothing about me is for you.”