“I just… Nothing is wrong with what you’re wearing.” Everything is wrong with it. Her body is on display for all to see, and my cock is growing harder by the second. She is tempting me, cracking the small amount of control I have. My mind is weak when it comes to Gabriella. She makes everything foggy, and stringing a thought together has become difficult.
Gabriella jerks out of my hands, unzips my jacket, and tosses it in my face. “I like what I’m wearing.”
Heaven claps, then whistles. “Me too!”
I ball up the jacket and throw it at him like a baseball, smacking him right in the face. Gabriella doesn’t see. She is bent down, grabbing the puck I dropped on the floor and Heaven’s eyes fly from me to her ass.
I stomp up next to him and lay my hand around the base of his neck, squeezing so hard, I know he feels pain. Pressure points are a fucking blessed curse. I bend down and turn his head to the side; the smug bastard has a smile on his face. “Stop looking at her, Heaven. Stop complimenting her. Just stop.”
“Why? You aren’t. She’s been here five days, and you just give her space as if she’s a damn disease. Does it bother you? Do you think she’s your brother’s leftovers? Cause that’s fucked up, dude. She didn’t choose that life—”
Before I can think, my fist lands across his mouth, wanting him to shut up. I don’t know what came over me. I hate him talking about her like that, and it isn’t even about her, per se, but me thinking I view her in that way.
Does everyone think this way? Does Gabriella think I don’t want her because I think she is used up? Just how low do people think of me?
“Woah, what the fuck!” Jaxon shouts and runs to Heaven’s defense. Right, because he is the good guy who never does any wrong. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Jaxon lowers himself to the ground. “You okay, buddy?”
Heaven licks the blood off his lip and laughs. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” Gabriella’s soft, angel-like voice floats closer to us, and she walks behind the couch, and her head falls to Heaven’s shoulder. “I can’t believe he did that. That isn’t the Sebastian I know.”
I clench my jaw and fists at the same time, doing my best not to burst and show how angry I am at everyone. I only want to cover up her body because I don’t want anyone else seeing it. I am only trying to be a good man by giving her time after my brother tortured her.
But fuck me, right? I am the bad guy.
“Well, maybe you don’t know me like you thought you did,” I say as I stalk toward the door of the game room.
“Walk out that door, Sebastian Knight, and I will put rotten milk in your coffee.”
Gabriella’s threat isn’t expected. And to most, it wouldn’t sound like a good one, but to me, it is one of the worst things anyone could ever say to me. I thrive off my coffee.
“You won’t even notice. I’ll steal the milk from the fridge and keep it … for weeks!” she shrieks, taking a step forward with a finger up as she speaks. “I’ll make sure it gets so nasty and lumpy and smelly, that I will gag when I twist the cap off, and then when you aren’t looking, I’ll pour the chunky, rotten, goopy, and coagulated substance in your hot, steamy coffee. Then, with a kind smile, I’ll stir it until the clumps are gone and wish you a good fucking morning!” Gabriella shouts at me, really yells at me, something she has never done. Her chest rises and falls. Her attempt to frighten me into staying in the room is a weak one, a bit humorous and disgusting. It is the disgust that has me dropping my hand from the door.
A few chuckles surrounded us, but not enough to break the tension. It is obvious Gabriella is pissed off, I just forgot how cute she is when she is angry. She is like a puppy growling, not that I’ll ever tell her that, then she’ll bite me.
She points to Heaven, who is smiling, but she glares at him and his smile fades and is replaced with a scowl, the trickster. “Apologize to him. He did not deserve a punch in the face; if anyone is acting like an asshole it would be you, for hitting him in the first place.”
“I’m not apologizing,” I argue. I’m a man. I have pride, and I'm not going to apologize, especially after what he said. “He knows exactly what he said. If anyone needs to apologize, it’s him. That’s final.”
“I’m sorry that I hurt your precious feelings with the fucking truth,” Heaven says, his lip swelling.
I take a step forward to give him another hit across the face, but Gabriella stands in front of me, laying a hand in the middle of my chest. “Stop this. It isn’t you.”
“It is me,” I say, glaring into her concerned eyes.
She shakes her head. “It isn’t. I know you.” She rubs her hand over my heart, and the buzz of her touch has my anger expiring, just like that fucking milk she talked about poisoning my drink with. “I know you. You don’t have to be so angry anymore. I’m here.”
Everyone seems to realize the moment has shifted and they turn their heads to the game. Jaxon has gotten an ice pack for Heaven, and he lays it against his lip while giving me a thumbs-up. I don’t know another man who is so good-hearted and forgiving. He should be furious with me.
I lay my hand on top of Gabriella’s, the one that rubbed gently across my chest, and take a deep breath. “I have every reason to be angry, baby. Every single reason.” My anger isn’t pointed at her. It is pointed at me. I have no idea what to do with myself now that she is here. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for, and I am ruining it. I am so infuriated with myself that she has been under my brother’s influence for all these years, and I couldn’t have saved her. I tried.
My efforts weren’t good enough.
I am so fucking angry. I want my time back, the time I missed with her, time when she didn’t feel pain, humiliation, and sadness. I am fucking furious that she jumped into the ocean because it was her only way out. She knew she could have died. She knew death would be her only way of getting away from Kendrick’s slimy fingers.
I am angry that love couldn’t be stronger to stop horrible things from happening. How long did she live in hate to hopefully find love in life again?
“Sebastian?” Gabriella’s hand holds my face, a touch so light it reminds me of a feather. Her fingers are cold, but her amber eyes hold warmth. The longer we stare at one another, the more my body heats, responding to her attention locked on me. “Talk to me. You don’t have the luxury of stomping off whenever you want. You might have been burly before, but now that I’m here, I want to coax you back to reality, Sebastian.”
I’m not too sure if this is reality to be honest.
“Come on, let’s go swimming.”
“Do you know how?” I ask her, remembering all those years ago when she said she never learned. I always wanted to teach her.
“No, but I have a feeling I’ll be okay,” she says as she walks away. She pauses when she realizes I’m not following her and looks back, extending a hand in invitation. Her strength, something I know she always had, surprised me. Her shoulders are back, her chin is high, and she has this wisdom in her eyes that I’ve never seen before. It isn’t fear or sadness, but endless determination peering at me through the depth of her honey-colored eyes.