27. Elliot
ELLIOT
Isit on the sofa surrounded by my boys but I’m not paying them any attention. Instead, my focus is solely on Abigail who is in the kitchen with the girls.
My anger bubbles away inside me like a volcano that’s about to erupt.
He knows.
My father knows.
Not only that, but he broke into her dorm room and ambushed her.
How dare he?
How fucking dare he?
My hands tremble in my lap as I fight with my desire to go and find him.Squeezing my eyes closed, I try to force myself to think rationally.
Being impulsive won’t get me anywhere.
My father is nothing if not calculated and malicious. He’ll have a plan for whichever way I react. And honestly, he’s probably expecting me to turn up and attempt to have this out with him.
He wants to see me while I’m vulnerable, and if he has any clue about how I feel about Abigail then he knows the state of mind I’ll be in.
He’ll be able to hurt me in a way he never has before.
He’ll cut me deeper and leave me bleeding out without a care in the world.
Fucking arsehole.
I hate him.
Hate him more than I ever thought possible.
The moment I open my eyes, she’s there watching me cautiously across the room while the girls try to distract her from what she’s been through tonight.
Because of me.
He sought her out because of me.
I drop my head into my hands and suck in a ragged breath.
“Bro?” Reese says, his hand landing on my shoulder. “Talk to us,” he begs.
I wait another second before looking up at him and then Oak.
“You look like you’re about to go and do something really fucking stupid,” Oak points out.
“What the fuck else am I meant to do here?” I ask helplessly, looking between the two of them as if the answer will magically appear in their eyes.
“Fuck that,” Theo barks from my other side. “He deserves for you to turn up and rip him a new one for this. How fucking dare he go anywhere near your girl.”
“Theo,” Reese warns.
“What? I’m so fucking done with controlling cunts of fathers. It’s time Elliot stood up for himself.”
“It’s not going to fucking get him anywhere though, is it?” Oak asks. “This is Johnathon Eaton we’re talking about.”
“I don’t give a fuck who it is. No one fucks with one of ours and gets away with it.”
Hearing Theo stand up for Abigail so fiercely makes my chest swell. I fucking love that they have so easily embraced her as one of us after hiding in the shadows for so long.
She deserves to have people standing with her, helping her discover the incredible person she’s always kept hidden away from the world.
“This is all my fault,” I mutter, feeling those words right to the tips of my toes. “All of this. If I never—” I swallow the words as I watch my girl.
My girl.
Fuck.
She’s everything.
So strong, and resilient. Sweet and caring. Smart and funny.
Every-fucking-thing.
And I’m bringing all this shit on her already hard life.
She deserves so much more than all of this. But the truth is that being with me is always going to come with drama that she doesn’t need.
“Don’t go there,” Reese warns, predicting what I’m about to say.
“But it’s fucking true. If I never let her get close then she wouldn’t have a reason to have to go toe-to-toe with my father.”
“But she did,” Oak reasons. “She stood up to him for you.”
Dragging my hand down my face, I continue to watch her with my heart a runaway train in my chest.“She shouldn’t have to. Being with me shouldn’t result in?—”
“Elliot,” Reese snaps.
“I can’t be the reason she has to do this. I can’t. It’s?—”
“She chose you, you fucking idiot,” Oak says fiercely. “She stood in front of your old man, looked him in the eyes and… She. Chose. You.
“She could have backed away. She could have run in the opposite direction. But she didn’t. She’s here. Right fucking there, in fact. In your home, in your life, by choice.”
“Oak’s right,” Reese adds. “She fucking loves you and she’s in this fight with you because she wants to be. Let her fight for you.”
“Fuck,” I mutter watching her every movement as he pushes from the kitchen counter she was leaning against and begins to move closer.
She’s wearing a long flowing skirt and a plain white t-shirt. Her hair is down, one side pulled across her face in an attempt to hide her scars like it always is. She’s barely wearing any make-up, she doesn’t need to. Her pale skin, her freckles, her scars… Everything about her is perfect. I wouldn’t change a single thing. All I want to do is take the pain away. Make everything about her life easier, not harder.
A loud, pained sigh spills from my lips as she continues to move closer, her eyes locked on mine.
“She looks pretty set on her decision,” Theo muses as she closes the space between us.
“It’s a good look on her,” Reese adds before clapping a hand on my shoulder in support.
“Hey,” Abigail says when she gets to me.
“Red,” I muse, staring up at her in awe.
After everything she’s been through, how is she still standing, let alone willing to fight. Fight for me.
For us.
She fucking blows me away.
“Have you got a moment?” she whispers, keeping her focus on me.
Theo elbows me in the arm and I push to my feet, stepping closer to her. Wrapping my hand around the side of her neck, I lower my mouth to her ear and whisper. “I have every single moment for you, Red.”
Her breathing falters and she leans closer, her body seeking mine out.Narrowing her eyes, she studies me, trying to learn all my secrets without me saying a word.
The curious stares of our friends burn into my back as we stand there lost in our own world.
“Come on,” I say, taking her hand and leading her towards the stairs.
“She chose you, you fucking idiot. She stood in front of your old man, looked him in the eyes and… She. Chose. You.”Oak’s words from before slam into me and before I know what I’m doing, I drag Abigail in front of me and push her up against the wall.
“Elliot,” she gasps before my hand wraps around her throat, squeezing possessively. Her eyes darken, her mouth popping open in surprise as her chest begins to heave.
“You chose me,” I whisper, moving closer and pinning her to the wall with my hips as well.
“Of… Of course I did,” she says, a small frown pinching her brows. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”
I shake my head, barely able to process all of this.
Of course I hoped she would.
But telling me she would and actually doing it are two different things.
“There are only three other people in the world who have ever done that, and they’re the arseholes sitting out there,” I tell her honestly.
She smirks. “Not anymore.”
“Fuck. I love you,” I confess before crashing my lips to hers.
Her tongue immediately sneaks out and joins mine as her hands land on my body.
I kiss her as if it’s our first and last all rolled into one.
She chose me when the easiest option would be to run. She stood up for me, and is willing to fight with me.
“Elliot,” she cries when I wrap my hands around the back of her thighs and lift her up the wall.
The fabric of her skirt is a challenge I could do without, but in only a few seconds, I have it up around her waist as I palm her arse.
“What are you— Oh God,” she hisses as I grind my hips against her, letting her feel just how hard I am for her.
“Need you, Red,” I confess, kissing up her throat before nipping her earlobe and making her cry out. “I need you. Right. Fucking. Now.”
“Oh my God. We can’t, Elliot. They’ll hear. They’re?—”
“Don’t give a fuck,” I grunt as I shove my hand between us, ripping my jeans open and freeing my aching dick.
“Oh God,” she moans as I shift her position and drag her knickers to one side.
“Are you ready for me, Red?”
Her cheeks blaze the colour of her nickname, silently giving me the answer I need.
Dragging the head of my cock through her folds, I coat myself in her juices before finding her entrance.I’m desperate to push inside her and feel her squeezing me so fucking tight I forget my own goddamn name.
“Please,” she whimpers when I pause just a centimetre inside her.
Her muscles ripple, desperately trying to drag me deeper.
But I don’t move. I don’t do anything but stare down into her eyes.
“Me and you, Red. Nothing else matters.”
I hold her eyes, waiting for her to say the words I need to hear.
The guys are right. I don’t need to go racing to my father to have it out with him. I need to be right here. Here with my girl, the one who’s going to stand beside me and fight this.
“You and me, Elliot,” she repeats. “Nothing else matters.”
I thrust forward, making her cry out and leaving very little question about what’s happening up here right now.
“I don’t care what he threatens me with,” Abigail forces out as I set a frantic pace. “He can do his worst. I’m not ashamed.”
“Fuck, Red. You’re incredible.”
In only minutes, my balls are drawing up.
I want it to go on forever. I want to lose myself in her and never come up for air.
“Never going to get enough of this. Never.”
Pulling her arse from the wall, I fuck her deeper, harder, giving her everything I have despite knowing that it’ll never be enough.
“Yes. Yes. Elliot,” she cries, making my chest puff out with pride.
My girl.
My fucking girl.
With her hands gripping my upper arms and her nails sinking deliciously into my skin, she comes all over my dick, squeezing me impossibly tight and giving me little choice but to fall over the edge with her.
“Abigail,” I roar as my cock jerks deep inside her, filling her with my seed. “Fuck.”
Before my limbs give out from the intensity of the release, I pull her from the wall and lower her to the stairs. It’s not the most comfortable place to lay her, but I need a minute before even considering carrying her up to my bed where she belongs.
I’ve barely come back to myself when noise from downstairs hits my ears.
“Oh my God,” Abigail gasps, quickly covering her face with her hands as the round of applause from downstairs gets louder.
“Fucking morons,” I mutter into the crook of Abigail’s neck.
She laughs deliriously, her arms wrapping around me. She holds me so tight, I can’t help but wonder if she thinks I’m going to try to escape.
“We’re going to figure this out, Red. One way or another, I’m going to break free. The only person I belong to is you.”