CHAPTER 22
A few weeks later
“Morning, beautiful.” Soft, firm lips peppered kisses on the length of my spine.
“Hmm,” I muttered against the sheets, smiling widely because I knew exactly who it was.
I pried my eyes open and was immediately hit with the bright rays of the morning sun and a boy with golden hair grinning at me.
“Time for breakfast,” he whispered, pressing soft kisses all over my face.
“Okay.” I smiled, basking in him, extending my limbs into a lazy stretch.
“Get dressed, I’ll wait out there.” His eyes swept over my face. “Don’t think I could last another second in this room with the thought of you naked under the sheets.” He peeled himself off me and rushed out the door while my laughter filled the room.
The past couple of weeks were a roller coaster, and I hardly had the time to catch my breath. After my brother returned to town, shit went south for both him and Evy. My brother ended up in the hospital, giving us all the scare of our lives. It was a long fucking story, but since then, Michael and I had been hiding the fact that we were together and spent most of our time holed up in my apartment, not wanting to worry my brother further since he was still recovering.
I quickly got under the hot shower and dressed in one of my soft, oversized hoodies and fluffy socks before I headed out.
“Babe, I’m ready for breakfast or maybe even you as breakf…” My words caught in my throat as my eyes bugged straight out of my head, and my feet halted to a stop.
Fuck.
A set of furious eyes and surprised ones gazed at me.
My skin prickled from the tension coursing through the room.
“Emmie,” I added a nonchalant tone to my voice. “What are you doing here?”
“Was bored. Wanted to see my sister.” My brother’s voice gave nothing away.
My eyes darted to Mikey, who was standing by the kitchen counter with a full-blown grin on his face. That ass either couldn’t read the room or, knowing him, he did but just didn’t care.
“Lily.” Evy smiled, volleying her eyes between Mikey and me. “You good?”
Despite the cutting nerves swirling in the air, I couldn’t stop the smile that curved my lips. “I’m alright.”
“Lily,” Emmie thundered, drawing my attention away from Evy. And my eyes landed on his heavy glare that pinned Mikey on the spot. “Do you want to explain why you are half naked and why the hell are you calling that fucker babe?”
I swallowed, my heart pounding. “It’s because we, umm…” My eyes darted everywhere, trying to find the right words to explain to my brother that I was fucking his best friend. But I don’t think it mattered how I worded it. He was going to lose it anyway.
When I woke up this morning, this wasn’t on my list. All I wanted to do was spend a slow day with Mikey, catching up on anime.
And now, I was stuck in the middle of this shitstorm.
Why the hell did my brother choose today of all days to visit me?
“Well, I’m waiting.” Emmie’s eyes narrowed.
Evy’s soft voice carried through the room. “Jay, maybe now is not the time.”
“Not now, Evy.” Emmie gave her a pointed look, and her face stiffened.
Uh-oh, if there was anyone who could calm down that ass, it was her. This was going to be a nightmare if he disregarded her.
“Guys, it’s no big deal.” Mikey, the clown who had a death wish, came up to my side and gathered me in his arms. “Emmie, your sister and I are together. Isn’t that amazing?”
One drop of shocked silence slithered through the air before it all went to hell.
“You motherfucker,” Emmie roared, and in a blink of an eye, he was across the room, rolling his arm out of his sling as he planted his heavy fists on Mikey’s face. That fucker just laughed and took it like a pro. At that moment, I didn’t know who was scarier, my brother, with his anger, or Mikey, who didn’t seem the least affected by it.
“Emmie, let him go!” I screamed through the crunch of bones and the spills of Mikey’s blood on the wooden floor.
“I told you to take care of her, not to get inside her pants,” Emmie screamed, holding him by his neck. “I fucking trusted you and told you not to touch my fucking sister.”
“I could say that I’m sorry, but I’m not.” Mikey laughed, spitting out blood.
“Jay, stop. You’re hurting him,” Evy called out. Her eyes were already tinged and shiny, almost as if she was in a daze. “And you’re hurting yourself. You’re going to rip out your stitches!”
But nothing filtered through my brother’s ears as he continued to pound his furious fists on Mikey’s face.
“Emmie.” I grabbed his arm, trying to pull him away. “Stop, you don’t get to decide who I can be with. This is ridiculous. He’s not even defending himself while you’re raging like a madman,” I shouted, but to no avail. It looked like he wasn’t stopping one bit, and with each passing second, I could hardly recognize Mikey’s face with all the purples and reds forming over his skin, and it only sank my heart. He didn’t deserve this.
“Jay, stop,” Evy called out, and my eyes snapped to hers.
I frowned at the single tear that was streaming down the corner of her eye.
“You’ll leave her after this, you hear me?” Emmie’s jaw clenched. “I don’t know what the fuck I would do if I see you with my sister again, you fucker. You’re not allowed to go near her, you hear me? ”
“No can do.” Mikey grinned, showing off his bloody teeth.
That only made my brother’s eyes glint with anger as he squared right to Mikey in a frenzy once again.
“Jay,” Evy cried out. “Don’t you dare separate two people who want to be together. That’s one of the cruelest things to do. If you do that.” She hiccuped. “Then there’s no difference between you and her .” Rivers and rivers of tears flowed out of her eyes.
Stark silence filled the room except for her silent cries.
Emmie’s eyes widened as his raised fist halted midair. His shocked eyes flew to her, and understanding dawned on us.
The reason that Evy and her Jay lost the past six years was not because they fell out of love. It was because someone orchestrated her to sever ties with my brother.
It was clear how this situation must’ve hit a little too close to home for her. She suffered all this time when we thought she was the reason they broke up—the bad guy, but instead, she sacrificed a lot for my brother, and in turn, it ruined her. I hated that her mind was taking her back to that place.
“Sweetheart.” Emmie’s eyes softened, and he dropped Mikey and fully turned his attention to her.
“No, Jay.” She sniffled, turning her back as she rushed out of the apartment.
Emmie cursed without sparing us a second glance as he followed.
“Well, that went well.”
I spun on my feet, and my heart felt like they were being picked apart by the sight in front of me.
Mikey rose to his feet, and I immediately walked up to him, landing a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?” My voice was laced with heavy concern. I hated the way my brother had ruined his beautiful face.
“I’m fine, little mouse. Perfect, in fact. Why? Are you worried about me?” He clamped his arms over my waist, pulling me closer to him.
I sighed, running a light finger over his broken lips. “Now is not the time to joke around. If not for Evy, my brother could’ve seriously injured you. Why did you let him do that? Why didn’t you defend yourself?”
He shrugged. “He was right. I don’t deserve you. I never did, and I still don’t, and if I had a sister, I would’ve done the same thing—keep her far away from the damaged rock star with no real talent who fucks everything with a skirt.”
I clenched my teeth hard and stabbed a finger on his chest. “Neither you nor my brother ever get to tell me who the fuck I deserved to be with or not. I get to choose that. And the next time I hear you say that you’ve got no talent, I’m going to add another punch to your face. Also, by your own admission, you haven’t fucked anyone in years. Well… except for me, of course.” A splash of pink wormed its way up my cheeks.
“I just got a great idea.” He grinned, circling his fingers around my wrist. “Why don’t we go repeat what we did last night? We can ditch the good old missionary and try out something new?”
I exhaled a frustrated breath. “Stop joking, you’re fucking bleeding.” I swiped my finger over the corner of his brow. “I’m never going to forgive my brother for this. He had no right to beat you up when we could’ve had a conversation like adults,” I mumbled, dashing to the kitchen and running a fresh cloth under some cold water.
“It was a long time coming, Lily. It was bound to happen.”
I wrung out the excess and ordered him to sit.
“Yes, ma’am.” He gave a playful salute and lowered himself onto the breakfast seat.
I slowly wiped away all the crimson streaked on his pretty face. “I fucking hate my brother now,” I cursed under my breath.
“See how bad he hurt me?” He grimaced in a grave tone. “Why don’t you nurse me back to health, naked, and make one of my wildest dreams come to life? And kiss all my boo-boos?”
I gave him a pointed look. “If you don’t behave, I’m going to smack you harder than my brother did.”
“Noooo,” he whined, pouting.
I discarded the wet cloth now soaked in red to the side, grabbed a few packs of ice, and pressed them near his chin, which was the worst. His black eye was swelling up and he had a few scratches here and there. Other than that, he looked a lot better now.
“Thanks, Lily.” His face softened, his greens glittering under the morning light. “No one has ever taken care of me like that before, you know.” His voice was so heavy that I almost couldn’t hear him.
My heart melted, and the clarity of his words resonated loudly for some reason. He was right. Mikey was the one who had always taken care of the band for years, and no one really noticed. When Emmie was drowning, it was Mikey who pulled him back. When the load was too much on Katy, he took some off her shoulders, and when Matty got frustrated, it was Mikey who cheered him up, and when Lan was lost, it was Mikey who was by his side.
This man masked how incredible he truly was, shadowed by his playfulness and his doubts of self-worth; the only person who was Mikey’s enemy was himself.
I couldn’t deny the way he cared for me these past few weeks. Maybe that was the reason that all my past resolve and anger for him faded into nothing so quickly, so fast. I refused to believe that he had just ghosted our friendship without a reason, now more than ever. My deepest insecurities used to think that maybe it was me, but it wasn’t me or him. It was something else.
I halted my musings and returned my eyes to him. “Well then, I’ll take care of you till my last breath, Mikey. That’s a promise.” I pressed a soft kiss on his bruised lips.
The smile that lit his face just about took my breath away.
There he goes, weakening my heart further.