Chapter 10 #2
How do I want them to work out? No fucking clue. But I’m hopeful, so that’s something new.
“I definitely am.”
Kai pulls his shoulders back, and the look in his eye shows me that my wild boy is back. He wants to see what I’m going to do to make Reis' life hell.
I’m not the sweet little girl they left behind. I had to grow up and defend myself really quickly.
Reis is going to regret a lot of things.
Kai steps back, gesturing for me to open the door, while Adam and Markus just loiter around, here for the showdown.
Or for back up. For which of us, I’m not sure.
I point to the door next to the one I woke up in, and turn back to them. “That one’s his?”
Adam nods, smirking. Markus crosses his arms over his chest and winks at me. Kai bites his lower lip to keep from laughing and nods, his eyes shining with mischief.
Raising an eyebrow, I crack a small smile and narrow my eyes in determination to ruin this man's day.
Taking the shiny brass doorknob in my hand, I turn it quietly before slipping into the dark room. And I don’t mean that just because Reis has the curtains drawn. I mean, the whole room just screams darkness, hiding, mystery, hurt. The vibe as I enter his room nearly knocks me back.
Pain. Lost. Yearning. Darkness.
I push those feelings aside because right now, it’s not about his pain. It’s about what fuckery he decided to do to me and getting revenge for it.
My eyes take just a second to adjust to the darkness, but once they do, I stop in my tracks by the sight before me.
Reis is sleeping on his stomach with both hands under his pillow.
It’s like he’s subconsciously showcasing his muscles and my jaw drops.
The soft snores tell me he’s unaware of my presence, so I can take a moment to just observe him.
There’s beautiful artwork on his back; an amazing tattoo of a prairie with a single tree in the distance.
It takes my breath away, honestly. It looks just like the place where he built me a treehouse during my sophomore year.
Reis spear-headed the effort to make it, saving money to buy any bits he needed, scrapping the lumber from different things, and slowly taking wood from his dad’s pile in the garage.
I still remember when he unveiled it to me. I find myself getting lost in the memory of one of the safest places I’d known before it was ripped from me.
It was right when the bullying was getting bad. Markus had turned down a cheerleader, and she was sure that it was because I was fucking him—and the others.
The rumors started; the quiet hazing, the rough shoves in the hallway. Nothing the guys would have noticed, or the teachers would get wind of.
The day it all came to a head, that same girl… she took my bra and underwear during gym class, and told me I didn’t need them since I was so easy anyway. I needed to “be ready to be their cum slut.”
I ditched the last period of class and raced to one of the fields out by Reis’ house.
He lived on a big piece of land with his family, so I ran there, out into the open and headed for the lone tree.
The place where I could be alone but still feel supported.
I vividly remember falling into the tree with no more energy left in my body, and letting my frustration out in a blood-curdling scream.
My fingers traced the five names along the trunk Kai carved into the bark one night.
There was nothing special about that tree, nothing at all.
But it was the guys, the care, and friendship I always felt there that built my love for the space.
We’d spend hours laying out in the sun, just talking and doing homework.
It was far enough away where we didn’t have to deal with Reis’ terrible mother, but close enough that we were still technically on their property.
And that’s where he found me. Reis, out of breath and sweating, knelt beside me as I lay on the ground with my hand resting against our names.
“How’d you know I was here?” I asked, my voice hoarse from tears.
“Where else would you be but at our spot?” he replied, lying on his back beside me. “You want to talk about it?”
“Does it even matter?”
Reis rolled onto his side and held my hand. “Melody, we didn’t know where you were or what happened. You weren’t waiting for us after school. You look like you’ve been crying. Please, just tell me what happened.”
“Nothing,” I answered softly, hoping and praying he didn’t look deeper into it. The guys were popular in a cool outcast kind of way, and made it clear I was off-limits to everyone else. They weren’t above fighting to protect me, so people usually did what they said.
But that never stopped people from doing shitty things to me quietly or behind their backs. And I was too scared of making it worse to say anything.
Reis and I laid there in silence, just holding hands and watching the clouds float by.
“We should build a treehouse,” Reis blurted out, pulling me from my dozing.
“I can’t build anything,” I chuckled. “Don’t you remember my attempt at a birdhouse in shop class?”
Reis had laughed hard, a full-belly laugh that filled the air and warmed my heart. I still sit and try to remember exactly how melodic it sounded when I’m sad because it immediately cheers me up.
“Oh, I remember. I had wood glue stuck to my hand and flaking off painfully for days. That thing barely stood up.” He rolled to the side to look at me, a twinkle of mirth in his eyes as he looked at me like I was the most important thing in his world.
“No, Mel, I think we should build a treehouse for you. The guys and I. It’d be nice to have someplace to run to when you need it. ”
“I already do.” I shrugged, looking at him from under my eyelashes as I thought I confessed my feelings. “Here. With you.”
Reis smiled at me softly and squeezed our fingers together. “I’m going to build you a treehouse,” he vowed.
We laid there for the rest of the afternoon until the last bell of school rang, and the others came to check on me. A few weeks later, the tree house was built. We spent all summer hanging out in that basic wooden box, sweating our asses off and being so freaking happy.
So now, seeing that tattooed on his back… It stops me in my tracks, and my heart swells.
Then he turns to his side, and I see a portrait of some beautiful goddess across his side; her face clear and strong, her eyes somehow filled with love but also strength, and long flowing dark hair looking like a halo around her head. It’s gorgeous, artful, and immediately makes me jealous as hell.
Who is she? This warrior woman he cares about so much that he had a portrait done of her in ink and permanence… That insecurity is enough to make the rage and need for retribution fill my body again.
Reis groans in his sleep, rolling onto his stomach before punching his pillow and flipping his head away from me. The room fills with soft snores again.
I want to take a pillow and smother him with it.
Moving closer to him, as quietly as possible, I stare at his sleeping face and smile. I know that he’s going to be just as pissed off as I am in a few moments.
Making a fist, I cock my hand back and punch that asshole square in the eye, as hard as I possibly can.
“What the fuck ?!” Reis jumps up, screaming. He holds his eye and scrambles out of bed, away from any further onslaught of punches. His hand drops the sheet at his waist to cradle his eye while he flails around looking for the source of his pain.
Cue the gasp that leaves my lips before I feel the blush warm my cheeks. I have to ignore it in an attempt to keep my composure.
I know I’m failing.
But oh my god, this is the guy I’ve been obsessed with since I was sixteen. I peek down so fucking quickly, and oh my god . All the guys have slept in a state of undress, but Reis apparently sleeps absolutely naked. My eyes nearly roll back in my head as I imagine how his thick cock would feel.
I snap my attention back to his face, straighten my spine, and refuse to let my eyes wander any lower than his face. I cannot, and will not, let him think that he can fluster me.
Even if he can. Did. Is.
“I should be saying that shit to you!” I scream, pointing a finger at him and standing my ground.
“Drugging me?! What were you thinking, Reis? You think that because you’re a hot shit rockstar now, you can fucking drug someone to get what you want?
” Reis drops his hand from his eye, and I don’t even try to hide the smile crossing my face when I see the bruise that’s already forming.
Although, it does look like someone got to him first by the shadow already there.
And we aren’t going to talk about how my knuckles are throbbing .
“Well, I’ll tell you something you don't know about me anymore, since you’re so far up your own ass,” I snap, not moving an inch as he steps off the bed and crowds my space.
Naked as the day he was born, he doesn’t break eye contact with me at all, not even to blink.
“I am not the same girl you knew back in high school, so be prepared for your shit to be fucked up.”
I can hear the intake of breath and quiet chuckles from the guys standing at the door.
Reis just smirks, his eyes dark and dangerous as he looks at me and only me.
I don’t know if he’s clocked the guys watching us in the doorway, but he hasn’t looked their way once.
“I did what I had to do. You were starting to get annoying.” He shrugs.
“You have a hell of a punch. Good luck explaining this to our manager.”
“Fuck your manager. What you should be worried about is trying to save your reputation from the public when they all find out you roofied me.”
Reis tsk-tsk-tsks and shakes his head. “You wouldn’t do that.”
I swear steam comes out of my ears, I’m so pissed off. “Wouldn’t I?”
“The Melody I know wouldn’t.”
Scoffing, I cross my arms over my chest, and set my jaw to the side. The fucking nerve of this man.
“I’m not the Melody you knew. Not anymore,” I sneer.
“Just like you’ve obviously changed, so have I.
Neither of us for the better. Though I can at least say I haven’t betrayed someone I used to care about.
” I turn to leave the room, pushing the guys out of my way.
I can’t watch how this new Reis so openly doesn’t care about anyone or anything.
I can’t stay here, letting them all keep trying to fuck with my head and dangle what I’ve always wanted, before they’ll yank it away and break my heart. Again.
“Melody!” Adam calls for me.
“Mel!” Markus shouts.
“Come back here right now!” Reis demands.
I roll my eyes at the sound of his voice. I hear them calling for me, but I have to get out of here.
Luckily, while the place seems fancy and grand, it’s not confusing. I’m able to locate the front door and slip on some shoes that look like they might fit me.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Reis follows me with a sheet wrapped around his waist, dragging the rest of the fabric behind him like a gown.
“Away from here.”
“You can’t,” he insists. If I didn’t know better, I might say I heard some nerves in his voice.
“Watch me,” I snap, flipping my hair and standing up straight before opening the door. Looking at him pointedly, I slam it shut and race away from this chaos.
“Melody!” he yells through the closed door.
The hallway is cool and silent, and I feel like I can finally take a breath. Resting my back against the wall, I breathe deeply. Just for a moment, before pressing the button for the elevator.
I don’t have a phone, money, or my ID. I don’t have anything on me but the clothes on my back. I’ve been with less before, and made it through.
Ding! The shiny metal elevator doors open and I step inside, smirking to myself. I’ll be fine. Right as the doors are about to close, a man jumps inside. The door nearly closes on his leg, but his blonde hair gives him away.
The reason I didn’t hear Kai call after me was because he was changing his clothes to follow me. His wicked grin heats my blood as he brushes off his shirt, making a show of repositioning his clothes.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.
He smiles brightly. “You didn’t think that we were going to let you go, now did you?”
Fuck.