Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Iwatch him from across the space.
He’s sitting on an overcrowded couch with a bunch of his friends. There are girls in the mix, of course. But he’s not paying attention to any of them.
In fact, all his attention is on his bottle.
The same one as yesterday. The liquor that looks like water, vodka.
Even though he’s focusing on the alcohol, I’m still jealous of all the girls around him. I’m still jealous that they’re trying to get his attention like they always do.
I want his attention.
I just don’t know how to get it.
I’m too afraid to walk up to him.
I’m too afraid to ask him.
I’m too afraid...
Come on, Callie. Do it.
That’s what you came here for, right?
Right.
That’s why I abandoned my show and came to this place.
This place outside of my town where this strange party is happening and Reed is in attendance.
After Con told me to go back to the show, Tempest found me again. She dragged me away from the crowd and took me to a quiet place, away from the stadium.
Away from all the people, from all the violence.
Even she knew I couldn’t dance like this.
She stayed with me as I cried and shook.
As my whole body was wracked with waves and waves of chills.
She stayed with me as I ran through a thousand different scenarios in my head. As I went over what I saw and what Con told me and what I know.
What I know in my heart about Reed.
About my Roman.
I’m not sure how long I stayed like that, huddled into myself with Tempest rubbing my back and my arms.
All I know is that when I could gather my strength, I asked her to find him.
I asked her to take me to him.
And despite vehemently disagreeing with it at first and saying that I needed to go home and take care of myself, she brought me here.
She said that she saw it on social media. Someone had tagged Reed on Instagram, saying that he was at a party outside of Bardstown.
So that’s where I am, at a party, watching the guy I’m in love with chugging down vodka, surrounded by a drunk crowd.
I try to make myself move.
I try to make myself call out his name, wave at him, do something to catch his attention. But I’m just frozen in my spot, too scared to move.
A second later though, I don’t have to.
Because as always, he senses me.
He looks up from the bottle and his eyes land on me instantly and they start to glow.
His wolf eyes.
They sparkle as he stands up from the couch and starts walking toward me, leaving everything behind.
The crowd parts for him as he approaches me, his gaze growing heavier and more intense with every step he takes.
The moment he reaches me and stops, I realize that he’s wearing all black.
I don’t know why that’s important.
I don’t know why I’m thinking about his black t-shirt paired with dark jeans. I don’t know why I find his black leather jacket intimidating and dangerous, but I do.
I’m thinking about how all this darkness makes his vampire skin come alive.
How his bruises, old and new, come alive as well.
How he’s too beautiful for words.
Too otherworldly. Too gorgeous.
He looks down at me with a strange kind of tenderness as he takes in my costume, my make-up that’s ruined now, and my blonde hair twisted into a bun, which again is ruined, strands hanging around my face in tatters.
But the way his eyes melt at the sight of me makes me think that I’m the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen.
It makes me think that I’m too beautiful for words. Too otherworldly. Too gorgeous.
“Fae,” he whispers roughly, drunkenly. “You’re here.”
“Roman –”
“You look like a fairy,” he says over me, bringing his hand up and tracing a finger down my cheek.
My mouth parts at his touch and the world disappears.
And I think, you look like a villain.
That’s what he looks like, isn’t it?
Dressed in black and dark bruises, the guy I’m in love with looks like a villain.
“Are you drunk?” I ask instead.
He looks down at the bottle in his hand. “A little.”
I swallow painfully. Thickly.
Fearfully.
“I won,” he says then, his busted lips stretching up in a smile.
A smile that looks so misplaced, so boyish and adorable on his sharp, villainous face.
“You –”
“I fucking won the game, Fae. I won. I’m the goddamn champion. Did you see?”
My eyes sting as I nod.
“You did, huh? I was pretty badass out there.” Chuckling, he takes a sip of his vodka. “More than your fucking brother.”
“What –”
“Hey, what about your show?” he asks, speaking over me again. “Fuck, did I miss it?”
“I don’t care about the show. I –”
“If after all that practice, I missed your first-class, fantastic show, then I’m an asshole. I’m a motherfucking asshole. You should be mad at me. Here.” He waves his free hand. “Hit me. Slap me in the face, Fae. Slap me in the fucking face –”
“No, Roman, listen to me.” I speak over him, putting an end to his drunken rambling. “What happened?”
He appears perplexed. “When?”
I shake my head. “On the field. What happened?” I swallow again. “God, look at you. You’re all banged up. What happened, Roman?”
He chuckles. “You should see the other guy.”
“What did you say to him?”
“What did I say to whom?”
I fist my hands for a second, trying to keep my wits about me. Then, “Roman, please, okay? Can you focus for a second? Just… please. What did you say to my brother? What did you say to Ledger? Why did he… Why did he punch you? Why did you guys fight?”
I’m not sure if he’s getting the gravity of the situation because his reaction is pretty casual.
His reaction is to squint his eyes slightly and shrug. “Ah, that. The fight.”
“What happened, Roman?”
He takes a gulp of his vodka, swallowing loudly. “Yeah, I might have mentioned something.”
My heart thuds. “W-what?”
He shrugs again. “I might’ve said something about me giving you a ride in my Mustang. About you loving it and fogging up my windows.” A frown. “Not in those words though. I was dirtier than that but you know what I mean.”
“Y-you what?”
Reed sighs then. “Look, I just wanted to piss him off, all right. He was gonna score. I had to do something. It was the championship game. My last chance to win.”
“Your last chance to win.”
“Yeah, I just wanted to win.” He bends down slightly.
“But if it makes you feel any better, I only won by two goals. Your brother was a worthy opponent. You should tell him that tonight. Tell him I said that. Tell him Reed said that he’s good.
A real pain in my ass with how good he is.
But you know, the best man won. Tell him to not cry too much in his pillow. ”
There’s a pain in my chest. A massive, gigantic pain, but I power through.
I power through because this isn’t real, right?
This isn’t him.
This isn’t how he behaves.
He’s never this drunk. He’s never this… cruel.
He’s had plenty of opportunities to be cruel.
He’s had plenty of opportunities to be a player, a heartbreaker, to be all those things that they call him, but he’s never taken them.
No, this isn’t him.
He’s never broken a promise to me and I refuse to believe that he did now.
Even though I saw it with my own eyes. Even though I saw it in my brothers’ eyes, both Conrad’s and Ledger’s.
“What are you doing?” I burst out, desperately. “Why are you acting this way?
He thinks about it for a second. “I’m not acting.”
“You promised,” I remind him. “You made that pact with Ledger, remember? The pact that you were so crazy about. You promised you wouldn’t tell.
You promised you wouldn’t use me against Ledger.
You promised me that the first time I danced for you.
You had tons of opportunities to do that but you never did and –”
“Right. I lied.”
“What?”
He drinks from his bottle again. “I lied. I made it all up.”
“You lied.”
“Yeah. I kinda do that.” He shrugs again. “One of my many bad habits but I try to love myself for who I am. I think self-acceptance is a very intriguing concept. It basically –”
I grab his t-shirt in my fists and snap, “Stop.”
Finally, I think I’ve jerked him awake.
Finally, I think he’s seeing me, hearing me.
So I tell him, “This isn’t you. This isn’t how you behave.
I know it. I know. People are wrong about you.
They think you’re selfish and you’re a jerk and you’re bad.
But you’re not. You love your sister. You take care of her.
You take care of me. You’re not cruel. You’re not.
You protected me, Roman. Last night. I thought about it. ”
I nod and fist his t-shirt even tighter.
“I did. I thought about why you didn’t… have sex with me.
It didn’t occur to me until after you dropped me off at the school parking lot.
You were protecting me, weren’t you? You wanted to protect my innocence.
That’s why you told me to hold on to my dress.
That’s why you didn’t even ask me to take care of you. You didn’t and –”
Reed grabs onto my fists on his t-shirt and the muscles in his stomach contract as he growls, “This is starting to really piss me off now. I was having a good day, all right? I won. Yeah, I also got beaten up for it by your wonderful brother, who packs a really mean punch by the way. But it’s fine.
I don’t care. I’m the champion. I’ve been waiting for this day ever since your brother stole the title last season.
So yeah, I was having a brilliant fucking day and I would really like to get back to it.
So I’m going to make this really easy for you.
“These past few weeks have been good. Fun. I mean, I still don’t like twirling but I can see why dudes do it.
And I’m not sure if I’m going to be walking into that cupcake store again.
It’s too pink for me. But I have to say that it’s been interesting.
Given the fact that the only reason it all started was because you’re the Thorn Princess.
But you’re really fucking ruining it right now. ”
“What did you just s-say?”