Chapter 17 Presley #2
“I need to shower and eat.” I turned away from the space and headed back down to the bedroom I assumed was created for me.
It had photos hung of highland cows and stars.
No plants, no life of any kind. I wondered if Kingston had purchased new clothes for me, or if I’d need to bring them over.
Didn’t matter; I could pack all of it up and drive it over.
Regardless of how angry I was at the twins, this house was a significant gift that warmed my heart and arrived at the perfect time.
“Are there clothes here for me?” I asked while walking toward the bathroom suite. Somehow, I already knew he wouldn’t know if there were.
His staggering response told me as much. “Uh…let me check for you.”
I moved to the clawfoot tub and turned on the hot water. Gio returned moments later with a pile of clothes in his hands. “I found these.”
Almost a complete replica of the clothes I’d had at home. I didn’t wait for Gio to leave before stripping out of the T-shirt, socks, and underwear. I didn’t care if he saw me or if he wanted me. My fucks had vanished the second Adrian arrived on the doorstep.
I hadn’t even had a chance to process that they’d used his cell phone to text me, to mock me so that I’d open that door excitedly.
After days of silence, of fear that something was wrong, of him being upset with me, he had finally reached out, and I had stupidly assumed it was—I had killed him. The realization hit like a stone.
Just like I had killed my grandfather, I was responsible for Adrian’s death too.
All because I had demanded we get out when we did. I could have found a way to get Alex out while I remained there with him. I could have protected him if I had just stayed.
Gio cleared his throat behind me.
“I’ll just go get you some food and bring it up here.
” His heated gaze slowly slid down my frame, to my breasts, which were heavier now that I’d stopped training as much.
My waist, which was fuller, and even my thighs were softer.
I’d never been given the chance to enjoy a softer figure because of how hard Scotty drilled me, and eleven months away from him had allowed me to set my own exercise pace and my own diet.
It allowed my metabolism the opportunity to slow down, and my body to hold weight.
When I looked in the mirror now, I enjoyed what I saw. While it wasn’t a huge difference, it was enough to make me smile, and when I inspected my hands, I knew the scarring would never leave, but they hadn’t been broken open in months.
Once Gio left, I sank into the deep tub and allowed the hot water to soak into my body, removing the grief and the stress. I slipped down far enough that my hair soaked, and the steaming water covered my face, and with my eyes closed, I began to count.
One. Two. Three.
My grandfather’s blue eyes flashed before me.
Four. Five. Six.
Adrian’s smile.
Seven. Eight. Nine.
Crawling into bed as a child, lying between my best friends.
Ten. Eleven. Twelve.
A shadow fell over the tub, making me open my eyes while under water.
Kingston stood with his arms crossed while he watched from above me.
His presence threw my counting off balance, so I emerged from the water with a gasp.
He didn’t flinch or move in the slightest bit.
That familiar scowl, with a deadness to his gaze that set me on edge.
I wanted to crawl inside his chest, sort out the mess, and demand he explain to me what the fuck he was doing.
Something told me earlier, before Adrian, that he was about to say goodbye.
The fear over losing him again had me feeling panicked.
“Are you leaving?” My voice was sharp, accusatory.
He continued to stare until finally his gaze fell to the floor. “Was planning on it.”
I knew it. I hated how much it hurt that he was going to leave me again. “Why?”
“What difference does it make? I’ll leave you here with Gio; he can help you. He’ll stay with you here, and he’ll keep you safe.”
Frantic, wild emotions swept through me. It felt like he wasn’t giving me a choice, as though he’d just exit my life simply because he felt like it was the right thing to do, or perhaps he truly hated me. If that were the case, then it only made that frenzied feeling worse.
If he hated me, then I’d completely take advantage of his hate. I’d ruin him the way he ruined me.
“I want you to stay.” I softened my tone.
I’d play the grieving fiancée card if that’s what it took to have him sit with me, to stay with me.
I knew it was wrong, but so was his choice to build me my dream home, then walk away as if it meant nothing at all.
It was cruel, harsh, and the sort of poison that would eventually end us one way or another.
I was in love with him, and yet he chose not to love me back. Over and over again, we were cursed to walk through the same door that kept leading back to the room where we knew we’d hurt one another.
“Gio will stay,” he softly explained, while scratching the back of his neck.
I slowly stood from the bath and brought my arms around myself, as the cold air hit my exposed skin.
“Kingston, I don’t want to be away from either of you right now.
It’s important to me that you stay. I’m in danger…
they used his cell phone to text me just seconds before I opened the door.
That’s how close they were able to get today. ”
He flinched the smallest amount while glancing away. I reached for a towel right as Gio walked through the door. He glanced at Kingston, then me, as if he were trying to size up what was going on.
“Here you go, Elvis.” He looked around for a place to put the sandwich, chips, and water.
Gesturing toward the room, I asked, “Can you set it in there? I’m going to lie down.”
“I’m going to head back to the barn…” Kingston trailed off, moving from the doorway.
With the towel wrapped around me, I walked between both brothers and moved to the bed. “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
“I’ll be here,” Gio offered with a smile.
I glanced past him and inspected Kingston. “I want both of you.”
Deep down, I knew the thread of that statement was true.
I may be toying with Kingston to inconvenience him, merely because he didn’t want to be around me, but I did want him.
I wanted both of them, and I wanted Kingston to confess that he’d finished the house for me, and I wanted him to tell me about all the things he built and why.
I wanted him to tell me if he’d built in anything for his plants or had anything here at all that indicated that he’d one day be living with me.
“Elvis, I don’t want to push Kingston if he doesn’t—”
“Well, I do,” I replied easily, while dropping the towel and slipping under the covers.
Kingston watched me with a calculating expression, where his eyes narrowed and one of his dark brows raised. Gio looked between us but didn’t say anything.
“You don’t think I know he hates me? I’m well aware that he does.
” I adjusted under the blankets and then began sipping from the water bottle Gio had brought me.
“I simply don’t care right now because under all that hurt and hate is one of my best friends.
The boy who endured seeing someone murdered, all so he could rescue my favorite stuffed animal for me.
The boy who once jumped into a fighting ring full of grown men, just so I wouldn’t fight alone.
The boy who used to teach me about plants and sunshine.
Prove he’s gone and I’ll leave you alone. ”
Kingston’s nose flared while he slammed his jaw together.
I raised my chin. “Break my heart again, King. Let me know you’re out for good and I’ll never bother you again.”
“She’s had a hard fucking day, King. Just come sit next to her so she’ll be able to rest. She needs us,” Gio finally said softly to his brother.
I didn’t like that he needed permission from Gio to stay, but it worked.
Kingston slipped out of his boots and pulled his shirt up over his head, which made embers from an old fire stir in my belly.
It was supposed to be all ash and dust, but when he began walking toward the bed while unbuttoning his jeans, I couldn’t breathe.
“You touch me, even once, Presley, and I’ll touch you back. I highly suggest you stay under the covers, and I’ll stay on top.” I froze in place while he neared the bed. Gio was watching us carefully, but he wasn’t moving.
“Gio?”
His blue eyes slid down to me and softened.
“You sure you want me in there? Because I’m a little different than King.
I want you to touch me, Elvis. I want you to want me, and if you need to be held, I want you to ask me.
Is that what you need tonight, or do you only require the bastard twin who’s all asshole vibes? ”
Kingston settled on top of the covers next to me, then lifted his middle finger toward his brother. “Would you rather me bullshit her?”
“I’d rather you just make up your fucking mind,” Gio snapped in reply.
I glared between the two brothers, then began eating my sandwich.
There was a television on the opposite end of the room, mounted on the wall.
I didn’t miss that this bed was king size, where the ones in the other two rooms were both only queens.
Someone had selected this size on purpose.
If Gio did help at all, I had a feeling that would have been it, but maybe I was wrong.
Maybe, deep down, King did have ideas that maybe we could find a way forward.
Kingston didn’t reply while Gio began undressing.
“Grab the remote before you come over,” I requested while finishing off my food. Both of them had to be hungry, and yet I didn’t see them get anything to eat.
Gio slid onto the bed next to me, and while it was a king-size bed, I still felt snuggled tightly between them.
They’d gotten bigger in the eleven months we were apart.
Their muscles larger and more defined, and I knew they’d had a birthday, so they were both older now.
Twenty years old… I was still eighteen for a few more…
days. Shit, my birthday was only a few days from now.
The television turned on, and suddenly my favorite movie was playing. “How did you find this?” I asked, snuggling deeper into the bed.
“I pre-loaded movies on your TV about a week ago, while I was up here,” Gio replied as the movie started.
“But you guys hate this movie.”
Kingston scoffed. “You’re naked under the covers, Presley. Don’t assume we’re paying attention to anything other than that.”
I was staring up at him when he finally looked down at me and frowned. “Just watch your movie. I promised not to touch you.”
My focus returned to the television as a young talking pig tried to fit in with the other farm animals, and the tight band around my heart that had held my grief all day began to loosen.