Chapter 38
Rhys felt almost like he floated as he pulled into the parking lot behind his apartment. Sure, this night wasn’t ending quite like he thought it might when he’d left the ballpark.
His lips were still tingling from Mel’s kiss. The way they’d touched him. He wasn’t sure his feet were going to touch the ground again.
Sure, he was still hard, but it was damn well worth it.
Rhys should have stayed with Mel until they were done with that phone call.
It sounded like their sibling was having some kind of issue with their parents, and it wasn’t like Rhys could do anything to help with that.
What the hell did he know about healthy family dynamics?
He’d known he was only a temporary fixture in whatever house he was in at the time.
One wrong move and he’d be sent along. Again. Until they ran out of places to send the troubled boy. Everyone was ready to wash their hands of him.
He shut down that thought as quickly as it came. It wasn’t going to help him. He wasn’t back in that place, where a family could just say they didn’t want him any longer. Knowing he was always the reason for that.
Even if it still felt that way sometimes, like he was one wrong play away from being traded. Even if he knew it didn’t work that way. He could do everything right, and they might think they were better off trading him for someone they needed more for the club.
There was still nothing he could do. No matter how much else changed.
They weren’t trading him. He was almost sure. A couple more days, and he wouldn’t have to worry about that.
He walked to the front of the building and let himself through the main doors, taking the stairs up to the second floor. He opened his door and dropped his keys onto the table next to the door.
If he’d been able to stay with Mel, if things had gone farther, he would have been able to actually get his brain to shut off for a while.
“Whose fault is it you’re not still there?” he muttered, dropping down onto his couch. There wasn’t any point in trying to sleep, not when his brain was being this loud. He wasn’t sure what else to do with himself.
Other than thinking about the way Mel touched him. How they’d looked like they wanted to take their time exploring his body. The way they’d touched his thighs… Yeah, this was not helping his situation much.
He took his phone out and was about to set it on the table, when he saw the red number over the email icon. Probably all spam. He couldn’t leave that number sitting there. It would bother him the rest of the night.
His finger hovered over a familiar name in the inbox. His stomach twisted around itself. It had to be spam. No way Craig was emailing him. Not after all this time. Not with the way Craig smirked when Rhys had been taken away from that home. As if he planned for that all along.
How would some spammer know the role Craig had in his life? It had to be a coincidence. It didn’t matter. He didn’t have any interest in whatever Craig had to say to him, if it really was him.
He went to swipe away the message, right into the trash. He must have held it down for too long instead, and it opened right up there on his phone.
Rhys,
I noticed you never responded to my last message. I’m not even sure why I am surprised. You always have been selfish. You might have made good but you’re not any better than you ever were.
You probably didn’t bother to read the last message. Does that come any easier to you now, or are you still stupid?
Rhys tossed his phone down on the coffee table, not caring when it skittered across and fell to the floor. He’d pick it up later and delete that pile of garbage.
Why couldn’t they leave him alone? They had for all these years, so why did they have to come back now? What the hell did they want from him?