Memphis #2
He tries to sidestep me, but I move into his path, blocking him. The prick isn’t going anywhere near her tonight.
“Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because you gave her ecstasy? Or because you were touching her in a room full of people when you know she doesn’t like that shit?”
The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that’s what brought it on.
Sky might have gone along with it, but only because she’s a people pleaser who’s always putting others’ wants and needs above her own.
However, Josh knows her limits.
He knows and understands her in ways I’ll never be able to.
Which is why he should be the last person to ever put her in a compromising position and encourage her to do stuff she doesn’t enjoy.
The bastard has the audacity to snicker. “You think because she pity fucked you once when we were teenagers it makes you an expert on what she likes?”
What little control I was holding onto snaps like a twig. I launch my fist into the mouth he likes to run so much, sending him sailing into the wall.
He spits blood on the carpet. “Jesus Christ.”
Winding my fist back, I punch him again. This time in the eye.
“Fuck,” he yells. “Enough.”
I haven’t even gotten started.
Because if I unleashed even half the vehemence I harbor for him, he’d no longer have a pulse.
Hand around his throat, I slam him up against the dresser, sending a lamp crashing to the floor. “It’s enough when I say it’s enough.”
Eyes bulging, he claws at my hand, but I tighten my hold.
“If you ever give her so much as an aspirin again, I’ll make you swallow your goddamn teeth. Do you understand me?”
Thrashing and struggling for air, he nods.
My hand constricts and a rush of exhilaration swells within me. It would only take a few more seconds of pressure to get rid of all my problems for good.
But it would break her heart.
“I’m not kidding, motherfucker,” I warn as I release him.
Coughing, he picks his clothes up off the floor and gets dressed.
I yank him back when he goes to leave. “Where do you think you’re going?”
He looks at me like I sprouted another head. “To check on my girl.”
“The fuck you are. She’s spending the night in Storm’s room. This way someone sober can keep an eye on her.”
He glares at me with the eye that isn’t swelling shut. “I might have let you get a few punches in, but don’t forget which one of us is calling the shots here.”
Calling his bluff, I gesture to the door. “Oh yeah? Fine. Go out there and tell everyone the truth, prick. I fucking dare you.”
But he won’t. Because even though our reasons are entirely different, he wants this just as much as I do.
As predicted, the bastard doesn’t move a muscle.
I laugh but there’s no humor. Only spite. “That’s what I thought.”
I reach for the knob, but he wedges himself in front of it.
“I like the rock-star life and I’m content right now, but at the end of the day I’ll always choose Skylar.
We both know you can’t say the same. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have you by the balls.
” Expression snide, he rubs his chin. “But whether you chose her or not, doesn’t matter.
Once I decide to pull the trigger, only one of us will lose everything.
” An evil grin stretches across his face.
“Because unlike you, I’ll still have her. ”
Hate, envy, and pain twist like a tornado inside my chest.
The cold, hard truth hurts like hell.
“Don’t make the mistake of underestimating me, Memph. You’ll regret it.” The grin wipes clean off his face and his next words are spewed through clenched teeth. “This is the last time I’m going to tell you. Keep your hands off what’s mine.”
His gaze falls to the notes inked on my arm as he moves away from the door.
Anyone who reads music and knows the song “Come as You Are” by Nirvana can decode it.
But only he knows why I have these specific notes branded on me.
Notes that accompany lyrics about not having a gun.
Most people think the song is about heroin. Cobain himself said it was about what people were supposed to act like.
But for me? It’s about being betrayed by someone you trusted.
“Repeat after me. I didn’t kill him.”
“But I—”
“I didn’t kill him. Say it.”
“I didn’t kill him.”
“Good. Now say it again.”
“I didn’t kill him.”
“That’s right. You didn’t…I did.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did. And you know why? Because you’re my brother and I love you.”
Face pinched, he inspects the scar on his hand. “Despite everything, I still consider you family. I’d hate to see you suffer the consequences and lose the thing you love most.”
Since we’re giving ultimatums and warnings, I have one of my own.
“Noted. How about we hug it out?”
He eyes me skeptically, because he knows damn well I don’t hug people I like, let alone loathe.
Not waiting for a response, I fold my arms around him.
Just like he did to me that day.
Only the words I whisper in his ear aren’t a threat.
They’re a motherfucking promise.
“If you ever put her in harm’s way again, the next person I’m going to murder is you.”
And I mean it with every part of my black fucking soul.
The uneasy expression on his face tells me he got the message loud and clear.
Smirking, I slap his back on the way out. “Good talk, bro.”