Chapter 28 #2
Her head lifted, and she gave me a flat ‘do not fuck with me’ stare.
I stood for a moment and then closed the distance. “I didn’t ask him to, he volunteered.”
“Of course he did!” She was on her feet again, putting distance between us.
“Why would you and Hadley do this?” Her voice rose.
“Because something needed to happen!” I shouted back. “Have you seen the responses? There are people saying they know. Or they experienced it. It’s what we want!”
“What’s what we want?”
“Accountability!”
She was shaking her head. “No.” She paced back and forth. “This is dangerous. Reckless.” Her hands were in her hair, piling it on top of her head. “Blind arrogance. I’m going to kill him.”
“He hasn’t done anything.”
Another incredulous look, and I decided to let her vent. She took a good five minutes before she stopped pacing, muttering, and glaring at me. Three times she picked up her phone, dropped it, and resumed pacing.
Finally, she stooped, picked up her phone, and pressed a dial.
“Hey sis.”
Shit.
“Why are you texting Noah?”
I winced.
“Which one is Noah?”
I would have admired his balls if I weren’t receiving the death glare from his sister as he spoke.
“The one you texted this morning.” Her voice was flat, cold, and had a clear message of someone who was not to be messed with.
“Uh-huh. And how would you know who I was texting this fine Sunday morning? Unless you were with them.”
She looked down at the phone, he didn’t sound as friendly now.
I gave her a thumbs up and mouthed ‘thanks,’ and she realized in her temper she’d just outed us to her brother.
“Don’t change the subject, Mase.”
“Tell me why you’re with the linebacker this early on a Sunday, Bri, and I won’t.”
When she didn’t say anything, he hung up.
My phone started ringing. With a sigh, I answered and didn’t even try to pretend. “Mason—”
“Did I or did I not tell you to stay away from my sister?”
“Yeah, you did.” I held her look of outrage with my own look of acceptance.
“And did I or did I not hear you tell me that wouldn’t be a problem?”
I squirmed under the hotness of her stare. “Well . . . I can’t remember what I said exactly . . .” I remembered exactly what I’d said.
“I will fuck you up, Matthews.”
Okay, enough with the bullshit. “We’re adults. Consenting ones. Back off.”
The line went silent, and then he chuckled, and it was not friendly.
“Deal’s off.” He hung up.
“Shit.” I dropped my phone on my lap and looked up at the ceiling. White paint in here.
“You told Mason you’d stay away?”
I glanced at her. “Look, you can’t be pissed at that, and pissed that I was behind the posts. Pick one and commit. You can’t get both.”
“That just . . . It doesn’t work like that.”
“Today it does.” I got up and walked to the bedroom. I turned back. “Do you regret last night?”
“Now I do.”
“Fuck off, B.” I started buttoning my shirt. “Before this sibling back and forth, did you wake up this morning with any regrets? When I took you back to bed and fucked you again, did you regret it?”
She didn’t make eye contact. “No.”
“Good. That’s all you need to remember.”
I shoved my feet into my shoes. Grabbed my suit jacket and headed to the door. “For the record, I don’t either. Remember that when you spiral later.”
“Where are you going?”
“Your brother is volatile. He will likely fuck this up just because he can. So I’m off to do damage control because it’s not just me he’ll take down with him.”
“Hadley,” she said with understanding.
“Unless you know how to put the pin back in the grenade that is Mason, then yeah, I need to get to Hadley before this fucks her over.” I opened the door and looked back at her. “I mean it. You and me, however, not over. I’ll talk to you later.”
I hurried down the stairs and into the next building, climbing them to get to Hadley’s door.
I knocked three times before I heard movement. Dust opened the door and looked completely surprised to see me.
“What’s happening? I was sleeping.”
“Yeah, weren’t we all,” I grumbled, walking inside and covering my eyes just in case. “Hadley, you decent?”
“Define decent?”
Despite myself, I smiled. “Can I lower my hand, or are you indisposed?”
Her hand pulled mine down. She was in sleep shorts and a loose T-shirt. “Hi.”
“Hey.” I showed her my phone, and she looked up at me in question.
“Briar read it.”
“Oh.” She moved away and looked at Dustin, who was watching us. “Shit.”
“Yeah, and then she called her brother.”
Hadley’s eyes were wide.
“And then she told him I was there, and he did not take it well.”
“Fuck.”
“What the fuck is happening?” Dust asked, moving forward. “I feel like I’m missing out. Why am I missing out?”
Hadley and I exchanged a look. She wrinkled her nose and then gave a very quick recap, where I don’t think she paused for breath, but she told him everything.
“You did what?”
Yup. That was the reaction we expected. Dustin glowered at me. It was the thing to do this morning, it seemed.
“You did this behind my back?” he asked me.
“We did,” Hadley tried to defend me.
“No,” he didn’t look at her as he shook his head. “You, I expected this from. You?” He was frowning as he turned to me. “You did all this with my girl and Mason without telling Dante or me? Are you for real?”
“I was already benched, I had nothing else—”
“Do not fucking say ‘to lose’ or I will punch you. I don’t care how fucking big you are, I will fucking punch you.”
Fair. He was right. I’d done exactly what I always did — made the decision alone to protect everyone from the fallout. And they’d both paid for it.
“You need to leave.” Dustin headed to the door.
Hadley made a squawk of protest. “Dustin! This is my—”
“You and me, we’re fighting next, but for now, this one leaves,” he told her coldly.
“Fine.” I left them to it.
By the time I got back to the dorm room, Dante was there, up to date, and clearly waiting for me.
“I can explain,” I said with a sigh. I’d been dreading this confrontation the most.
“Please. Do. I can’t wait.”
And my day was just getting worse.