Chapter Twenty-Six
Twenty-Six
Elsie
I gave Cressida a reassuring smile as I walked with Wayon to the sitting area in front of the fire. Although I wasn’t okay, I wanted her to think I was.
My heart was racing in my chest, and it had nothing to do with Wayon and everything to do with Forge. He had been … possessive. Of me. And I’d stood up to him. When I really just wanted to curl up against his chest.
I was proud of myself, anxious about his reaction to it, and nervous to be out here with all of them after I’d done it.
The way Forge’s eyes had lit up as if a fire had been ignited behind them made me shiver, but not entirely in a bad way.
The only way I could think to describe it was excitement.
He excited me in a way no guy ever had. Until him, I hadn’t known this reaction was something that happened to people.
“I …” Wayon began to say, then paused as his gaze flickered over my head. An amused curl to the corner of his mouth appeared, causing me to glance back.
Forge was carrying a beer as he headed in our direction.
Lula Mae was right beside him, saying something as she gazed up at him in a way that made my fingers itch to slap her.
Forge nodded his head once to whatever she had said, but his eyes dropped from the threatening look he was giving Wayon to me.
They softened only slightly. He was angry. My stomach fluttered wildly.
“Looks like they aren’t going swimming,” Wayon said casually. He didn’t sound worried about Forge or pissing him off. It was almost as if he was enjoying it.
“Hey,” Cressida said quietly, jerking my attention off Forge’s approach to see she had come to sit beside me.
I watched her lower to the spot on the sofa as she cut her eyes toward Forge, then back to me. Kash sank down on her other side, sighing heavily and stretching an arm out on the back of the sofa.
“Guess we’re all gonna stay outside and chat,” Kash drawled sarcastically.
“It seems that we are,” Wayon agreed leaning back on the seat before propping his right ankle on his left knee. He cut his eyes over to me. “Didn’t realize we’d draw a crowd.”
I didn’t have a response for that, so I said nothing.
Forge took the seat directly across from me while Lula Mae sat beside him, so close that her body was pressed against his.
Not what I wanted to be forced to watch, but I didn’t have much choice.
I had forced this, although I didn’t know this would be the outcome of my standing up to Forge.
I only did it because he’d been dancing with her. I’d been jealous.
“So, Kash,” Wayon said, “how’s it feel to be back home?”
“Considering the circumstances, not real fucking good,” Forge replied.
“I can answer for myself, brother.”
Forge shrugged and took a drink from the bottle in his hand while his eyes came back to stare at me.
I swallowed nervously.
Lula Mae shot a glare my way, then leaned up to whisper into Forge’s ear. I immediately turned my attention elsewhere. I glanced through the windows to see everyone was still in there, talking. Then over at Cressida, who gave me a tight, nervous smile.
“It’s good to be back. Even if the reasons why suck,” Kash told Wayon.
“Yeah, I’m sorry to hear about your mom.” Wayon sounded sincere.
Neither of the Savelle brothers said anything to that. But I understood it. He was sorry. That didn’t fix anything. It didn’t ease the pain. It felt like a filler word when someone didn’t know what to say.
“I don’t believe they want to talk about that, Wayon,” Lula Mae said. “If we are all gonna sit out here together, then we could at least be entertaining.” Her gaze passed over me and went to Cressida. “You’re new around here too. Did you come back from Alabama with Kash?”
“Uh, no, I—”
“She’s been with me, living rent-free in my head considering she’s owned my soul since she was sixteen. I came home and found her. Made sure she wasn’t getting out of my hands this time.”
Forge chuckled darkly as he looked at his brother. “Is that how it happened?” he asked him mockingly.
“Yeah, Forge, it is. I don’t think they want a completely detailed recap,” Kash replied.
Forge smirked. “Ah, I don’t know. It’s kinda juicy. With the mur—”
“I was staying out here to keep your ass from getting in trouble, but fuck that,” Kash said, cutting off Forge. He stood up and held out a hand for Cressida. “Let’s go before I end up planting my fist in his face.”
“It’s fine,” she assured Kash.
“No, the fuck it’s not. He stepped over a line,” he told her as he pulled her up and against his side, then kissed the side of her head while glaring at Forge.
Forge continued to sit there, saying nothing as he drank his beer.
Kash and Cressida headed toward the doors of the house and left behind a silence that was becoming awkward.
“Okay,” Lula Mae said, glancing back to watch them disappear inside, then turned back to Forge, “were you about to say murder? I love a good sordid story.”
“Jesus, Lula,” Wayon said to her with a shake of his head.
“What? They went inside,” she replied, then twirled a long strand of her blonde hair around her finger.
Whatever Forge had been about to say had to do with Cressida. I didn’t want to know. Kash had gotten her out of here fast, which meant it wasn’t something pleasant. He had been protecting her. That wasn’t our business.
“Better let that one go,” Forge told her.
Lula Mae sighed, then stood up. “Fine. Then let’s dance some more. I can already tell you that my brother is a boring conversationalist.”
Forge’s eyes went from her to me before he finally said, “All right,” and set his beer on the table between us before joining her.
My skin felt tight. I didn’t want to watch them walk over to the open area, where they’d been dancing earlier, but I couldn’t seem to look anywhere else. Forge paused to pick up a remote, then tapped something before putting it back down.
Lula Mae squealed happily as “Neon Moon” by Brooks & Dunn started playing over the speakers. Forge took her hand and spun her around until her back was to his front.
“You know this one?” he asked her.
“Yes,” she replied happily.
I watched. For a moment. As they began to dance, I realized I couldn’t do this.
I might have sat through watching Calvin with other girls a million times, but it had never felt like this.
I had enough pain in my life. I wasn’t adding to it.
I didn’t want to care. I shouldn’t care.
But I did, and there it was. I had feelings for Forge. Beyond a crush, I was afraid.
“I, uh … excuse me,” I said to Wayon, barely glancing at him before getting up and going straight to the door. Not chancing a look around.
I wanted inside, locked away in my room. Far away from this torture.
I could feel eyes on me the second I walked inside.
Trying not to draw attention, I did my best fake smile and briefly made eye contact with a few as I continued through the room.
Cressida wasn’t the only concerned face I met, but also Winslet’s.
Hopefully, they would leave me alone for the evening.
Explaining this to anyone wasn’t happening.
I would deal with it and find a way to get over it. I had to.