Page 48 of Resist Me

“West loved music,” she said while she played. “Any time he heard it, he’d start dancing and singing like a dying cat.” She laughed and my own lips pulled up in a smile. “He had this toy microphone and our dad hated it because it was so loud. He’d sing into it for hours. Eventually, Dad had to hide it after dinner so that West would go to sleep.”

I sat on the bench beside her. She’d begun playing Fur Elise, but she was stumbling through it. Putting my fingers on the keys, I slowly played on the octave below hers. She followed my movements and a smile formed on her lips.

“He should’ve taken lessons if he liked it so much,” I said.

“He did. Well, sort of. James…” Her hands stilled and I watched her throat bob. “Uh, our dad’s friend was in a band. He was teaching him some things, but… Anyway, it was just an innocent hobby. Once he got into football, he forgot all about it.”

I watched her as she started playing again. There was a noticeable tension now, but it was clear she wanted to ignore it, so I didn’t say anything about it.

“If you wanna go to the party, you should just go. You’re an adult.”

“He worries. I add to it a lot, but I don’t want to if I can help it.”

With a sigh, I performed a glissando, then turned to her. “I’ll invite him, but I’m telling you, it’s not gonna make a difference. You’re better off having one of the other guys do it.”

“I don’t know,” she mused, getting to her feet. She suddenly became serious again. “He wanted your approval.”

“What?”

“It was competition, yeah, but that’s because he’s always felt like he had to compete for acceptance, even from someone who should have given it freely. At a certain point, even bad attention is better thannone. He didn’t feel like he had your approval, so he decided he needed to be better than you.”

With a shrug, she started toward the door. Before she walked out, she turned around with a wide grin.

“It’s kill or be killed, Linc. He’s toxic as fuck, but aren’t we all?” With that, she was gone.

I didn’t think toxicity was something to be celebrated and I wouldn’t say that I was overtly toxic, but I could see what she was saying. West’s need for attention was always obvious to me, but I saw it as spoiled rockstar syndrome. I thought he came from high school, where he was the star quarterback, and wanted to make this his new kingdom. Maybe what I thought I knew about West was wrong.

Clearly, it was wrong. I’d been seeing that for the past few weeks. Maybe she had a point, but I’d already put myself out there, trying to extend an olive branch. He’d set the thing on fire. What was the point of continuing to try? I had friends and I didn’t need him to join the club.

“Shit,” I muttered, dropping my head back. I hated that I knew what I was going to do already. Well, I’d fight it until at least the end of the day. If I made it until tomorrow, I wouldn’t feel so weak.

Chapter 18

West

The audacity of this bitch to think he could talk to my sister. It helped a little that I knew he wouldn’t be interested in her, but still.The audacity.

Willow kept asking if I’d go to the party. No matter how many times I told her no, she wouldn’t accept it. Apparently, she thought that since I was the quarterback, I should be doing all this extra shit. Sure, I enjoyed a good party or two, but I wasn’t in the mood. There were too many things going on right now for me to think about something like that.

“Who shit in your ravioli?” Brooks asked.

I looked down at my bowl with a frown. “The universe.”

While I took another bite, I looked around his apartment. It was much better than ours. Linc’s place was pretty nice too, but nothing like this. Brooks lived in a tall building closer to downtown. There was a balcony with a view of the water. Right now, I could see a ferry out there, which made me want to see what it was like. Open water freaked me out, though, so Kai would probably have to hold me against his chest while I screamed.

The image made me laugh. He could be so nurturing. He hadn’t definitively decided if he wanted kids someday, but if he did, he was going to be the coolest dad ever.

When I turned toward Brooks again, he was in the middle of eating a big ass pickle. I almost choked on my food at the thought.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.

“Ass pickle. If I use that to refer to Kai’s dick, will he finally kill me?”

“Absolutely. I’m shocked he hasn’t done it already.”

I shrugged. “I’m ungovernable. He likes it. What about you?”

“Eh, you’re okay. Not my favorite crazy bastard, but you’re tolerable.”

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