Page 120 of Into the Fire

I thought I might just jump to violence, and maybe it was my promise I wouldn’t, or maybe it was the shock that fucker Ass Hat had been brave enough to actually make a move, but whatever it was, it kept me rooted to my spot.

“Have you kissed him since?” Enzo asked, his voice holding a slight edge to it.

She shook her head. “No. I told him I only wanted to be friends. He accepted that and hasn’t tried anything since. It’s been complete friendship after that night.”

“I see.” Enzo got to his feet and paced the room slowly without another word.

“Do you love-love him, Rosebud?” I managed to whisper. I’d asked her before, fearing the answer. This time was no different.

“I-I care about him, Cole. I do. I can’t deny that I feel that way, but I’m not going to run off and be with him. I chose you and the guys. I just haven’t felt good about not telling you. I needed to get it off my chest.”

“Fox and E knew about it?” Enzo stopped and stared down at her.

“Fox walked in on it. He was upset,” she murmured, wiping at her tears. “Anson left right after. I-I told Ethan not long after because I hated keeping it inside.”

Enzo nodded tightly.

I’d have been lying if I said I wasn’t angry it had been kept from me, but I knew why. My anger. My rage. They didn’t want me to flip out.

“Then last night,” Rosalie continued thickly.

Oh, what fresh hell was this?

“I drank too much. I was angry. It’s no excuse, but it’s the only one I have,” she said, breathing out, more tears falling. “Fox came to me. Fox always comes to me.” She wiped her eyes again before continuing. “We went to Anson’s. I had some water. Fox and Ani were talking. They had a few drinks too. I passed out, Ithink. I came to. I-I just stared at Fox. I wanted him to know I wasn’t mad at him. So I kissed him.”

I blinked at her. She always kissed Fox. I cast a quick look to Enzo, who wore a deep frown as he continued to stare down at her.

“It went further than kissing him,” she whispered. “Anson tried to leave the room. We-we let him stay.”

Heat swept through my body at her words. Fear. Anger. Confusion. Static. Static. I was fucking static.

“What?” Enzo asked in that deadly-as-fuck voice he reserved for the people we killed.

More tears from her. I hated it when she cried. I was torn between wiping her tears away or holding her down and creating more.

I tried to steady my breathing.

“Anson got up to leave us, but Fox told him to stay.” She let out a tiny sob. “Anson asked me what I wanted. I-I told him it was OK.” She looked at me with puffy, tear-soaked eyes. “I was so drunk. Fox was a little, too. So was Ani.”

“Did Anson fuck you, Rosalie?” Enzo asked in that same voice.

She shook her head. “No. No, nothing like that. He didn’t touch me. He just. . . stayed.”

I swallowed, my body trembling.

“I fucked up,” Fox called out softly from the doorway. “But if you’re looking for me to regret it, I don’t.”

I glared at him from where I was sitting.

“You let him watch you fuck her?” I snarled.

“It’s not the twisted, pornographic vision you have in your head,” Fox said, stepping fully into the room. “He didn’t see anything. She was covered. I was covered. The only thing he knows is that I did fuck her. Nothing else. He never saw any part of her body or mine. I made sure of that.”

“But you couldn’t make sure to have him leave the fucking room!” Enzo roared, his violence coming out.

It was usually me who lost his shit.

Maybe I was still too shell-shocked.

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