Page 78 of Pin-up Girl

Not that it would have mattered what the room looked like. As if on autopilot, Elise moved through the room on ghostly steps straight to the bathroom. She’d asked me on the way here if there was a bathroom off of my room, and if towels were kept there. I had nodded my head yes, and signedUnder the sinkvery slowly.

She watched with bloodshot eyes, then asked me to sign again. The second time, she got it. She was picking up fairly fast. If we worked on it, she could be decently fluent within a year or two. Better than us. It had taken about three years for the three of us to hold any type of complex conversation. Milo and Emmett never used it anymore, just reading my signs, but they’d learned with me so I wouldn’t have to do it alone. Milo had insisted.

It was hard to find the motivation to communicate with anyone when I wanted to retreat inside myself. I’d been lucky that Milo was such a persistent little bastard. And Emmett, he was always there to make me laugh, even when I wanted to destroy the fucking world.

The door to the bathroom closed with a soft snick, and the click of the lock turning was a dead giveaway that she didn’t want any company. I didn’t blame her, even I wanted to fuck Emmett up in the worst way.

I shot Milo a text.Elise locked herself in the bathroom. Please tell me you got Emmett away from that fucking slut stain?

The dots appeared immediately, as if he was watching my phone for any crumb of information I was willing to toss him. Of course he was. I helped Elise run away from them because honestly, I couldn’t be around Emmett right then either.

It didn’t make any sense, but seeing him with that other girl felt like he had betrayed me too. Not that I had any romantic feelings for him. I didn’t.

That didn’t stop the fact that we were a family and we made a promise to be faithful to Elise.

The water started up, and only banging on the door would let her know I was here if she needed me. I couldn’t even text her, since she handed me her phone on the car ride over. Said she didn’t want to see any messages from Emmett, and definitely didn’t want to see if he didn’t care enough to contact her.

Our little Pin-up was more girl than she had led us to believe. That was okay, I liked her just fine any way she came to us.

The phone buzzed in my hand.Hell yes, I got him. But it’s not what you think. Our little friend has been running his own blackmail ring, prying secrets from his selects in exchange for keeping suggestive photos of them out of the press. From what he says, they happily oblige to keep Daddy from yanking their allowance.

That didn’t make sense. I shared a wall with him, and I knew for a fact he fucked someone new almost every night.You’re saying he didn’t actually fuck any of those girls? Because I hate to tell you, he did.

Elise’s phone buzzed in my pocket. Against my better judgment, I pulled it out to see who was contacting her.

Emmett, the bastard. I wouldn’t open her messages because that would be crossing a line, but I shamelessly read the first few words that popped up in the notification.

Elise, baby, I know…And then it cut off. My face twisted into a grimace. Elise was not a woman anyone called baby and lived to jack off again. That was his second strike of the night.

Milo’s response was quicker this time.No, he definitely didn’t curb his sex drive before Elise, but tonight was a set up. He needed that girl to believe he wasn’t with Elise to get the photos of her. There’s so much to tell you, and not over text. Just…let Elise know that he didn’t actually do what she thought he did.

My phone vibrated as soon as I finished reading the last message.

Fuck. That’s such a weak ass excuse, but it’s true. He wants this thing we have. He wasn’t trying to fuck it up. Can you help deliver the message? I’m afraid she won’t listen when he tries to explain.

Emmett needed to sweat a bit. And I wanted Elise to myself. Milo had begrudgingly shared about his little sex party with Elise, so that meant the seal was broken. All gloves were off on alone time.

Immediately, I wanted to nut punch myself. She wasn’t going to want to sex me up tonight. She was devastated, and I needed to do everything I could to make her feel better. That was what boyfriends did.

The water tapered off in the bathroom, and I listened. That was all I ever did, but I did it better than anyone else.

Lowering myself to the floor, I crawled over to the door, pressing my palm and forehead against the smooth, cool surface. It barely moved a fraction of an inch from the pressure, so I doubted she noticed.

Then I heard it. Soft cries echoed through the bathroom, and I couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t ask me to take her away and then block me out. If we were learning how to be good partners, she needed to learn too.

I hopped up and grabbed one of the skeleton keys over the door to the bathroom. Honestly, I wasn’t sure why it was even in here. Never would I have thought there was a scenario where I needed to break into my own bathroom. The builder probably didn’t know of one either, and just followed protocol because over most doors was the little slip of a tool.

I inserted it in the lock and felt a swell of satisfaction as the light snick overshadowed her cries. Now she knew I was coming.

“Stop, Jules. I don’t want company. Give me a few, and I’ll come out. We can watch a movie or something.” Her voice wasn’t even slightly recognizable through the sniffling and tears clogging her throat. And I hated hearing her that way.

I pushed the door open slowly and soaked in the sight of her lounging in the triangular whirlpool tub that took up the entire corner of the bathroom. There were no bubbles or anything to hide her body, just the crystal clear water up to her neck.

Grabbing a towel from the stack on the counter, I tossed it on the floor and lowered myself to my knees. She glared at me through a mess of tears and snot, trying to make me feel unwelcome. But nothing she could do would make me leave her.

I picked up the dry washcloth on the side of the tub and wiped away the tears on her face.

“Stop, Jules. Please just fucking stop.”

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