Page 69 of Demise

“Nope, just protecting my best friend’s interests.”

“Well, do me a favor and don’t.” She laughs as she faces Sewall once more.

I watch as the girl’s brown eyes dart between Skyla and I before landing on Skyla once more.

“Nice to meet you. Maggie has told me nothing but wonderful things.”

“Likewise.” Skyla smiles demurely.

“How long have you been together?” I ask.

Sewall’s eyes panic as she looks to Bartlett before shaking her head.

“Oh, uh. We aren’t. I’m not…We’re just fr—”

“Easy, Bambi. We’re safe; you can trust them,” Bartlett pacifies softly.

“Bambi?” I scoff.

“Yeah, with those pretty little doe eyes, how could I call her anything else?” Bartlett smiles before giving me a wink.

Sewall gives her a shy smile before shrugging. I watch as Bartlett whispers something into her ear, dragging it out before placing a quick and discreet kiss to her neck that has her giggling and relaxing a bit more. Aww, look at them, young love. They remind me of a young schoolgirl with her first crush and the much older, experienced partner ready to teach them everything. I mean, they are the same age, but I’m taking a wild guess that this is Sewall’s first time dating a woman, so Bartlett is definitely the experienced one here.

“Where is Asher?” Skyla asks, pulling my attention away from the lovebirds.

“He had to stay back and work on a group project.” I shrug as I take a huge bite of pizza, not giving a fuck when sauce smears across my chin.

Skyla rolls her eyes and laughs. “You’re an animal.”

I grin at her, but my grin quickly falls away when a familiar head of sleek black hair steps up to our table. I stand in an instant, putting myself between Bridgette and Skyla.

“What do you want, Brenton?” I growl, my normally cheerful tone long gone.

She stops short, surprised at how quickly I got up as she stares up at me, a flicker of unease in her eyes.

“I-I just wanted to talk to Skyla.”

“Yeah, well, she doesn’t want to talk to you. Do us all a favor and fuck the hell off,” I snarl.

She winces, clutching her wrapped up hand. Shit. Asher really must have done a number on her with that fork if it’s still injured.

Good.

I feel Skyla stand behind me, and though every instinct is telling me to push her back into her seat, I let her step past me.

“What do you want?” Skyla asks coldly.

Bridgette swallows roughly, her fingers twisting together as she speaks.

“I just wanted to…apologize. I’ve been…well, the worst to you, and you didn’t deserve it. I don’t have any excuses. Chalk it up to petty, mean girl bullshit. I thought you were taking something that belonged to me. I thought…” she trails off, closing her eyes and letting out a breath as she shakes her head.

“I thought I knew what I wanted, but clearly, I didn’t have a clue,” she says, her eyes flicking to Bartlett for half a second before her gaze comes back to Skyla. “Regardless, I was terrible, and I don’t expect you to forgive me, but if there is anything me or my family can ever do for you…name it, and it’s yours.”

Skyla watches her with furrowed brows, not speaking for several seconds.

“You’re serious?” she asks dubiously.

“Yes,” Bridgette nods, her eyes drenched with sincerity. It’s a really odd look for her, not gonna lie.

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