Page 63 of Loving Bad
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Taylor
Sin looked slightly surprised to see me when he opened the door. His eyes brightened and he smiled when he saw me. He looked happy and relieved to see me and I felt the flutter of awareness that I felt when I was around him. There was something about this guy that made me come alive when he was near. I'd never felt it with anyone before and I had to admit I loved the feeling.
When his gaze moved to Matthew, his eyes hardened and his lips thinned. He wasn't so happy to see Matthew.
"What the fuck is he doing here?" he asked angrily as he glared at me. All the softness he'd been looking at me with was gone.
"Calm down. Don't jump to conclusions," I said to him, holding my hands up to him. "Just let us in and I'll explain everything."
He studied me for a moment before he stepped back and allowed me to enter. Matthew followed behind me. He seemed unfazed by the glare he was getting from Sin. He was his normal easy-going self even though Sin looked like he wanted to hit him.
"I need to talk to him alone," I said to Matthew. He gave me a brief nod of his head.
"I'll stay here," he said as he sat down on the sofa and made himself at home.
Sin had been watching the two of us with his arms crossed. I looked to him. He dropped his arms to his side and walked up the stairs to his bedroom. I followed him into his room. He closed the door and leaned against it.
"Where’s everyone else?" I asked. Normally where Sin was, Slater was as well.
"They’re out," he said in a clipped tone.
"So are you going to explain the tag-a-long?" he asked as he crossed his arms and fixed his gaze on me. There was no warmth in his eyes for me, his features closed off.
"You've met my overprotective brother," I began to explain. He gave a brief nod.
"Well, that overprotective brother hired a bodyguard," I explained as I clasped my hands together, waiting for his reaction. I should have just told him from the beginning who Matthew was.
"And I thought that overprotective brother of yours was stupid," he remarked. His hard features softened and he dropped his arms.
The jury was still out on that as far as I was concerned. I knew that my brother did things that he thought were in my best interest even if I didn't agree.
"He doesn't look like a typical bodyguard," he said as he cocked his head to the side. I was glad to hear I wasn't the only one who thought that.
"I know, it's probably why he is so good at his job," I replied with a shrug.
"And here I thought he was my replacement," he added as he straightened up but didn't close the distance between us.
My eyes lifted to his. I didn't want anyone but him. To me there was no replacement for Sin. He'd hurt me by looking my past up, but that didn't mean that I didn't care about him or still want him. He was the one who had brought an end to our arrangement. For a few moments our eyes connected. There was so much between us that needed to be talked through. He'd shut me out when I wouldn't open up and I was still upset with the fact he'd found out about my past.
Deep in his gaze was still the look I'd been running from. It was a look of sadness. There was also that part that looked at me, not quite knowing what to expect. It was finally time to talk about my past. I had shut him down before, but now I was willing to listen to what he had to say.
"I'm sorry for shutting you out," I murmured, dropping my gaze to the carpet. I hated talking about my past. Talking about it gave it life to haunt me. It kind of felt like no matter what I did, I couldn't escape what had happened.
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have taken things into my own hands. You didn't want me to know, but I went searching anyway," he said, rubbing his hands over his face and into his hair. "But no matter how mad you are and how sorry I am, it doesn't change the fact that I know."
He dropped his hands. His hair was messy and I had to fight the urge to walk up to him and run my hands through his hair.
"I was upset after I'd told you stuff about me and you refused to open up," he began to explain. "I was angry so I tried to shut you out."
I remembered the heartbreaking moment when he'd told me he'd see me around.
"Then your brother came to see me," he said, running an agitated hand through his hair. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the mention of my brother who I still wasn't talking to because of that visit.
"He told me to stay away from you. He said that you wouldn't recover if I hurt you," he said softly, watching for some sort of reaction to his words.
