Page 75 of Keep It

Anya raises onto her elbow and peers down at me. “Okay, time to spill. What am I missing?”

I sigh. “It’s a long story.”

She rolls her eyes. “Well luckily, we’ve suddenly got the day off.”

“I told you before that Pip and I haven’t always been that close.” She nods. “We’d only see each other a few times a year, but we’d always stick to it. It was an obligation I guess. Even though we were practically acquaintances, we still felt like we should make an effort. We went for lunch one day and she looked so miserable. I couldn’t get it out of her for ages, but eventually she told me. She’d met this guy at an event or something and had hit it off. McBride. I didn’t know much about him, only that he had done that one TV show, but we weren’t exactly in the same circles.

So obviously for her job, she does a lot of raunchy stuff and I guess he saw the proofs that morning and had started going off at her. Calling her a slut and a whore, shit like that.”

“What the fuck?” Anya splutters, furious. “It’s literally her job.”

“That was my reaction too. I told her that he sounded like a fucking loser and that she should dump him. But I guess after that she went straight back to him. I didn’t even know until it was suddenly all over the internet and they were getting photographed together. I had a bad feeling, so I started reaching out more, making more of an effort to be there for her. I started hanging out with her and Cassie, who also was really suspicious of him. She didn’t tell us anything else that he might have done, but I knew a guy like that wouldn’t just let that go.

At the end of last year, Cassie threw this huge New Years Eve party. Everyone was there and I finally meet McBride. I hated him already but he was so smug that night. He wouldn’t leave Pip alone. It’s like he wanted everyone there to know that they were together. Later that night, I had lost sight of her–both of them–and got this bad feeling. I went looking for them and eventually found them in a guest room. He had her pinned up against the wall by her upper arms. It could have been consensual but his knuckles werewhitewith how tightly he was holding her. And you should have seen the look in her eyes. God, I’ve never seen her like that. She looked soscared.

I just lost it. Pulled him off her and started wailing on him. He started hitting me back and shoving me down the hallway until we ended up in the main room. I realized later that he led me back into the party so everyone could see me going batshit crazy. Pip was screaming, everyone was shouting and eventually we got pulled apart.”

I sigh, my bloody knuckles playing with the strands of Anya’s hair. “The next day, it’s all over the internet that he caught me doing drugs and tried to help me, so I beat him up for his effort. Which really put his name on the map.”

“I don’t understand,” Anya says, running her fingers through my hair. “Why didn’t you or Pip say anything?”

I shrug. “I would rather I get slaughtered in the press than watch it happen to my sister. Who knows what they’d say about her.”

Anya kisses me softly. “You’re a good brother.”

I scoff. “If I were a good brother, I would have never let her be with him in the first place.”

“You did all you could, you were there for her when she needed it.”

It’s such a relief to get the whole truth off my chest. For a while, it was almost like I’d imagined the whole thing. When the whole world tells you who you are, it’s easy for doubt to fester. “Well, we’re close now, that’s what matters.”

“What did your parents say?”

I clench my jaw. “My mother didn’t believe it. She’s always preferred to keep her head buried, especially when it comes to Pip. As long as she’s pretty enough to be photographed, she’s fine. My father…” I laugh with no traces of humor. “I have my suspicions he’s started this whole production just to get me back in the same room as McBride.”

“Why would he do that?” Anya asks quietly, disbelieving.

“That’s dear old dad for you. Who knows why he does anything.”

Anya shifts until she’s closer, her body pressing against mine with a comforting weight.

“So what happened today?”

I groan. “He’s been provoking me this whole time, trying to get me to snap again and give him exactly what he wants. And he finally got it.”

“What did he say?”

Not happening. “I don’t want to tell you.”

“But it was about me?”

I nod slightly, watching as she bites her lip.

“God, it’s not fair!” She rolls off the bed and starts pacing. “How is a guy likethatable to bethatmuch of a prick and everyone thinksyou’rethe bad guy?”

I sit up and take her hand in mine. “As long as you don’t think I’m a bad guy, that’s all that matters.” I tug her closer until she’s straddling my thighs. I cradle her waist, pulling her closer until we line up perfectly. She melts into me, allowing me to take her weight. Her head rests on the crook of my shoulder and we lay quietly. I would hold her forever if I could.

Chapter 33

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