Page 118 of Hate So Deep

“And when you did?” he mutters and I silently sigh.

I don’t want to lie but again, this isn’t about him for fucks sake. It never really was.

“Look,” I say. “I should have told you a long time ago. I didn’t but I’m not gonna apologize for something that I don’t regret.”

When he clenches his fingers into fists, I stand, bracing for the worst. I deserve the hit but that’s where it ends.

However, his next words burn right through me, and I drop my head. Fuck me.

“You lied to me…you said you had my back, but bro, the reason I’m about to hit you has nothing to do with that because you fucked my sister and then you fucked her over. You think you can play with her? Where’s Kayla, dick?”

The first punch rebounds off my jaw. It hurts but it’s not the worst I’ve felt.

However, the next sends me back a step and my cheek explodes. The third glances off my eye and this is when I raise my fists and say, “Enough. I get it.”

“Get what?” he grunts. “I don’t think you get shit, asshole.”

He swings again but I duck and then it’s a free for all. I think I get in two good hits to his abdomen before he tackles me to the floor and we roll around on the carpet.

Strangely it reminds me of when we were little shits pretending to be star wrestlers and even though there isn’t anything remotely funny about this, I chuckle.

This only enrages Colt more and he rears back with a snarl, saying, “What the fuck you laughing about?”

“Back off,” I groan before rolling away and sitting up. He barely looks winded, the asshole but I know he’s going to suffer from a little pain tomorrow.

“This isn’t a game, okay,” I say, and he snorts. “It’s not.”

“Really? You still leaving?” he asks, and I sigh.

This is not how I was hoping this conversation would go. Yeah, hit me a few times for lying and defiling your sister but dredging up this other shit hits too close to home.

“That’s what I thought,” Colt mutters, pushing to his feet. “I never thought I’d say this but fuck you for fucking with my family, you prick.”

“C’mon,” I say, standing as well.

Although my head fucking throbs, I have bigger problems, and they come in the form of a six foot something tall angry bear glaring daggers into my skull. “You know me better than that, Colt.”

“I thought I did.”

Stung, I turn away to glare at the wall. He was there at my darkest moment and maybe it’s unfair to expect him to give me the benefit of the doubt now, considering how we played the damn games, but I do.

We’ve known each other forever. There is no one else on this earth, not even my parents or my brother, who knows me better than this asshole does, or so I thought.

“Fine,” Colt says, dropping to the couch. “Explain to me why I just caught you sneaking out of her room like a fucking booty call. Tell me why you brought Kayla to my damn wedding. Convince me that you’re not leaving because you’re hiding something and you don’t want me to fucking know and if it involves my goddamn sister, it better be good.”

“Fuck you,” I snarl, spinning on my heel. “You don’t know shit about anything. I was in your sister’s room because I wanted to be and that’s between her and me. I brought Kayla into this shit because I needed Lauren to back off, partly because of you, dick. And I’m blowing this fucking town because I made a deal with my father. It has nothing to do with Lauren. I’ve never lied to her.”

At least not about that, I concede. Unfortunately, I haven’t been completely truthful about other shit but if it means I leave her free to live her fucking life without fear or guilt, then who cares?

She won’t know the difference anyway.

“You broke the fucking code,” Colt mutters and I laugh, slashing my hand through the air.

“What are you more mad about? That I fucked your sister or that she was your enemy? Grow the fuck up, Colt. Lauren ain’t Celia Stark and if you don’t figure that shit out, you’re the one who should a take long look in the fucking mirror.”

He’s still glaring at me from the couch when I ascend the stairs and step into the hall.

Unfortunately, I’m three feet from the front door and escape when Finn decides to butt in, saying behind me, “What are you doing?”

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