Page 185 of Rules of Association

“Ceci, quit it.” Fergy tried to sound menacing with no luck. Al following up with a weak. “Ceci don’t be mean.”

Mean! Me? It had come down to me being the problem once again?

Great.

Fine.

Whatever.

Breathing deep, I tried for a calming breath. It was ragged instead, cutting and sharp as it pierced my lungs. I couldn’t think of anything to say. I wasn't even sure I wanted to fight my sister anymore. I just wanted something to take this frustration and this terrible whirlpool of bad feelings away.

“Guys she’s not listening,” someone from in front of me said. Voice concerned. “She’s never been like this.”

Then, like a pen through a piece of paper, I heard the words that finally struck through my rage.

“Call Connor.” It was Ox who said it.

“What?” both the Ferguson boys asked in unison.

“Connor, your brother. He’s on his way right?” Ox went on, his face not happy in the slightest. “Call him and tell him to get here now.”

I felt my head swimming. Processing information like an overfilled funnel. Everything I heard coming at me all at once but only being fed to me in bits and delayed pieces.

Not listening… Call Connor.

Clay got someone on the phone in a matter of seconds. My heart pumped wildly at the possibility that it was Con. Quietly, I watched Clay through blurred eyes as he spoke into the receiver. “Hey boss, we got a bit of a situation in here. We need you… The Fernandez sisters are fighting… The little one… Alright, thanks.”

He hung up the phone and looked between everyone in the room. “Someone want to tell me what’s going on here?”

“Is he coming?” I heard myself ask, slow and hoarse.

“He’s on his way in,” Clay answered slowly.

I felt sick, my stomach curling over and my heart continuing to beat hard in my chest. I stepped toward Clay, a scoff slipping from my lips. “One fucking call and he’s coming? Just like that?”

“I guess—”

“Where the hell has he been in the first place, then?” I said, my tone disbelieving.

Clay blinked and blinked again. And then he turned to Ox as something seemed to register in his mind. “Yo man, what the hell am I missing?”

Ox didn’t get a chance to answer, because in the distance the front door slammed, causing everyone to jump. Ox pinched the bridge of his nose on the other side of the room. Clay and Fergy took a step in the direction of the door and I fell a step back.

Connor.

Connor was coming. He was here, and it wasn’t right. I was supposed to be apologizing to him but how could I when I was just so mad?

It had only taken one call. One fucking call from his brother, when I had been waiting for weeks, near months for him to come back.When I had begged to go too.

“Celestia!” a voice boomed, followed by the telltale rumble of Con’s large footsteps.

I sucked in a breath. I wasn’t ready to see him. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. All mad and stressed and breaking apart. I had done nothing but break apart in the months where he’d told me he loved me and I wanted to be full and together when I told him I loved him back. But I couldn’t do that now. Not with everyone watching and this entire mess that I had made all around us.

Melissa had the right fucking idea. Maybe I should run. Maybe sometimes it was best to just retreat and try again. I wanted to, but then Connor appeared.

Had he always been so tall? So muscular? So beautiful? Had his hair ever grown out long enough that I could see the slight ripple of curls as they waved flat along his head? Had he always been so in charge that as soon as he entered the room, he sucked the air out of it?

Almond skin, chiseled face, and hazel eyes all bore down on me, gifting me with the fact that he was here and he was safe and he was still willing to come inside to face me even if it had been his brother to ultimately bring him here. And yet…

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