Page 39 of Until You're Mine
“You okay?” Shane asked, stopping me with a hand on my arm.
My cheeks heated as I remembered being plastered against Shane’s hard body, his intense gaze on me like I was the only thing in the world that’d existed in that moment. The brush of his scruff against my neck and the scrape of his teeth on my earlobe… Goose bumps spread across my skin, the way they had when he’d executed the move. It was supposed to be a quick act, one that motivated Conrad and his big ol’ fragile ego to agree to take on Shane in the cage. Shane deserved a chance at a big fight after all he’d been through, and I’d seen a way to make it happen that didn’t involve groveling to the asshole who’d cheated on me.
The guy who’d treated me like a possession. If my brothers knew how rough Conrad had been with me, they would’ve beat the shit out of him and most likely lost their careers in the process. He had never hit me, thankfully. Just a lot of possessive grabbing that left me with bruises around my wrists or upper arms and some borderline verbal abuse I didn’t recognize until after I’d gained some perspective, and I wished I’d ended it before he’d cheated on me.
Despite his volatile moods, I’d still been crushed when I told him that I didn’t forgive him and that we were over. He was my first love—at least I thought I’d been in love—and I used to believe that we were one of those super passionate, destined-to-be-together couples.
I was so stupid, giving up everything I wanted to try to keep him happy.That was why I couldn’t get too comfortable in this world again. The ups and downs were too much, and worse, I lost sight of myself along the way. At the end, all I’d been left with were pieces of the girl I used to be.It took so long to put those pieces back together. So many days and nights of wondering if I’d ever be whole again.
“Hey,” Shane said, placing his hand on the side of my neck and yanking me out of the past. “You’re scaring me.”
“I’m okay. Just a bit shaken up is all.” For a second I got lost in the way Shane was looking at me, tender but with a fierce, possessive edge that bordered on something else entirely, and I had to remind myself I wanted levelheaded and reliable. I wanted steady and calm and there for me when I needed him. I had that with Trey.
I’m such a shitty girlfriend.The act had gone too far, and I’d be pissed if the situation was reversed, supposed friend or not.
I crossed my arms, adding a much-needed boundary between us. “Dude.The ass grab? Really?”
Shane shrugged, a cat-eating-the-canary grin on his lips. “What? You said to go with it.”
My brothers caught up to us before we reached the table with the rest of the guys, who all looked like they were on the verge of shooting out of their chairs if the situation called for it.
I almost got our whole team involved in a stupid bar fight. Great. Maybe now Dad’ll finally say good riddance instead of trying to convince me to stay.
Finn glanced back at the bar, where we’d had the fun little altercation. “He’s gone.”
“Good,” Liam said, then he gestured a finger between me and Shane. “As for this?Not happening.”
I rolled my eyes. “Jeez,Mom. Not only do you not get to tell me what to do, but I have a boyfriend. That whole display was just an attempt to land Shane a big fight. You’re welcome.”
“We didn’t want you to have to deal with him, which is why we vetoed the idea of you going to him.”
“You and Finn did, but Dad made it clear he didn’t care if it was beyond my comfort level. So the opportunity arose and sure, I did it my way instead of his, but I bet it’ll work. By tomorrow morning Conrad will have called his manager and his coaches and told them to set it up. That means Dad’ll ease up, and we can all go back to pretending he wants me here for more than to be his bookkeeper and the pawn he moves into bad territory when he wants a fight arranged.”
“Wait.What?” Shane glanced from me to my brothers, then back at me. “What the fuck is going on?”
Finn clapped Shane on the back. “Conrad is Brooklyn’s ex-boyfriend. Obviously he still has issues with letting go, and I’m guessing she just secured you a fight with him. Congrats, dude.”
Shane didn’t appear to be very excited about the news. He turned to me like he wanted a different answer—or perhaps something more—but I didn’t want to get into it. My stomach roiled, either from the alcohol or the stress of dealing with my ex, or possibly even from the rock of guilt that’d taken up residence in my gut and grew heavier by the second. “I’m actually feeling kind of sick,” I said. “I just wanna go home.”
“I’ll take you,” Shane said, placing his hand on my back. As much comfort as it provided, I knew leaning into it like I wanted to would up the guilt factor, and I already felt like a horrible person.
Before I got the chance to tell him that wasn’t a good idea, Finn took in Liam’s glower and stepped up to me on the other side. “I’ll take her.”
Even though I’d come to the conclusion that I couldn’t go with Shane, I missed the heat of his hand immediately.
You’ve really made a mess of things this time.In less than a month, too. That had to be a new record.
…
First thing on Monday, I received an urgent text from Dad, giving me a whole hour’s notice about a meeting he needed me to attend in his office. I’d contemplated skipping the meeting and showing up late for work to show I wasn’t his puppet, but I decided it’d be easier on both of us if we just pretended to have an employee/employer relationship. Then I wouldn’t hope for more, and it’d be harder for him to disappoint me.
When I strolled in, a Big Gulp of Mountain Dew in hand, Dad and Finn sat on opposite sides of the couch—not like they were in a fight or anything, but guys had some unspoken rule about sitting too close if there was another option, like how they’d leave a movie theater chair between them if they could.
I glanced at Liam seated opposite the couch in the roller chair. “Ooh, are we finally having that intervention to get Liam to call Chelsea and make things right so we can actually bear to be around him again?”
Nearly identical scowls twisted Liam’s and Dad’s faces, while Finn hid his grin behind his hand.
“Okay, guess not. Tough crowd, tough crowd.” I stepped over Dad’s legs, choosing to bypass the middle couch cushion in favor of perching on the armrest next to Finn. It seemed like the safer option. Bonus, Finn fist bumped me for my hilarious comment. “Are we expecting—?”
