Page 61 of The Vengeance You Crave
Pain slices through my chest as I think of the look on her face when I adamantly told her that I didn't believe her, that she was lying to me. I had no idea why she would do that, why she'd want to hurt me, but that was the only thing that made sense because the possibility of her being right… I couldn't—I can't—deal with it.
"I don't know if I can."
"What did she do?" Chelsea asks, turning to look at me.
My lips part but I soon find that I have no words. "It… it doesn't matter."
"Exactly," Shane announces. "So just let it go. You two were so good together. I really thought this was going to end up being your life." He points to Chelsea and then Nadine.
"I don't think so, I know how to fucking wrap it," I joke, raising a brow at him. Although, it’s a big fat lie because I fucked Peyton bareback without a second thought Friday night.
Out of nowhere, the image of her belly swollen with my baby pops into my head and my breathing falters. I bet she would look so fucking beautiful.
My grip on Nadine tightens as I try to get control of myself.
"Whatever. I just don't think it's worth getting yourself fucked up over. You've got enough to worry about with the new season and classes and—"
"You sound like Dad."
"Nah, man. I don't mean it like that. No girl is worth going at it over with Lee."
"Nice," Chelsea mutters.
"Baby, you know exactly what I mean. Bros over hoes." He winks and she groans.
"It doesn't matter. I don't think she's going to be making an effort to talk to me again anytime soon anyway."
"What did you do?" Chelsea asks.
"The specifics don't matter," I say, already ashamed of my actions this weekend. "We hashed out a few things and it got a bit… brutal. Lee was pissed. It was all just a bit intense."
"Right, well… Chelsea's parents are out and we were about to order dinner. You staying?"
My stomach growls right on cue. It was late by the time Peyton woke earlier, with the fight and the drive here, it's the first time I'm realizing that I haven’t actually had anything yet.
"Yeah, if it's okay with you two."
"Of course. But don't get any ideas about crashing here. Firstly, unless you're going to be on Nadine nighttime duty, trust us when we say you wouldn't want to be here, and secondly, don't even think about running away from your issues. That's not how we deal with shit."
"Yes,Mom," I deadpan, rolling my eyes at my little, yet seemingly wiser, brother. I guess it's true what they say, becoming a father makes you grow up fast.
17
Peyton
My heart is in my throat as I walk into work later that night. I might have been able to cover up the marks on my body enough to hide them from Aunt Fee and Elijah after managing to slip into my room before either of them caught me doing the walk of shame, but the men here—my boss—are a different story.
None of them are going to be impressed by the marks he left behind on my skin.
I'm meant to be the innocent one. That's what earns me decent money without having to accept any of the offers I get to go and make use of one of the back rooms.
I shed my hoodie and stuff it and my purse into my locker and give myself another once over in the mirror. I went all out with the outfit in the hope it would distract from the amount of concealer I've had to slather on my body.
My pleated skirt just barely covers my ass. If I bend over even slightly, then the entire bar is going to know what color my panties are, and my white shirt is unbuttoned but tied in a knot between my breasts, showing off as much skin as possible.
I hate it. I hate that men's eyes are going to be drilling into me all night. That just as Luca said, they're going to be imagining all kinds of things every time they look at me.
But that's okay, they're not going to be close enough to touch.
