Page 15 of This Is War: All's Fair Duet
“I don’t even know what to say.” I pull a face and exhale unsteadily. This is so fucking embarrassing. Yet, Jaxon is very matter-of-fact about it. Doesn’t seem the least put off by my humiliating performance.
“Do you want to hear the rest?” One brow arches as he eyes me and holds out his hand. Caught between wanting to run and wanting to take it, I hesitate, which makes a muscle in his jaw twitch before he closes the distance between us and takes my hand. He draws me closer while my heart thunders. “I took off your jeans and the pretty top you were wearing so I could wash them, cleaned you up, and tucked you into my bed.”
I stare at the wide, corded column of his throat, trying to make sense of how he’d helped me. Finally, I tip my face up, staring into his dark eyes. “Thank you.”
He’s got the corner of his lip trapped between his teeth as he studies my face. “You’re welcome.” Then his chest heaves right before he lets out a rough chuckle. “What, did you think I was going to take advantage of you in that state?”
My eyes grow wide, and the blood whooshing through my veins creates a deafening sound. I blink up at him.
He gestures to the door. “Let’s go upstairs and get your clothes and phone.” At my silent nod, he readjusts his gripon my hand, lacing my fingers with his. Returning the way we came, he pulls me to a stop when we hear voices a short distance away. He turns me to him, cupping my face with both hands. In the low light, he leans down, brushing his lips over mine. His mouth hovers there as he murmurs in a velvety soft voice, “The next time I put my hands on your body, you can be fucking sure you’ll remember it.”
9
LOGAN
Jaxon’s such a dick.There’s nothing anyone can say that’ll make me change my mind, either. Brooding and standoffish and fucking full of himself, my stepbrother living here—where I’m going to run into him all the time—is fucking ridiculous. I swear my mom told me he was done living in the Evermore athletic dorm after one year and would be in an apartment this year. So, what the fuck is he doing here? My jaw tightens as memories of his cute little speech at the meeting earlier had been enough to push me right over the edge.
We’re like night and day. Fire and motherfucking ice.
An aggravated breath passes between my lips as I stand under the spray of the shower, willing the pelting water to calm me. It’s not doing a whole lot of good.Fucking Jaxon. It was bad enough that I ran into him at a party oncampus. Worse to watch him put his goddamn hands on Rya. He’s got her fooled.
Fuck. He’s goteveryonefooled. Everyone but me. He’s like some Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde freak. And he only brings out his true nature for me. No one else knows what he’s capable of. He’ll continue to let everyone around us think he’s the victim like he always has, when the reality is he’s the instigator of all our trouble. I had figured both of us being on Evermore’s baseball team was going to be a shit show. This last devious display of his in front of our coach is simply the latest in a long string of the ways he’s shown his hatred.
Groaning to myself, I run my hands over my abdomen, inspecting the bruises he’d inflicted on my rib cage with his fists. Fucker is stronger than he used to be, that’s a fact. I shut my eyes, pinching my lips together as the truth of the situation rushes over me again: my goddamn asshole of a stepbrother is now living in Deveney Hall with me. He’s going to make my life a living nightmare. His antics in front of our coach is one thing, but trying to take Rya from me—that’s on another level.Dick.Thank fuck he doesn’t understand me or my relationship with Rya.
I turn, letting the water hammer my back for thirty seconds before giving up and cutting it off. This fucking sucks. That’s all there is to it. I dry off, then wrap the towel around my waist. Still grumbling to myself, I choosea sink and stare into the mirror for a few seconds and attempt to finger comb my hair into some semblance of submission.
One thing is for certain, I need to talk to Jaxon because there’d been nothing worse—except being worried about Rya all night—than getting a formal dressing-down by the baseball coach when he doesn’t know me yet. I heave out a heavy breath, closing my eyes as the humiliation I’d felt in Coach Kimball’s office resurfaces. He’d been seething mad, his disappointment palpable without him uttering a single word. It’d been ugly. How much he’d witnessed, I can’t quite remember, as I’d been purely focused on not getting my ass handed to me. But I was the one he’d had to wrench off Jaxon. And my stepbro had been the one with visible injuries.
At this moment in time, all Coach sees me as is the problematic new guy who punched a teammate in the face a couple of times.
Fuck.
Expelling a harsh breath, I head back to my room to put on some clothes. It’s time to confront the only person I’ve evernotgotten along with. Jesus, I’m even on decent terms with Jaxon’s dad, though he’s not my favorite because I don’t particularly like the way he is with my mother.And it was too soon.My dad hadn’t been gone long when she met him.
I give myself a shake as I enter the room I share with Levi. He’s at his desk—or rather, his feet are propped up on it—and his iPad rests on his lap. From this angle, I’d say he’s sketching something. “Hey,” I grunt out as I shut the door behind me and lean back against it.
“Ha. Well, fuck you, too.” Levi glances up and smirks, shooting me a wink.
“Sorry.” Since moving in together, Levi and I have gotten to know each other pretty well. We can give each other shit, no problem. All he means by thefuck youhe just threw at me is that he can tell I’m pissy about something. It’s an invitation to speak my mind, otherwise, he wouldn’t have said a thing. “Been a rough day. I’m good.” With a sigh, I push away from the door and proceed to open one of the two freestanding closets in our room.I’m going to get dressed, then get some fucking answers.
“Does your rough day have anything to do with a certain stepbrother and your sweetheart doing who-knows-what in his room?”
I freeze for a moment, then snatch up a pair of joggers before shifting to shut the cabinet door. “What?” Stunned speechless, I can’t do anything more than stare at him.
Levi’s brow quirks up at my ignorance, an easy smile twitching at his lips. He lets loose a huffed chuckle. “I kinda wondered if you knew.”
My gut clenches into a hard knot. Surely, I didn’t hearhim right. I run my free hand through my still-damp hair as I narrow my eyes on him. “What are you talking about?”
Studying me with a hint of bemused exasperation, my roommate tips his head to the side. “Rya, man. I was talking to Azriel when she walked past me, hand in hand with Jaxon. He took her down to the end of the hall and into his room.”
A cold sweat pops out on my skin, and my hands grow clammy. I hastily drop my towel, not a clue as to what my next move is. Bust my way into his room? Scenarios of what they could be doing alone together pop into my head and take hold.Fuck. No. Not him, Rya.
“Whoa, pal. Put the sin stick away.” Levi shoots me a comical look of horror before averting his eyes.
“What the hell do you think I’m doing?” I bark as I yank the joggers up my legs and over my ass. Not wasting time on locating a shirt, I pivot, jam my feet into my athletic slides, and whip the door open. The room Jaxon took her to is clearly the one that used to be occupied by Bryson. It’s a single room at the opposite end of the hall. At least I know where to find the bastard.
As I pass the door to the women’s bathroom, though, a body slams into me. The girl lets out a startled cry as I throw my hands out, grasping her biceps to steady her. “Sorry,” I mumble, then as we part, my eyes dart down.The messy bun is my first tip-off because I’d know it anywhere. How many times has she fallen asleep on my chest or leaned her head against my shoulder? Rya’s pretty green eyes stare up at me, a neat stack of clothing clutched against her chest.
