Page 103 of Filthy Little Pretties
“What the fuck does that mean?” I snap.
She grabs my arm again, and this time, Liam removes it.
“Ow, dick,” she complains.Watch yourself, Laura.
She continues to gripe, but as she shakes her hand, I see it. My hand darts out and I grab her arm, holding her hand toward the ceiling, and shove her jacket down. She pops a hip, feigning resistance, sarcasm thick on her tongue.
“Oh no. Let go. Get your hands off me.”
Her smile spreads slowly over those bruised lips as my heart stops. This is the real moment he planned. Everyone always wishes that the person you love most will know you deeply and true, but that just means they know how to really hurt you.
Fucking her was nothing in comparison to seeing the goddamn gray bracelet I made him around Laura’s wrist. That’s us. Everything we meant. All of us, wrapped in silver thread. Wrapped around my heart.
“He gave us away.” My words are for me, but everyone hears them and I don’t care.
I look up, tears streaming down my face freely now. I can’t hide them anymore. His eyes bore into mine as I unravel, string by string, in front of him. Nothing else exists. Just me and Grey and that twelve-year-old promise of love. Because that’s what this was. This was the first time I told him that I loved him, in the only way I knew how. He knew it, the same way he knew this would eviscerate me.
Liam takes my hand and tries to tug me away, but I jerk from him, feeling all the emotions that I buried. All the anger, the love, the hurt boil to the top, and I grip the bracelet around Laura’s wrist, tearing at it viciously, hearing her scream and seeing red bloom on her skin as I rip it off her.
“This isn’t yours!” My eyes lock to Grey’s. “This isn’t hers!”
She stumbles back, scared, but I’m still staring into his eyes. She can have every piece but this one. Not this. Grey beelines for me, but I hold my ground. Liam steps in front of him, laying a forceful hand on Grey’s chest to stop him, but Grey hurls Liam off, shoving him a few feet away and coming to tower over me.
All his hate mixes with mine as I hold up the bracelet to him. I don’t have to say anything. Neither does he. His hands find the sides of my face, lips crashing down onto mine, kissing me viciously, mixing with my tears that have fallen. He pulls back but only enough to whisper his words into my body.
“I wish I could hate you. I want to hate you… Donovan…. don’t leave with him.”
I push his hands from me, looking into his deep chocolate eyes. “I would rather have my heart broken by him than ever be loved by you.”
Grey
MY SHOULDER’S SNATCHED AWAY, ASI’m ripped from her tearstained face, to meet Liam’s fierce scowl. His hands are dug into my blazer, tugging my chest up as he holds it in fistfuls, making us sway and jerk. He snarls and breathes so hard that it comes out like growls, gritting his teeth, threats spoken through them.
“You’re pathetic. You don’t deserve to be the one.”
“Neither do you,” I laugh, stumbling around my drunk feet, taunting him.
Fuck you. You aren’t a brother.
The first crack on my jaw is deserved but not enough. So as the second one lands, I close my eyes and take it. I want it. I want him to beat the hell right out of me because I deserve it after what I’ve done.A drop of blood for every tear. That’s fair.The taste of blood fills my mouth, and I know he’s split my lip, but before he gets in another shot, school security swarms us and drags his protesting body back. I’m pulled into the melee before we’re broken apart, and I’m pushed back toward the tables.
“Fuck you, Grey,” he yells, pointing his finger at me. “Why would you do this to all of us?”
I laugh, loudly, wiping the back of hand over my mouth, feeling the wetness drag over my hand. He has no right to be angry—he stole the only thing I’ve ever cared about. So he can go fuck himself. My hands lift like I’m conducting a symphony as he hurls put-downs and curses. It’s all music to my ears. His pain, knowing he didn’t protect her, seeing how much of her belongs to me. I want him to remember that. Liam wraps his arm across her stomach, with his back to me, but she stays facing forward, giving me those stormy eyes that see all the way to my soul as he whispers down to her.
I drop my arms, spitting the blood in my mouth to the floor as her eyes glisten with sadness. She’s pulled, taking slow steps backward, further away from me.Don’t leave with him, Donovan. Liam urges her to turn around, and with one last look at me, she does.
“Grey. We need to go.”
I look down at Caroline, who’s pulling on my jacket, but push her away.
“Why? I’m hungry. I’m staying.”
She grips my lapel with her small hand and glares at me. “You drunk fool. People got that on camera. Are you trying to load Evan’s gun for him? One misstep and he gets them to rescind the declarations in your mother’s will. What the fuck were you thinking, Grey?”
I jerk away from her, turning and walking through the room to the main doors, finally noticing all the phones. Shit. I wasn’t thinking. I was drunk on hatred. My palms push the heavy cafeteria door, heaving it open and leaving it to close on Caroline as I breeze through the doorway, heading to the front of the school so I can get the hell out of here.
“Grey!” Caroline snaps, following me into the hall breathily from running to keep up. “Will you stop for a minute.”
