Page 56 of Unspoken Words
Tristan placed himself between Ellie and me and had the gall to rest his hand on my chest. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
My nostrils flared, and I breathed in long and hard. “Take. Your. Fucking. Hand. Off me.”
“Tristan, it’s okay,” Ellie said, calmly placing a hand on his arm. “Really, it’s fine. Maybe you should go.”
The bastard smirked but kept his eyes on me. “Sure. But you know where I am if you need me.”
“She doesn’t fucking need you. She has me.”
He scoffed. “She hasn’t had or needed you in weeks.”
I shoved him. “What’d you say?”
He bounced back, bumping his chest into mine. “You heard me.”
“What Ellie needs is none of your business.”
Chris placed his hand on Tristan’s shoulder and pulled him back. “I think you should go, mate. These two have some shit to sort out.”
He shrugged Chris’s hand off and moved toward Ellie, lifting a finger to wipe a lone tear from her cheek. The move was deliberate and far too fucking intimate. It also snapped a piece of my heart and the last tether holding me back.
I lunged for him, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him away from Ellie. He stumbled backwards and fell to the ground just as my fist connected with his jaw. Pain shot up my arm but I didn’t care. All I cared about was stopping him from touching her ever again.
“CONNOR! NO!” she cried out. “STOP!”
“Don’tevertouch her again, you hear me?”
I landed a second punch before firm arms wrapped around mine, hauling me backwards. “That’s enough,” Chris barked in my ear. “Break it up. He’s not worth it.”
Rage soared through my veins like lava, but it was the terrified look in Ellie’s eyes as she stood there, hands over her mouth, that chilled me to the bone.
“Baby, I’m sor—”
She bent down and helped Tristan to his feet. “Are you okay?”
“Your boyfriend is a maniac, Ellie.”
My body slumped as Chris directed me toward their backdoor. “Go inside and put some ice on that hand. You’re gonna need it.”
“But Ell—”
“She’s fine. Go. I’ll sort this out and send her inside in a minute.”
Nodding, I hung my head and made my way inside their house, hoping and praying that Ellie would follow.
Chapter Fifteen
Ellie
The backdoor to my housecreaked closed behind me. I paused in front of our ornate, wooden framed mirror, hanging against the laundry room wall. My cheeks were damp with tears, a look of complete and utter despair accentuated by puffy, red eyes and wayward hair. I rubbed the palms of my hands over my face and shook my head, more tears springing from my eyes.What the hell just happened?
One minute I was in my backyard, Tristan showing me how not to shoot a basketball in preparation for the Teachers versus Students game this coming Friday, and the next minute I was watching my boyfriend—who I hadn’t so much as heard a peep from for over a month—pummel my friend to the ground.How did this happen? How did we even get to this?
For the past month, I’d spent minute after minute wondering what I’d done to deserve Connor’s cold shoulder. It was so unlike him to ignore and neglect me, to be so dismissive and aloof. Sure, I’d suggested he give basketball another go. And, okay, I may have even pressured and goaded him a little. But that’s only because I’d honestly believed it was the best thing to do. That it was what he’d wanted me to do without asking me to do it. I’d thought he’d wanted to once again play the sport he loved and just needed the extra push, but never had I dreamed he’d stopped playing because he felt it was the reason for Aaron’s death. Had he just told me that in the first place I’d have let it go.
Or maybe I wouldn’t have.
Sucking in a breath, I blew it out and nodded at myself.Right, go and talk to him, and make him talk to you. Makehim explain. Make him use his goddamn words for once.I was done waiting, worrying and wondering. I was done walking on eggshells I didn’t even know were there. I wanted answers, and I was going to get them whether he was ready to give them to me or not.
