Page 61 of Make You Love Me

“Don’t fucking put your hands on me.” Those words come from Snow as he pushes at me, but Nox and Lucian are there breaking us up before anything can escalate. They’re all staring at me like I'm a madman, and maybe I am. Truthfully, I don’t give a shit about what any of them think right now. I need her, I need to talk to her.

“Baby please,” I beg as I step closer to her. Taking both of my hands to her face, I hold her there to look in my eyes. “Stacks, I would never cheat on you.” She attempts to push me away so I try to get through to her again. “I haven’t touched another girl that way since the first night I met you in Nori Beach, I swear on my Pop’s grave.”

I can see it in her eyes and the way she relaxes in my hands. She believes me, or she wants to at least. “Please come with me, we can go wherever you want to go, but we need to talk all this out.”

Chapter Twenty

Iplaceacalminghand on Greyson’s arm and his eyes jump to mine when I say, “Okay, let’s go.” At this point, I just want to get out of here. We’re surrounded by classmates and the last thing I need isto be the center of more drama than what I've already encountered this week.

We need this, to lay it all bare and see where we stand once it's all said and done.

Corbin is standing a few feet behind Grey and by the look on his face, he is fuming. I smile at him, hoping I can convey that I’m alright and that I’m grateful for his protectiveness. “I’m fine, Corbin, don’t worry. But heisright, we really do need to talk. It's long overdue.”

He nods, his face taking on a lesser pissed-off look as he says, “Okay Trouble, text me when you're home safe.”

“Like fuck she will,” Greyson practically growls from beside me. My eyes dart to Greyson’s and I glare at him, hoping like hell he’ll keep his mouth shut. Geez, can we just leave already without having more issues? He makes no effort to leave, just stays put and scowls as his eyes stay fixed on Corbin.

“I’ll be okay, thank you,” I say to Corbin as I turn to Greyson, pulling on his arm to get his feet moving toward all the cars parked along the yard.

“Aw man, there goes our ride,” I hear Ford from somewhere nearby, followed by the sound of a smack.

“Ouch, what'd you do that for?” Ford whines.

“You're an idiot,” I hear Nox’s deep voice say.

Looking in their direction, I see Ford rubbing the back of his head and Nox looking disappointingly at his friend. Our eyes meet for a second and Nox gives me a knowing nod.I wonder how much they know about us.

I welcome the crisp autumn air as we walk to Greyson's car in silence. There's so much to be said, yet how do we start?

Needing to break the awkwardness surrounding us, I say, “We can go to my house, Ethel won't be there.” He just nods his head in understanding as we continue to walk down the road.

He clicks the key fob in his hand as we approach a large SUV. I raise an eyebrow, wondering where this vehicle came from. Greyson catches my look and says, “It’s Dad’s, I was DD tonight and the three of us don’t fit in my truck.”

“Oh, that was nice of you,” I say.

“Nah, not that nice. I really hoped they would be calling an Uber at the end of the night, since my mission was to take you home,” he says with a smile as he opens my door.

I glare at him. “That was a little presumptuous, don’t you think? Considering we’ve barely had a civil conversation since I've been here.”

“Lottie, you forget how well I know you… you may talk a good game, but I see you, Babygirl. I know deep down, you’re still mine and I will prove it to you every day. I'm tired of this bullshit chase.” He runs his finger down my arm. The closeness of his body to mine and the feel of his hands on me once again has goosebumps running across my skin. The smirk on his face makes me want to hit him, not only because of his smugness but because he’s right, and that fact bugs the hell out of me.

I climb into the passenger seat, and he shuts the door without another word. The silence is deafening between us, but I don’t know what to say. He says he hasn’t touched anyone since he met me. If that’s the case, then why did Amber go out of her way to send me that? Well I know why… she's a dumb bitch. Clearly, he has no clue what she did. I wonder if he’s aware the video exists.

We park in the driveway and head inside. He trails a step or two behind me. Chancing a glance in his direction, his head is low and for the first time, I see how much he truly is hurting from all of this. I walk through the kitchen, grabbing water for both of us, and walk out the French doors that lead to the veranda. We settle onto one of the numerous outdoor couches and just sit. How do we even begin? I'm so wound up I don’t know if I can get my story out correctly.

The cicadas and crickets are loud tonight, helping me get lost in the symphony of them. The constant chirping eases my tension as I stare out at the stars. The night sure is something down here. The light pollution of Manhattan used to drown out the glow of the stars, but here, I feel like I'm staring at a completely different sky.

“I mean it Lottie, every word I’ve ever said. Nothing has changed for me. Now it's your turn to tell me what's going on in that pretty head of yours. Tell me what has you on your knees, eager to swallow my cock one moment, then ready to gouge my eyes out the next,” he says, eyes still focused on the sky as well.

Here goes nothing… or everything.

“That night, after you saw me with Jacob, I got a call from my Papa’s aide and family friend Sally. She told me he was being rushed to the hospital and that I needed to head home as soon as I could. I had been trying to call and text you for a few hours with no luck. I wanted to at least let you know I was leaving town and would come back as soon as I could,” I say, facing him on the couch.

“When I called, a girl picked up the phone and said her name was Amber. I asked if you were around, but she refused to put you on. She was so mean to me Greyson, I don’t think I have ever heard someone say such hurtful and nasty things to another person in my entire life.” I pause, trying to maintain my composure. He reaches out to grab my hand and I let him, his warmth calming my hands that I wasn’t aware were shaking.

“I lost my phone that night. Frankie and the guys wound up taking my drunk-ass home,” he says, his blue eyes shining at me.

“I know… Frankie told me last week—”

---