Page 10 of Bad Moon Rising

I closed my eyes and fell forward, my lips tingling with the anticipation of his and—

With a growl, he tore himself away from me. The momentum sent me flailing into a bush. “Brooks? What—”

Brooks grabbed his head, tugging at the strands of blond hair grazing his temples. His face screwed up like he was in physical pain. “I can’t do this.”

“Can’t do what?” Tears sprang to my eyes as understanding dawned, and with it came the cold, harsh truth. He doesn’t want me. “You can’t kiss me? But I thought…”

“You thought wrong,” he growled, his voice so dangerous that I whimpered and retreated instinctively. He had never, not ever, raised his voice at me before. It was almost as if I were looking at a completely new version of Brooks, one I didn’t recognize. “I don’t want you, Lily. I’ll never want you. So don’t look for me, don’t even think about me again.”

“Brooks, wait!” Tears ran down my cheeks as I called after him. But he stormed back inside the house and didn’t come out despite my pleas.

And the next day, I watched from my bedroom window as he got in his sexy AF car with his duster and a black duffel bag and drove away.

I haven’t seen or heard from him since.

And now, here he is, standing on the path like he owns it, which I guess he does, those dark, dangerous eyes devouring me, and he has the nerve to say, “I’m in the middle of fixing my car, and I need to talk to my brother, so run along home like a good girl.”

5

ORION

I shuffle on the balls of my feet as I volley my gaze between my brother and the girl I’ve loved my entire life. They’re both staring at each other with nearly identical glares, and tension thrums between them like a live electrical wire.

From the way Brooks reacted to seeing Lily out the window last night, I got the feeling that he doesn’t want her to know he’s back in town. As if his ridiculous car in the driveway wouldn’t give him away. Well, she’s certainly seen him now.

I clear my throat and shove my hands into my back pocket, but neither hear me as they engage in their intense stare-off. I feel the angry sparks radiating off both of them, though I can’t understand the reasoning for such animosity. I know Lily was upset when Brooks left town abruptly, but what did she expect? Sure, my brother could’ve handled things differently, but I didn’t think they left things so…tense.

And then Brooks speaks, and I never wanted to punch my older brother more than I did in that moment.

“I’m in the middle of fixing my car, and I need to talk to my brother, so run along home like a good girl.” His face distorts into a sneer.

Lily sucks in a sharp, thready gasp almost as if she were the one who had just been punched in the face.

I’m not one for verbal or physical altercations—they make me anxious—but for Lily, I’ll do just about anything.

Before my brain can catch up with my body, I step in front of Lily’s much smaller frame and glare up at my older brother. I love the asshole more than anything, but sometimes… Sometimes, I hate him too.

Brooks always claimed to hate our parents and the life they forced us to grow up in, but he’s a carbon copy of our father.

Can’t he see that?

“Watch it, B,” I warn tersely. Brooks’s eyes flick down to me and widen almost imperceptibly in surprise. It’s not often I stand up to him. That’s more Jackson’s territory. But for Lily? I’ll throw all my carefully constructed rules out the window if it means defending her.

Even if the person I have to defend her from is my own flesh and blood.

“I see some things haven’t changed.” Brooks’s lips pull away from his teeth in a semblance of a snarl. He glances at me with unbridled disdain before focusing on Lily over my shoulder. “You still have my brothers wrapped around your little finger.”

“Don’t do that,” Lil snaps, her tone sharper than I ever remember hearing before.

“Tell the truth?”

“You’re belittling my relationship with the twins,” Lily shoots back. I just know that if I were to glance over my shoulder, her lips would be twisted in a sneer similar to Brooks’s. Those two are more alike than either of them want to believe. “Just because you left—”

“Oh, grow up, Lily Dean.” Brooks rolls his eyes, even as his lips thin even further. “Just because I’m not following you around like a besotted puppy anymore and made a life for myself—”

“What the fuck is your problem?” Lily’s sharp, scathing voice cuts through the air like the slash of a whip. And it’s not just her tone that has my mouth dropping open…it’s the fact that she swore.

I’m not saying Lily’s completely innocent or anything like that, but it’s very, very rare that she swears. I actually can’t remember the last time I heard her curse in a way that wasn’t playful.

---