Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Ben bangs his palms to the roof over my head. “Hope!” he screams.
I don’t stop. I don’t look his way. I keep my head held high even as the tears fall, and I peel out of the driveway, leaving the cottage behind.
Chapter 25
BEN
“What the fuck?” I roar, whirling on Sean as Hope’s car drives away, whining under the pressure of her foot on the gas pedal.
Sean’s leaning against the doorframe with zero remorse, his face perfectly vacant. And like he didn’t just implode my life, he shrugs indifferently.
I gun it for him, not caring about anything other than finding an outlet for this pain that’s slashing at the fabric of my soul. He ruined everything and doesn’t give a shit.
Fuck Sean.
Fuck the band.
Fuck everything.
Except Hope.
She’s the only purely good thing I’ve ever touched, and Sean tore her away from me.
Lowering my shoulder, I drive it deep into him, tucking it into his gut in an attempt to tackle him to the floor inside, where I have every intention of destroying him. If I had an eyebrow tattoo like his, I’d be waving that thing like a flag, warning that I’m coming hot and heavy for him. But he’s ready for my charge, and though he stumbles a few steps back, he’s able to throw me off-kilter, and my hip bounces hard off the back of the couch, moving it a few inches.
“I hate you!” I scream, going at him again, and he pops me in the chin, his fist glancing off my jaw. The piss-poor shot doesn’t hurt—or at least, it doesn’t hurt in comparison to the crack ripping open in my heart—but it’s a small victory for him in that it makes my ears ring and causes me to stumble slightly.
“Hate you too,” he spits out. “Too fucking bad I also love you.”
I glare at him, snarling and panting as I try to make sense of the nonsense he’s spewing. “Why?” I gasp out.
There’s nothing he can say to fix this, but I have to know what would make him throw away the only shot at happiness I’ve ever had. Why would he hurt me like this? He’s my brother, yet he’s hurt me more than anyone ever has. This betrayal pales in comparison to even what my mom did to me. I half expected it from her after years of her screwed-up priorities.
But Sean? I know we’ve had our issues lately, but I never would’ve imagined he’d be this evil.
“For you, you fucking idiot!” he roars, scrubbing his hands over his face. “You were gonna tell her, and we both know it. Nothing I said last night changed that, so I took the hit.” He slams his palm to his chest, the sound hollow because he’s the fucking Tin Man. No heart, no soul, only darkness and pain coated in bitterness and biting sarcasm.
“I wanted to tell her in my own way,” I argue, not refuting that I was going to tell her. I wanted to do it with kindness, explaining the very important reasons for the secrecy, not whatever the hell Sean did.
“Yeah? Well, she showed up here, giving me the perfect opportunity to do it for you.” He arches his right brow, which confuses me.
He’s seeking, not destroying. But he sure destroyed any chance I had with Hope.
She looked devastated, and as much as I’m hurting, her pain is what cuts me the most. She’s been through so much and doesn’t deserve to be caught up in whatever Sean’s stirring up, especially right as she’s finding her footing.
“That was my right! My responsibility. I will never forgive you for this. We’re done. Fuck off!” I hiss, turning to leave. I don’t know where I’m going, but I can’t be around him anymore. I’m afraid of what I’ll do. What I’ll say.
“It’s a test,” Sean calls out, and I stop, one hand on the door.
Glaring over my shoulder, I bark, “What?”
“It’s a test,” he repeats, which clarifies nothing. He crosses his arms over his chest defensively and glares right back. “You said you trust her, and though I don’t know her, I know you, and you don’t trust easily. She claims she’s trustworthy. Said she’s better than your mom, would choose you over any-fucking-thing else,” he says mockingly. “I’m testing that theory.”
He delivers the explanation coldly, but there’s some vital information there. He didn’t take the first opportunity to tell Hope. He talked to her.
He’s not an act-first, deal-with-the-fallout-later guy, as much as sometimes it feels as if that’s the case. Sean is smart, calculating, and shrewd. He’s the one who’s saved us countless times over the years by leading with his head when I led with my heart. He’s up to something, playing chess five steps ahead while I’m stuck at schoolyard hopscotch, stumbling as I try to avoid the rocks in my way. I need to catch up to his game, quickly. Unfortunately, he’s a diabolical genius, and I’m . . . me.