Empire High Betrayal(13)

I climbed onto his lap. “Can you just hold me?” I rested my head against his chest and breathed in his familiar scent. It mixed in the air with my mom’s perfume and made me feel so content. I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

I knew I needed to tell him about the past week. About Miller. Even about James. But not right now. I just wanted one minute where I didn’t feel awful. And when he held me, I no longer felt like I was sinking. I was all in with him. I just hoped he felt the same way after he knew the truth.

“I’m going to fucking kill her,” Matt said.

I believed him. I should have been scared of his words. But I wasn’t. The threat was comforting. He finally had my back. I just wasn’t sure I deserved it now.

“If she even breathes your name, she’s dead.” He held me tighter.

I hoped it was a promise. Because even though I felt safe in his arms, I wasn’t sure I’d ever truly feel safe as long as Isabella was still breathing.





Chapter 6


Sunday

Despite my dad’s reservations, he and Matt were getting along well. The three of us were watching the Giants game together. Matt and I were curled up on the couch and Mr. Pruitt had pulled out my mom’s old couch so that there was enough seating. It looked weird for my dad to be sitting on it when he was usually so formal. The floral couch also looked weird against all the pristine white. The first thing that I’d do once I moved in was paint all the walls yellow. My mom would have liked that. And I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d been yellow in the first place.

Matt grabbed another slice of pizza. My dad had burned the eggs terribly, but luckily pizza was a perfect back up. Everything about this afternoon just felt…normal.

Except the fact that it wasn’t real. This wasn’t my dad’s real home. I wasn’t his real family. And Matt didn’t know that I’d kissed Miller. The perfection of this afternoon was just a fa?ade. But I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

“Touchdown!” my dad yelled and high-fived me and Matt.

I smiled and rested my head on Matt’s shoulder. Today reminded me of the time Matt met my uncle. We’d all watched a movie together. It had just felt…right. For just a moment everything had been perfect. Right before my whole world had shattered again.

“Are you okay?” Matt whispered.

“Just tired.” I wanted to freeze time. I wanted to stay in this safe little bubble forever.

My dad’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out. “I should take this. I’ll be right back.” He got up off the couch.

“Here, you should lie down,” Matt said. He shifted on the couch and I lay down, resting my head on his lap. But instead of looking at the TV, I stared up at him.

He traced the dark circles under my eyes. Or maybe he was thinking about how he hadn’t been there to wipe my tears away last night. Because the expression on his face was pained.

“I love you,” I said.

He smiled, but it looked forced. “I love you too.” He ran his hand down the side of my neck. “I don’t want you to have to go back to their apartment. I know he’s your dad,” he whispered. “But I don’t trust him. I don’t trust them.”

My stomach churned. All the Pruitts are toxic. That’s what he’d said before. Is that what he saw now when he looked at me?

“Come live with me,” he said.

Whoa, what? “I can’t move in with you.”

“Why not?”

“Well, first of all you still live with your parents.”

“My mom already loves you.”

I laughed. “She doesn’t even know me.”

“She knows that I love you.” His fingers traced my collarbone. “She knows you make me happy.”

“I haven’t been making you happy recently.”

He ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “It’s my own fault that I’ve been unhappy. I didn’t put you first. But I won’t make that mistake again.”

“You said it was because you knew I was strong.”

“You are strong. You’re the strongest person I know.” His hand settled on my cheek. “But I don’t remember saying that.”

I laughed. “You said it last night when you were drunk.”

He laughed. “Well at least I was honest. What else did I say?”

“Oh all sorts of things.” I looked up into his chocolaty brown eyes. “You also told me you were secretly in love with Rob.”

“What?!”

I laughed. “I’m just kidding.” I couldn’t resist messing with him. I reached up and ran my hand along the scruff on his jawline. I liked it. He was usually cleanly shaven.

He shook his head. “What did I really say?”

“You said you loved me. You said you were sorry. You explained what really happened with Rachel. You kept saying I was yours.”

“You are mine.” He lowered his eyebrows as he studied my face. “You’re mine, Brooklyn.”

I nodded. “You had a whole list of reasons why you loved me. I really liked that list.”

“Hmm. I think I remember a few of those things.”

“Just a few?”

“A million things is kind of hard to remember.”