Shattered Dreams (Boys of Bellerose, #3)(15)

“Jace, just leave her be,” Rhett groaned, sticking up for me.

Grayson’s fingers squeezed my hand like he was silently asking whether I wanted him to intervene. Somehow, though, their support gave me the push to hear Jace out. It reassured me that whatever he wanted to discuss wasn’t something they’d all been privy to. Which meant I was now curious.

“Two minutes,” I relented, releasing Gray’s hand and standing up. “After that I can’t be held responsible for stabbing you with a fork.”

Jace didn’t see the humor, just gave me a withering glare and pointed toward the corridor leading to Gray’s home gym and office. I rolled my eyes but stalked down there anyway, let myself into the gym, and flicked on the lights.

“Well?” I demanded, whirling around to face my nemesis when he entered the room after me. “What is so important you needed to demand a private audience?”

The door slammed shut behind him, but he didn’t stop where he was. Instead, he stalked closer, giving me zero time to react before he grabbed me by the neck and crushed his lips to mine.

Time stood still, my breath catching hard in my throat as he kissed me. Then I foolishly melted and kissed him back for just the briefest moment. In that instant, I forgot how mad I was, how much he’d hurt me, how cruel we’d been to one another, and just remembered the boy I’d once loved with my whole fucking heart.

Then I came to my senses and bit his lip so hard I tasted blood.

He hissed, staying in my space even as he dabbed his lip. “Fair. I shouldn’t have done that, and it wasn’t why I called you away. I just… acted on impulse.”

“Well don’t,” I snapped. “There is fucking nothing left between us, Jace, you made sure of that with your epic power play at the hospital.”

“This!” Jace roared as I shoved him away forcefully enough to make him stumble. “This is what I needed to talk to you about, Billie. This stubborn-as-fuck grudge you’re clinging onto. Your fucking victim attitude. Your holier-than-thou disdain and refusal to see the bigger picture. It’s infuriating.”

My jaw dropped at hearing him accuse me of the exact shit he himself was guilty of.

“Excuse me?” I scoffed. “You must be kidding me right now.”

Jace took a few steps away, running his hands over his face with frustration while I just watched in shock. Had I stepped into an alternate universe?

“Look. We have our issues, we both know that. But my best friends, my brothers, have moved heaven and earth to make this Christmas fucking magical for you, Billie. If you’re too much of a fucking bitch to respect that and put aside our shit for one damn day, then you’re not the woman I thought you were.”

Shock and disbelief stilled my tongue, but only for a moment.

“Are you actually serious right now? You think you can come in here and act like you didn’t have me involuntarily committed to a mental hospital simply because I wasn’t dropping to my knees and sucking the great Jace Adams dick? That shit doesn’t just blow over with some tinsel and fairy lights!”

He closed the gap between us and grabbed my shirt. In a swift movement he’d spun us and shoved my back against the door, but this time he didn’t try to kiss me. Instead, he just pinned me there, holding eye contact so intense it made my knees weak.

“If that is seriously what you think happened, then we have much bigger shit to deal with. But it can fucking well wait a day. Can’t it? Use whatever tattered shred of human decency you have left inside that black heart, Billie, and think about Rhett and Gray. Think about Angel. We can go back to war tomorrow, but today I am asking you—begging you—for a ceasefire.”

Guilt and regret drowned me, and I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back the hot tears pricking the backs of my eyeballs. “You want a truce?” I croaked, making sure I was understanding him.

“Yes,” he breathed, looking utterly exhausted. Blood dripped down his lush mouth, and it shouldn’t have been as sexy as it was. “Please, Billie. They have been through it all, right alongside us. Today is about more than just you. It's about them. Us. All of us. They—we—desperately need to feel like a family again. Even if it’s just for one day. Can’t you see that?”

His thumb stroked over my cheekbone, and it sent a scalding tremble through me. When had he touched my face?

“Billie… Rose… just one day of peace. For them. It’s all I’m asking.”

He was playing dirty, calling me Rose like he was appealing to the old me. The one who’d loved him unconditionally. The one who’d have forgiven him anything. She was long gone now.

“I don’t think I can,” I admitted in a choked whisper. “I’m not that good at faking it, and right now I’d rather swim with piranhas than play happy family with you, Jace.”

The agony that creased his face nearly made me gasp aloud, but he chased it away by punching the wall and spinning away from me. Swallowing again, I sought the strength to walk away and came up empty handed. I couldn’t leave. He might not be touching me, but he held me captive with his presence nonetheless.

“Fine,” he spat. “Then don’t. Be as cold and nasty as you fucking want to me, but swap out your language, your tone, for the opposite of what you mean. That way you can get your shit off your chest and I’ll understand, but everyone else can pretend we’re playing nice. Can you do that?”