“Then you don’t mind if I tell her?” Aiden taunts him and like a shooting arrow, Blane bursts from my embrace and tackles his brother. He’s got him in a grip, but as if he changed his mind suddenly, he lets go and steps to the side. “Coward,” Aiden spits out.
Beat.
Beat.
Beat.
“Tell me what?” I repeat again, but this time, my voice shakes. Because this time, I’m pretty sure it won’t end well.
“Blane wanted to seduce you to get the money,” Aiden says, his voice dripping with venom. “I tried to stop him, but he never told me you two … were seeing each other.”
My jaw drops and I just stare and stare at my other stepbrother.
“What do you mean?” I ask, my voice trembling.
“He wants the inheritance,” Aiden explains. “He thinks it should be ours, too. So he decided the best way to get it was to get you.”
I’m going to break.
“It is what it is, Emme,” Aiden sighs, and finally I look at Blane.
I look at the man I’ve loved since I was a child, the man who just took my virginity and in the same breath, admitted he loved me too. I was too weak to say it, but I felt the same in that moment.
But now?
Now it feels like I’m breaking.
Fa
lling.
Crashing.
“Get out,” I whisper.
“Emme …” Blane reaches for me.
“Get out, now,” I say softly.
I think what hurts the most is that I’m not even able to scream at him. I can’t even raise my voice, because it hurts so bad I think I will break down if I so much as look at him.
But I’m wrong, because I experience a whole new level of pain when he walks away.
Doesn’t stop to comfort me.
Doesn’t think to apologize.
And them I crumble, and just when I’m about to hit the floor, Aiden catches me in his arms and I melt into his embrace as the tears come.
Chapter 2
Aiden stays with me all night. He holds me as I cry over his brother.
I lick my wounds, Blane pours the salt.
He doesn’t call, doesn’t text, doesn’t even shoot me a Facebook message.
I guess he got what he wanted from me, and now he’s done.
I should have known. How did I not figure it out?
I retreat to the safety that is Aiden. He always has been my solid rock, and in this past year when we lost touch, I felt so lost. I tried to find that with Blane, which I’m only realizing now. But all he wanted was to use me, take me, and then my money, too.
I’m slumped on the couch and Aiden is holding me, stroking my hair softly. The tears have all dried up know, but I’m still whimpering with the pain, because it hurts so fucking bad.
“You have to talk sometime,” Aiden says softly and I curl into a ball in his arms, refusing to acknowledge what he said. “Shhh,” he says as I whimper again. “Just tell me what happened. It will make you feel better.”
I’m hesitant, because after all, it’s his brother we’re talking about. But I need to tell someone, need to pour my pain out of my body, because otherwise, I might just drown in it.
“We’ve been …” I sniffle. Aiden squeezes me closer and I go on, feeling encouraged. “We kissed. Remember when I came to your place for lunch?”
His body tenses and I can feel his hands trying hard not to form into fists. “Did he kiss you?”
“I don’t know,” I lie.
We lie still for a while, the only sound that of my ragged breathing. But then Aiden grabs me by the shoulders all of a sudden, making me face him.
“I need to know,” he says, his voice breaking over the words painfully. “Was he …”
I know what he’s going to ask, but it doesn’t hurt any less knowing what words are going to come out of his mouth.
“Was he your first?” Aiden wants to know.
I look him in the eyes and I think of my blissful happiness only hours ago. Think of the sticky, wet feeling between my legs, where his cum marked me.
I nod, and I don’t break eye contact.
This is my shame.
Aiden moans.
This is his pain.
“Did you use protection?” Aiden finally asks.
“I didn’t even think about that,” I answer truthfully. “It was … my first time.”
Aiden gets up suddenly and I move away when he runs his hands through his air, cursing out loud. “That fucker,” he says quietly, but with such rage it scares me to the bone. “That bastard.”
“It’s okay,” I whisper, scooting to the edge of the couch. “It will be okay, right?” I need him to nod, need him to say it will, because otherwise, I will break right now.
He just looks at me blankly.
So it is that I find myself in a pharmacy at 3 in the morning, where I utter my shame. Ask for the morning pill. Feel the love, the life, everything leak out of me.
Aiden hands me a glass of water back at home.
He tips my chin backwards and makes me swallow the pill.
He holds me while I cry until I’m all dried up.
And the call never comes.