I found the door to Eric’s room partly open, allowing faint voices to filter through.
“What?” Eric asked, his voice more distant than the first.
“Is this why you’ve been ignoring us? You really are fucking her?” That was Ollie, Christian’s brother and Eric’s best friend. What was he doing here?
“Who said I’m fucking her?” Eric’s tone was nonchalant, and it set worry into every single hope-ridden thought I’d had since waking up.
“Her clothes…all over the floor.” Oh, goody. Both Powell brothers were here.
“So what if I am?” Eric asked, sounding angrier than before.
“Dude. She is as unattainable as they come. What’s your endgame here? Fuck the crazy out of her?”
Unattainable. Christian had some nerve calling me unattainable. And I would be lying if I said my feelings weren’t hurt as he called me crazy.
“Shut the fuck up, Christian. You don’t know a single thing about her. Why are you even here?”
“We’re worried about you, man. You’ve been ignoring us—even more after you told us about your dad and Madeline’s mom.” Ollie’s tone was softer than his brother’s, as if he really did care.
He told them about my mom. Great.
“Is that your plan?” Christian boomed. “Are you fucking her to get back at your dad? And her mom?”
My heart came to a sudden halt. Heat coated every inch of my skin, yet my body was cold to the touch. I pulled the blankets up to my chin, listening even harder.
“Christian. Back off,” Eric seethed, his voice near murderous. He didn’t deny it. Was that his plan?
“No.” My eyes widened with the bite in Christian’s tone. Christian was as broody as they came. He fought with his fists and didn’t think twice about it. He was demanding and even a little scary at times. There was a reason he was the ringleader at English Prep.
“I am not going to let you get sucked into her games. You’re hurting, we get it, but Madeline isn’t good for you or anyone else. She’s mean and cold.”
Ouch. But he wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t good for Eric. Not at all.
“Have you ever fucking asked yourself why?”
I ignored the burning itch on the back of my neck that usually indicated I was breaking out in hives.
“Why what?”
“Why is she like that?”
Ollie spoke this time. “Is this the part where you try to convince us that she’s a good person? We’re just trying to help you, Eric. We don’t give a shit who you’re fucking, as long as you have your head on straight.”
I hated this. Here I was, sitting in Eric’s room, eavesdropping on a conversation with his best friends over why he should stay away from me.
My feelings weren’t exactly hurt because of their insults, but more so because they were speaking nothing but the truth.
“Christian?” Eric said his name in question. A long stretch of silence came after—so long I thought I might have been caught listening.
“No,” Christian finally answered. “I’ve never asked myself why she was like that.”
Someone clapped. “Exactly. You didn’t ask because you never cared about her.”
“Okay. So?”
I was sensing some serious rising tension even though I was upstairs in a completely different room. My skin was prickly.
Eric’s voice was cool and calm. “Do you remember that time we fought freshman year out there on the lawn at English Prep?”