Page 17 of Hard

“I caught him cheating on me, and I didn’t stick around to hear the lame-ass excuse he’d come up with.”

Corbin curled his hands into fists under the table, his rage rising.

“I got off work a little early and headed to his place to surprise him.”

Don’t fucking give me details.

“I saw some bitch leaving the house. I confronted her, and because she’s a dirty whore, she didn’t deny it. In fact, she rubbed it in my face, told me she’d been fucking him for the last month.”

Her face started getting red, and he had never seen his sister so pissed as she was right now.

“I’m going to beat his fucking ass, Crestin.”

She was shaking her head before he even finished speaking.

“No, he isn’t worth it, believe me.” She exhaled and shook her head. “The truth is, I’ve been thinking of leaving him.” She shrugged. “It isn’t like we’ve been dating long, and I wasn’t feeling it with him, but this...”

He saw the way her teeth clenched from her anger.

“It’s not going to change that he’s an asshole.”

“No, but it’ll make me feel better.”

She smiled, but it looked forced. “I was just so pissed I drove the two hours here.”

“What about work? You can’t just leave your life because of some asshole.”

“I know,” she said with exhaustion in her voice. “I planned on coming for a visit anyway, and I’m off for the next three days, so...” She shrugged again. “I just didn’t know where else to go, Corbin. I’ve never dealt with this before.”

He reached across the table and took her hand in his. “This is your home as much as it’s mine, Crestin. You know that.”

She nodded. “I think I’m going to crash. I’ve been up all night with work, and then the drive and the bullshit—”

“Go on, get some rest. I work this afternoon, but I have the weekend off, so we can spend some time together.”

She nodded and stood. “Okay, sounds good. Maybe we can visit with Izabella, too. I haven’t seen her in so long.”

At the mention of Izabella’s name, his whole body tightened. He needed to get some sleep before work, and he’d been up all night, first because he’d been fucking Izabella’s sweet pussy, and after that because he couldn’t stop thinking of her. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to just go to sleep after what they’d shared, and not now that his anger was raised because of some prick hurting his twin.

He stood, and before Crestin could leave the kitchen, he pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry” was all he could say because he didn’t know how to help her right now. He didn’t know how to give her that comfort that would make this day better.

What he could do was go kick that bastard’s ass. It might not change anything, but it would make Corbin feel a hell of a lot better knowing he’d avenged his sister in some way.

And after that, you need to figure out what in the fuck to do about Izabella.

12

The knock on the door could barely be heard over the radio Izabella had blasting. She looked at the clock, seeing it was already going on two in the afternoon, and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

She knew Crestin was home, but she didn’t know the circumstances on why she’d come back. Every other time she’d come for a visit, she’d let Izabella know. The way Corbin acted before he left and the fact Izabella hadn’t known of Crestin’s arrival told Izabella her friend’s visit might not be for a happy cause. So she hadn’t tried calling, not yet at least.

If Crestin hadn’t tried getting in touch with her by tomorrow, Izabella would contact her because she couldn’t be left in the dark.

Setting down the rag and bottle of window cleaner, she knew she looked a hot mess as she walked toward the front door. But she’d been trying to keep her mind off everything that happened last night because, the truth was, confusion filled her.

When she opened the door, it was to see Crestin standing on the other side with a bottle of wine and a covered dish in her hands.

“Surprise,” Crestin said and came in. Izabella took the wine, and the women hugged a little awkwardly given the items in their hands.

When the door was shut, they stared at each other for a second. Izabella couldn’t admit she’d known Crestin was back because then she’d be admitting she’d been with Corbin. And that couldn’t be revealed until they both found out what in the hell was going on with them.

“When did you get back in town?”

“Just this morning, really early this morning, in fact.” Crestin scrunched her forehead. “You look weird. Like you’re not happy to see me.”

Izabella shook her head and smiled, trying to get her thoughts in order. She’d been focused on the whole Corbin thing, and seeing Crestin standing right in front of her had made her nerves rise up violently. “Of course I’m very happy to see you. It’s been too long since we actually saw each other, what with our schedule and all that.” She gave Crestin another hug and took the covered dish. “What did you bring over?” Izabella was genuinely happy to see Crestin. It was just the whole fact Izabella had slept with Crestin’s twin brother that made this seem really awkward.


Tags: Jenika Snow Romance