“Might? You don’t want to know?” he volleys back.
I shrug. “The babies might not be in the showing mood, and I’m not sure I want to know. It doesn’t matter what I have. They’ll be mine, and I’ll love them.”
“So gangbangs are what you live for now? Did we bust you wide open, or were you always gagging for it?”
I don’t have to turn to see who’s speaking. I’d know Rowan’s condescending voice from anywhere.
My lips curl in disgust when I turn to see his hand wrapped around Samantha’s shoulder as she pets his chest, and both of them glare at me.
“Oh look, if it isn’t the future miserable CEO and his coked-out wife,” I retort, not slowing my stride.
Samantha breaks from Rowan’s hold, attempting to storm in my direction.
Elias and Fernando have already positioned themselves to ward off her attack, but Rowan yanks her back by her hair so hard that when she crashes back into him, some of her extensions are wrapped in his fist.
Throwing my head back, I burst into laughter.
“What the fuck, Rowaniel?” Samantha snarls.
I’m tempted to stay and watch them bicker, but I notice August, Liam, and Karl approaching, and I can’t face all of them together right now. It’s already bad enough that I have to endure a whole damn afternoon breathing their same air.
“I can’t believe those are the same dudes I met earlier this year,” Reign says.
The fissure grows in my chest at the reminder of what was, and my shoulders slump. “You and me both,” I mumble.
We continue in silence after that.
As much as I try to tell myself nothing they’re doing affects me, it’s so far from the truth. It hurts. Each time I see them with her, or they look past me like I never existed, another part of me cracks. It’s getting harder not to say something and to not ask why or demand answers. I have so many ‘why’ questions.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I don’t realize we’ve made it to the lecture hall or that Reign’s been trying to get my attention until he squeezes my shoulder.
“Earth to Ry. We’re here.”
I look around, taking in the room. I’ve managed to miss the entire walk.
Sighing, I take my seat, and Reign hands me my bag before sitting next to me.
He brushes an errant strand of hair out of my face before tipping my chin up until I meet his light brown eyes. “They’re fucking idiots, Ry, and if they can’t get out of their own way, then they never deserved you in the first place.”
A growl sounds from the front of the room, and I look up in time to see Karl standing just inside the door, gritting his teeth while he stares daggers in our direction. More specifically, where Reign’s hand still lingers on my cheek.
I narrow my gaze and swear I see hurt in his hazel eyes.
Why the fuck would he care? None of them have shown an ounce of feelings besides disdain and aloofness since my return.
Karl runs his hands down his face, rubbing the scruff of his jaw. He looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks. My heart skitters at that possibility. So many demons plague him. No matter how angry I am with them, I’d never want him to succumb to what haunts him. He was already teetering on a precipice.
He breaks our stare down first, storming out of the room. I spring from my seat, ready to follow him, before a gentle hand stops me.
Turning, I narrow my gaze on where Elias is holding me.
“It’s for the best,” he offers, and I want to scream.
I can feel Karl. He needs me. I’m about to argue that very point when Samantha walks in holding Karl’s hand. “I’ve got you,” she gloats, a smug grin on her face as she looks in my direction.
A soft caress slowly pulls my attention away. Reign leans and whispers into my ear, “Never let them see how much they hurt you. People will use your love for them to destroy you and then use what’s left of you as a step ladder.”
His words pierce me, but I know they ring true.
“But it hurts. Today. . . today, it hurts,” I confess, and I feel the tear fall before I can stop it.
Reign thumbs it away. “I know it’s difficult, and this entire situation sucks giant donkey dick dipped in shit, but you’ll get through.”
I snort, making him smile.
“There she is.” Elias cheers and then adds, “Don’t let anyone withdraw more than they deposit into your life, Ry. You can’t do anything with insufficient funds.”
“What are you two, fortune cookies?” Fernando jokes. “Mija, listen. These two are going to give you parables. Just say the word, and I’ll stitch them new mouths.”
Elias punches Nando’s shoulder. “You can’t go threatening to Glasgow people so loudly in public.”
Fernando has the nerve to look affronted. “I was protecting her honor. Those assholes wouldn’t survive a week if they were dating one of my sisters. Their balls would be earrings, and their dicks would be made into straws to sip their mojitos.”
I almost choke on my spit, gasping at his words. “When can I meet your sisters?”
Nando shakes his head and mumbles something in Spanish about loca gringas asking for trouble, but I can’t be sure.
Our conversation is cut off once the professor walks in and requests we pass forward last week’s homework, then begins his lecture.
I can feel their attention on me throughout the class. I’m unsure which one it is, but Elias and Reign are right. They don’t deserve me.
So, once the professor dismisses us for the day, I’m up and out of my seat, brushing past them with Reign, Nando, and Elias in the same formation we arrived in. My resolve renewed, and I say, “Let’s go see my babies.”
KARL
My angel’s carrying our baby, and we’re being forced to pretend she’s nothing to us. That alone is reason enough for me to jam a metal rod through Samantha’s frontal lobe.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.