Tempted (In Too Deep) (10 page)

Chapter 26

Colt

The text from Reis says to meet him in the rec room. But when I pull the door open, Taylor sits alone on the couch. She looks up, confusion shadowing her face. Crap. This is a set up. Reis told us both to be here so we could work things out. She stands up. I raise my hands. “Don’t leave.”

She sighs, but sits back down.

“Reis did this to get us to talk, didn’t he?”

She nods.

“I didn’t put him up to it, just so you know.”

“I know,” she says.

I sit down on the other end of the sofa. “He’s a good kid.”

“He’s the best,” she says with a touch of defensiveness in her voice.
What the fuck does that mean?

“You guys got pretty close, huh?”

“You weren’t here,” she says. Her voice is harsh. An accusation.

“I didn’t
want
to be away.”

She huffs. “But that didn’t stop you from enjoying yourself with
Bria.”

I turn to her suddenly, my expression serious.
“Enough with Bria. Nothing happened. I never cheated on you. I told you I’ve changed.”

Her eyes question mine, she bits into her lip, trying to decide if she should believe me.

“I need a girl who trusts me, not someone who’s always suspicious, who’s just waiting for me to fail.”

She hangs her head, looking down at the floor.

I lower my voice, trying to keep under control. Even if she doesn’t trust me, she doesn’t deserve to be yelled at. I take a deep breath, getting myself under control. “I may have kept things from you concerning Bria, and that was stupid – but it was only to protect you.”

Her eyes lift to mine, but they’re still shadow with doubt and suspicion.

“I’ve learned my lesson. One-hundred percent honesty from now on.”

Chapter 27

Taylor

“One hundred percent honesty?” I mutter.

He nods.

“Okay, well how’s this for honesty. I hacked into your emails while you were gone.”

He blinks and looks down at the floor.

But I can’t stop there. “What did it mean when Bria said you were a cover hog?”

He curses under his breath. “That girl is fucking trouble. I swear she just does this shit to bug me. Nothing like what she implied happened. I promise you, Taylor. I never fucking touched her. She came into my room – it was the night we broke up actually. She couldn’t sleep and had been rejected by this guy Liam. She just wanted someone to talk to. She asked if she could sleep in my room and I didn’t turn her away. But that’s all we did – sleep. I was crushed, completely broken over you. I didn’t have it in me to send her away just when she’d been dismissed by that guy too.”

“You’ve kept the truth from me so many times, Colt. I don’t know how can I trust you again. First your Dad, all the girls in your past, Bria, London, everything. It’s too much.”

“I agree. It is too much, and I can’t live in constant fear of screwing up. If you don’t believe in me, this will never work.”

We stand in silence for several minutes, confused emotion radiating between us. I wish there was an easy way to fix this. It scares me that there might truly be no fixing things this time.

“I guess that’s all there is to say then,” he says.

I don’t argue. There’s nothing else I can say. I’m judging him for keeping secrets from me, when the fact that I kissed Reis hangs over my head. And there’s no way I can tell him that.

I watch Colt walk away, my heart contracting painfully with each step that carries him away from me.

I realize for the first time, I’m not worthy of Colt. I head upstairs, intent on hiding in the dorm when I pass Reis coming out of the rec room. His face lights up when he sees me, which makes the ache inside me twist painfully. The guilt clawing at my nerves is more than I can take. I’ll be reminded of that kiss and my lie to Colt each time I see Reis.

“Why do you still look sad? Are you guys
back together?”

I shake my head. “It’s not that simple, Reis.”

“Shrimp, come here.” He pulls me inside the rec room. Logan is there, playing video games, but when he sees us, Reis gives him some type of guy-code glare, because he shuts off the game and disappears a few seconds later.

We sit side by side on the couch, alone in the quiet room. “You know how I feel about you. And if you’re not going to get back with him…” He takes my hand, holding it softly in between both of his, stroking his thumb over my wrist.

I swallow and shake my head. “It wouldn’t be fair to you, Reis.” I look down, fumbling with the hem of my shirt. “I’m not over your brother. You deserve to be more than someone’s second choice.”

He releases a deep sigh and nods.
“Yeah, alright.”

“Reis.
I’m going to tell him.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

“I have to.”

Chapter 28

Colt

It’s fight club tonight and though I’m not on the official line up, sometimes I still get talked into competing, so I’m keeping it in the back of my mind and not drinking too much. I nurse a bottle of beer and lean against the far wall, watching everyone come in. I’ve been keeping an eye on the door waiting for a glimpse of Taylor, but she’s not here yet. When MJ and Logan come in my heart constricts, expecting Taylor behind them, but she isn’t. I wonder she’s not coming, or if she’ll be coming with Reis. Bria and Britt talk in the corner, stealing glances my way every few seconds. I know they’re talking about me, but I don’t care. If Bria starts anymore shit with Taylor though, I’ll have to step in.

I hear
Reis’ laugh before I see him. That dry chuckle he has whenever Taylor does something cute grates against my nerves. My head swings toward the door and there she is. She’s dressed in a tight pair of jeans that hug her ass, and a little T-shirt that skims all her curves.
Damn
. She looks good. It was hard enough seeing her last night, when I was hardly awake enough to process everything, but with the dull buzz of the alcohol and the energy of the party tonight, she has all my senses on high alert. I’m completely attuned to her, but she hasn’t noticed me yet. Reis keeps his hand at her waist, guiding her inside. My stomach clenches when I see how damn comfortable he looks touching her.

Taylor’s gaze flicks to mine and she sucks in a breath when she sees me. She momentarily stops walking and then turns and faces Reis, cowering away from me. He looks over at me to see what’s thrown her off course and she wraps his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. What the fuck?
Reis whispers something near her ear, and she nods, pressing her face into his shoulder. He pats her on the back.  Jealousy spikes through me. And feeling jealous of my little brother with my girl is not an emotion I tolerate well. I ball my hands into fists, trying to get myself under control before I go over there and rip her away from him. I don’t like seeing her in someone else’s arms. I now sort of get why she always felt jealous about me with other girls.

A few seconds later, Taylor releases herself from
Reis’ hold and without looking in my direction again, goes to sit with MJ. Reis heads over toward me.

“What the fuck was that?”

“This is hard for her, Colt. She didn’t think you’d be here since we heard you’re not fighting.”

As much as I hated seeing her being comforted by someone else, I hate even more that it’s hard for her to see me. She used to run into my arms. Now she can’t even look my direction. It kills me that Reis knows more about her than I do. “Tell me what’s going on
with her.”

“You two are both idiots. She’s convinced you cheated on her with
Bria. And you’ve let her slip through your fingers. And into mine,” he adds under his breath.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

He looks me straight in the eye, his tone serious. “You weren’t here. I took care of her.”

“I asked you to make sure she was okay, not to fucking put the moves on her!” I take a step closer, blood pumping through my veins. “Did you touch her?”

Reis swallows and looks down.

“Did. You.
Touch. Her. Answer the fucking question.”

He swallows, and still looking at the ground, says,
“She wanted me to.”

A wave of nausea courses through me. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“We kissed. Once,” Reis says, unable to look me in the eye.

A hot rage rips through my chest.
My own brother, who I trusted with Taylor kissed her. That little fucking snake. “When?” I growl.

“At my dance.”
All color has drained from his face.

Now her breaking up with me makes more sense. It was the night of the dance. She wanted to be with Reis.
And they’ve been hiding it from me.

I don’t even think, I just react, letting my anger erupt. I shove him
. Hard. He stumbles back several steps.

I come at him again and take a swing.
Reis doesn’t even try to stop me and I connect hard with his jaw.

People gather around us, but I tune everything out but Reis and the betrayal that floods through me. He blocks my next hit, a left hook, but I land a right uppercut and he loses his balance at the unexpected hit.
He stays down, and then I’m on top of him, pounding his face over and over until I realize he’s stopped moving and Taylor is screaming for me to stop.

Chapter 29

Taylor

I see something in Colt snap. His control is gone. He takes a swing at Reis, which is so unexpected; he easily connects with his jaw. Reis stumbles back several steps, but once he’s caught his balance, he stands his ground, watching Colt.

My stomach drops to my toes. I grip MJs hand and she squeezes mine back, holding me in place.

Reis grips Colt around the waist trying to drive him toward the ground. Colt won’t go down easily and turns on Reis,
pining him underneath him. Once Reis is down, Colt slams several punches straight into Reis’ face.

I watch as Colt slams his fist into
Reis’ jaw. The pain shudders through me as though I was the one hit. It slams into me. A primal scream rips through my throat. Tears steam down my face.

I free myself from MJs hold and cut through the crowd, pushing bodies out of my way, heading straight for the center of the ring. All eyes are on me as the noise level in the barn drops to a whisper. Colt stops at the sound of my screaming
, his face is a mess of pain, anger, and hurt.

I pull Colt off of Reis, gripping his shoulders and pushing him back. They’ve both stopped struggling and watch me with concern.
Reis’ lip is split and bleeding. His eye is swollen and puffy. Colt is out of breath, but doesn’t appear hurt.

I hate myself. I’ve driven them to this moment.  I drop to my knees beside Reis, still crying. Colt gets up and storms away, slamming the door
open loudly as he exits the barn.

The party atmosphere dies away and people begin to filter out. I sink to
Reis’ side, crying too hard to even talk as I inspect him.

“I’m okay.” He sits up and attempts a smile. “
Shh. Don’t cry, Taylor.”

“This is my fault!” I sob
into his neck.

He stands and pulls me to my feet. He brings a hand to my face and with just his trembling fingertips, brushes away the tears coating my cheeks. “Go to him.”

He turns to leave without another word, heading out the opposite side of the barn.

I drop my head and let the tears flow. Even though I hate seeing Reis hurt, I realize
my pain isn’t entirely for Reis. I feel for Colt too, driven to fight his own brother over my actions. I’d hurt them both. My feelings for Reis in this moment are nothing compared to what I feel for Colt.

A few minutes later, I wipe my face and notice MJ and a few others are still in the barn, but pretty much everyone else is gone. I should feel embarrassed, ashamed, something, but I just feel numb.
Alone. Completely alone. I head toward the door, but MJ grabs my hand, preventing me from going out after either Colt or Reis. Her eyes implore mine, filled with worry.

“Don’t Taylor. Don’t you dare go after either one of
them. What happened to the strong, independent girl that signed up for college classes and swore off Colt’s bullshit?”

“If you hadn’t noticed – Reis just got his ass kicked because of me. How selfish would that make me to not see if he’s okay?” I shrug out of her grasp, only to stop dead in my tracks. Logan is the darkened corner of the barn, pressed up against a guy I don’t recognize. They’re kissing, quite enthusiastically. Holy crap!

I turn to MJ. “Did you know?” I don’t mean the accusing tone in my
voice, it just comes out that way.

“Of course.
Anyone with functioning eyeballs could see that he’s been trying to come out. But you’ve been so damned wrapped up with those brother’s, you’ve not noticed anything. Get your head out of your ass, Taylor.” She stomps away, leaving me standing alone in the center of the barn.

I have to check on Reis. He was bloody and battered when the fight ended, but lifted himself up and staggered from the barn. He shouldn’t be alone right now. Besides, I feared Colt’s reaction had something to do with my kiss with Reis.

I find Reis sitting outside up against the side of the barn, his head in his hands. It’s started raining, but he doesn’t seem to notice or care that he’s getting wet.

I kneel beside him and he lifts his head at the intrusion. His features are a mix of pain, worry and regret. I smooth my thumb over the crease in hi
s forehead and he relaxes ever so slightly. His face is a mess. Busted lip, swollen eye, bloody nose, and a big gash in his cheek. “Are you okay?” Damn Colt did a number on him.

“I’ve been better.”
He attempts a smile and his busted lip oozes fresh blood.

I swallow down a sob. I can’t help that I’m still crying. Seeing Colt attack Reis like that was intense. And knowing Reis is hurt physically, and Colt is hurt emotionally because of me just sucks.

“Don’t cry, Shrimp.” He catches a tear on my cheek with his thumb. “There’s a reason I didn’t fight back, I probably deserved what happened in there.”

“How can you say that?”

He takes a deep breath. “I told him I kissed you. And he was right to hit me. It’s like guy code,” he explains at my confused expression. “Everything will be fine now, you’ll see.”

“How can you say that? Nothing is fine.” I’ve ruined everything.
Between Colt and McAllister, Colt and Reis. “I’m like…toxic.”

“Hush. Colt wants to protect you, from the shitty stuff in life, from me.” He
squeezes my hand. “Let him, okay?”

Lightening streaks through the sky, momentarily lighting up the intensity in
his eyes. I’m lost in my own thoughts when a loud clap of thunder startles me. Reis chuckles at my response. The flashing of the lightening and the violent crashes of thunder continue for several minutes, but the rain has dwindled to just a mist.

“Now that he knows I kissed you, he won’t want me back.”

“Nah. He just got out all his anger on my face. He’ll forgive you.”

I can’t think about Colt and
I right now. That gash on Reis’ cheek still hasn’t stopped bleeding. “Come on, let’s go clean you up.”

He doesn’t argue. He just lets me help him back the school. I lead him to the girl’s dorm
and into the bathroom. After cleaning out his cuts and scrapes, the slice on his cheek is deeper than I thought. The skin is completely split open right over his cheek bone. I hate that Colt’s fists have done this to him. His skin is slightly feverish and he leans back, grimacing as I dab the alcohol pads over his skin.

“I think you might
need stiches.”

Reis inches closer to the mirror to inspect the damage.
“Damn, he really got me.”

I can’t help but smile at him. Even after his fight, he’s calm and easy going.
“Come on, cutie. I’m taking you to the emergency room. We can’t have that face of yours scarred.”

He hops down off the bathroom counter and stands in front of me. “Thanks for everything. I’m still glad you were mine for a few weeks.”

I don’t correct him, but I’ve never been his. “Thanks for being there for me while Colt was gone. And I’m sorry how everything turned out. You will make some girl very happy someday.”

He smiles and pulls me in for a hug. “Go to him,” he whispers near my ear.

I shake my head. “No, we’ve got to get you to the hospital.”

“I’ve hogged you enough. It’s time I let you go. I’ll drive myself.” He pulls his keys from his pocket. “I have my Jeep, remember?”

“Reis, you’re hurt. I’m not letting you go alone.”

“Shrimp, you need to go figure out what’s left between you guys. I can tell you miss him. I’ve been a poor excuse for a fill in. And I won’t continue to be your buffer.” He grips my arms and moves me away from him. “Go.” His eyes plead.

I nod. “Okay, I’ll get MJ and Logan to go with you.”

He kisses my forehead. “Thanks, Shrimp.”

I text MJ, telling her Reis needs to go to the ER. Then bandage his cheek, hoping to hold the cut together and stop the bleeding until he can get it stitched up. While we wait for MJ and Logan to walk back from the barn, Reis changes his blood stained T-shirt for a fresh one from his backpack.

I walk him downstairs and make MJ promise to text me and keep me updated.

Reis is right – I need to talk to Colt.