A Bad Boy's Brother (Book #2)

15/16. Fireworks

Corey's P.O.V.

My plan was to avoid Ryder at all costs until she could figure out what she felt, if that's what she needed. I was willing to give her space if that's what she needed. I would do anything she wanted me to do. After causing her so much pain, I would do anything to make her happy. And if that meant staying away while she thought about everything that had been happening, so be it. That was, of course, until I needed to talk to my mom, and was unable to find her.

Reluctantly, I stalked out of the house and looked at Ryder.

"Where's my mom?"

"Store."

"Dad?"

"Store."

"Cain?"

"Store."

"Twins?"

"Party."

"Emily?"

"Probably setting something on fire by now."

Your answers are so detailed, I thought bitterly. "When will everyone be back?"

"Your parents left like two minutes ago, and the twins should be back around two in the morning." I sighed. "You would know these things if you hadn't just ran up to your room the second you saw me earlier."

"You are so frustrating, do you know that? First you say you hate me, then you tell me you're in love with me. Then you kiss me, then you tell me to leave. You tell me to leave, and now you're getting upset because I tried to stay away from you." Anger shot through me viciously.

She stood up, clearly angry, and got in my face, leaving her lips only a few agonizing inches from mine. "This is your fault, not mine!"

"Yeah? Who's sending the mixed messages?"

"At least I'm sending messages!"

"Would you just stop?"

"Stop what?"

"Just make up your mind so I can fucking kiss you already!" I yelled.

What had I just said? I hadn't even realized that I wanted to kiss her so badly right now. But, not letting myself over think, I closed the distance and shoved my lips against hers roughly. I needed it. Her. I was still angry, and I was pretty sure she was angry as well, but her body pushed against mine with slight interest that I simply couldn't ignore. She felt something for me; she had to. No one could act this well. The sound of wheels on gravel snapped me out of the intensity and I mentally groaned, wondering if there was a way to just stop time so I could finish what I was doing before they came back to us and saw what was happening. "I heard my parents' car," I muttered in explanation before turning around. "I'm gonna go get my mom."

"The hell? You're just gonna...then...?"

"Yeah, I am."

Her eyes burned as they stared in to mine. "Now who's the one sending mixed messages?"

"I thought you wanted me to send a message. I sent one."

"What message exactly?"

"That I'm not giving up on you yet, Ryder. I refuse."

* * * * *

I laid in my bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about everything that was going on at the moment. I was a legal adult, and I lived with my parents; Cain didn't. I had destroyed the woman I loved, and left her for selfish reasons; Cain didn't. I was laying here, with the image of her kissing him burned in to the backs of my eyelids; and Cain wasn't. If anyone should be laying in bed agonizing over Ryder leaving, it should have been him. Not me.

So here I was, at two in the morning, alone, while Cain was outside with my girlfriend. She would only ever be mine. That was...it had to be true...right?

A chorus of screams snapped me out of my thoughts.

As I launched myself at the window, I was just barely able to see what was happening.

Emily was holding a firework. A lit firework.

And Ryder was running at her.

Suddenly, Ryder launched herself at my little sister, wrenching the firework away from her, and almost throwing the child away from her. As she threw the firework, it exploded.

And she fell.

She'd been hit.