Unwanted (bxb)

Chapter 25

"You have to go to the police," I said, walking off toward the fridge. I grabbed a bag of frozen peas and returned to him, placing it over his the cut on his lip.

"With guys like that, you don't go to the cops, but anyway, we've got other problems." He grabbed the bag and pulled it away from his lip so he could talk directly at me. "Justin, until things calm down, I don't want you going anywhere by yourself, hear me?" His voice sounded like that of a big brother. "These people are dangerous, and they've got their eyes on you. Me, too, but I don't care if I have to take a beating. I can defend myself. You, though... If they find you out on your own, they'll eat you alive."

"Preppy, they won't do anything to me. They don't want problems just because I wounded some dickhead's ego," I said, ignoring the look of warning in his eyes. "I can protect myself."

"I know you can. But until this is over, I'm not going to take my eyes off of you. I don't care how you feel about it."

Were we never going to get along?

"You're unbearable, you know it?" I hissed.

"I've been called worse." He shrugged.

"Put a warm cloth on your bruises and keep something cold on your lip," I said, feeling bad for him. "You'll feel like shit tomorrow, but if you take an aspirin and stay in bed, you'll be fine in two or three days."

His forehead furrowed, but a smile spread across his lips.

"You an expert in helping people recover from beatings?"

I didn't bother responding. I didn't want him to know.

That night I went straight to bed... and I had nightmares.

———————-

The next morning, I got up in a bad mood. I hadn't slept well, and the one thing I wanted was to stay there lying around my room. Only one thing made me slide out of the bed and walk toward the bathroom. Whether I admitted it or not, I wanted to know how Cole was. I don't know when or how or why, but I felt suddenly worried about him. Things seemed to be going smoother with us. He hadn't tried anything with me since he'd touched me in the kitchen that time I had almost cut my finger, and a part of me was bitter over it. The only time my life felt good in Palm Beach was when I was in his arms. He made me forget everything else. But I knew it was better for us to get along than to be constantly shifting between making out and hating each other to death, which was the way things had been before.

I took a quick shower and thought about the night before. I'd been angry at Cole for how he treated Xana at dinner, but my fury had disappeared as soon as I'd seen him looking like hell in the vestibule of our home.

Xana had been a fun person to be around the night before. She'd invited me out again, and I'd said yes. I wanted to forget about my ridiculous obsession with Cole.

I got dressed quickly and walked down to the kitchen in socks to have breakfast. There wasn't a trace of Cole, but Richard and my mother were sitting at the table talking loudly about something.

"Good morning," I said, going to the fridge and serving myself a glass of orange juice. Prett, our cook, was making something that smelled wonderful. I walked over and looked down into the pot, where she was stirring bubbling chocolate.

"That looks delicious! What are you making?" I asked.

Prett smiled.

"Mr. Williams's birthday cake," she said cheerfully. I turned to Richard.

"Wow, happy birthday, I didn't realize," I said, looking sheepish. He laughed.

"It's not my birthday, it's Cole's," he said, amused. My mother smiled, too.