SMUT
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Also, grab some tissues (this is about to be one heck of a roller coaster!)
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We spent five days in Singapore. We got there on the morning of March first and took a flight back on the evening of the fifth. We got home on the morning of the sixth which happens to be Thursday, this morning.
We got our company drivers to pick us up and we got separate cars to drive Astrid, Raven and King straight home as well since they were all just as tired as us.
Grayson and Aaron ended up having to take a flight to the Netherlands for business on the fourth, but they said they'd be back on the evening of the seventh to celebrate Roman and I's birthday.
I slept all morning and woke up at four. Jaxson ordered us pizza because we were all too lazy to cook so I ate some slices for dinner.
Since Grayson and Aaron aren't here, the rest of us are stuck having to attend a business party tonight on their behalf. To make things even worse, it's a formal party meaning I have to wear heels and a dress.
The boys and I decided to match since that's routine for any event we attend together. They're going to wear suits with accents of cream so that I can wear my creamy coloured dress. The dress is a corset top with draping, scrunched shoulders. From the waist, one side is scrunched up while it curls around to fall in a flat cut hanging right above the ground. There's a slit on the same side of the scrunches to add a sexy leg moment. I pair it with simple cream heels and a gold chain around my neck with a Cartier gold bracelet and gold rings. I put on small snake earrings which instead of hanging down, line my earlobe. They're different matching the kind of ethereal and goddess vibe of the dress.
I curl my hair into loose curls and go for a dewy makeup look. I do a brown smoky eye moment with pink lipstick, blush, highlight and contour.
Once I spray myself with perfume, I take one last look at myself and blow myself a kiss.
"I am a hottie," I compliment. I then turn around and grab the white side bag I'm choosing to use for the night. I make sure I have some cash, Tylenol, pepper spray and tampons in there before I shove my phone inside and close it up. I pull the strap over my shoulder and head downstairs. The men are already waiting for me.
"Finally," Jaxson sighs. All the boys look up from their phones. They notice me and get up so we can leave right away.
"You look beautiful," Landon compliments.
"Thank you," I smile taken by surprise. It's rare the boys compliment me since we always act like children with each other, but it does feel good when they do.
"Is there gonna be food there?" Roman asks as we head to our car.
"We just had dinner but yeah, there will be," Jaxson assures letting out a small chuckle.
"Why did we all have to go? Couldn't you and Landon just go?" I ask as my heels clack against the flooring.
"Why do you think I wanna go?" Landon questions.
"Never said you want to, but wouldn't it be better if only one or two people suffer and not everyone?"
"That thinking is quite selfish, but it makes sense," Landon concludes.
Jaxson unlocks his car and we get inside. Roman and I sit in the back while Landon sits in the passenger seat.
"Can we at least leave early?" Roman questions.
"Sure," Jaxson bobs his head as he starts the engine and starts driving. I stare out the window with no real thought in my head.
About forty minutes later, Jaxson stops at a massive house that seems really quiet.
"Are you sure you're at the right location?" Landon questions as we step out. There are a few other cars on the driveway, but none that I truly recognize. There's also no valet, but there is security at the front of the gate.
I pat down my dress down once I step out and we all stand in a group.
"This is the right address," Jaxson says looking at his phone's screen.
"It doesn't really look like there's anyone there," Landon says. I look around and adjust the strap of my purse across my body so it doesn't fall off. I didn't even wear a jacket because it's not that cold.
"Yeah, the house seems empty or we've just been invited to the lamest party of the year," Roman says. I agree with him since the party was supposed to start at nine, but it's ten-thirty and it does not look like it started.
"Why don't you talk to security? What if we're early or something," I tell Jaxson.
"True, then why don't you two knock on the door and see if someone answers," he suggests to Roman and me.
"Me? No, what if this is a setup," I gasp defensively.
"It's seems like a good neighbourhood," Landon says.
"So?" Roman asks.
"How about you two knock on the door and we talk to the security guard?" I offer.
"The thing is that the security guard for a fact we know has weapons which he could use especially if he's psycho, but if you knock on the door, then the chances of you finding yourself in a violent situation compared to the other one are much less likely," Jaxson concludes.
"Fuck, you have me with that one," Roman sighs.
"Same," I sigh.
"See ya then," Roman grabs my hand and yanks me up the driveway. I fumble a bit, but get the rhythm down and start walking properly. When we reach the door, Roman immediately rings the bell.
He fidgets around waiting for someone to answer. He rings the bell again and even looks through the glass on the sides.
"The lights are off dumbass."
"Just checking," he sighs straightening up. He turns around and looks past me. I look over my shoulder and see Jaxson and Landon still talking to the security guard. When I look back, I find Roman about to twist the doorknob. "Roman!"
"What?" he whisper-yells while jumping back. "What is wrong with you?"
"Wrong with me? What is wrong with you? You can't just try to walk into people's houses! It's breaking and entering," I huff.
"I'm not planning on breaking anything. If the door is unlocked then what if there's someone inside that needs our help?"
"This isn't a movie, Roman."
"Yeah, but this is my life and you're just living it," he winks turning around. He immediately twists the doorknob and the door opens. I'm about to yell but clasp my mouth to keep quiet. He looks back at me and smiles mischievously. Slowly, he pushes the door open and we watch it reveal utter darkness.
Before I can say anything, Roman steps inside.
Great, we're fucking going to die today.
Before Roman can get too far, I grab his hand and press my body next to his.
"Don't do that," he hisses.
"Sorry," I peep. The lights turn on and I'm blinded for a second before I hear a crowd yell surprise.
Once my eyes are adjusted to the light, I look around at the crowd of people and find King and my friends lined up at the front. They're all dressed just as formally. Roman and straighten up and stand tall watching them.
"Shit," I smile laughing. Roman and I look back as Jaxson and Landon enter yelling surprise as well. We hug them both before we go off to meet our friends.
I hug Cindy first, then Maverick, Ridge and finally King who I kiss before hugging.
"Happy Birthday my Reese's piece," he whispers into my ear.
I part from him and notice how handsome he looks compared to this morning, but we're all bums after long flights so I can't really say anything about that. To match our family, he's wearing a cream coloured suit with gold accents and a white shirt.
"You look really good," I breathe heavily as I might my bottom lip.
"You look like dessert that I can't wait to have later," King smirks and my legs subconsciously cross as I'm standing. I blush under his gaze and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. I turn around when Roman's friends come over to wish me. Sebastian is one of them and he's wearing a grey suit with red accents. It's a little awkward, but he says happy birthday and I say thank you. I make sure he doesn't touch me and we don't spend too much time talking. Once all of them are done wishing me, they head further inside to enjoy the party.
"How did you know it's my birthday?" I question King when I'm free again.
"It's your birthday at midnight actually and Grayson asked me if I was planning anything. I was confused at first because I didn't even know your birthday was coming up, but we planned this together. He said he knows you guys wanted something small, but you should be able to celebrate your seventeenth with your friends too since it only ever happens once," King explains. I smile happily in response as I take in the crowd of people walking around in the large house.
"You do know I don't know like half these people, right?" I share.
King sheepishly smiles as he looks around and scratches the back of his head.
"It kind of got out of hand," he admits.
"A party is a party," I shrug.
"And speaking of not knowing people, Kai just arrived," King smiles looking over me looking at the door.
I turn around smiling and notice the familiar figure walking in. My smile drops as I blink a few times wondering if my eyes are playing a trick on me. But he's still there.
His skin is a lot more tan now and his black hair is longer too as he's gotten a perm done. He's wearing an all-black suit with a silver watch and some rings. The white studs on his ears sparkle as he walks towards me with a smile.
I move next to King and press myself to him tightly almost in fear of Kairo. He's a bit shorter than King but a lot taller than me. Our difference wasn't as significant before telling me he's grown a lot taller than before. I'm also wearing heels right now too, I used to be only an inch or two away from his height when I used to wear heels before.
King calls all my brothers over too. They greet each other and stand next to us. When they notice the man in front of us, they all look at me but I'm too busy looking at him.
"This is Kai, he transferred this year," King shares.
"Hi," Kairo smiles and reaches out to shake my hand. I look at my brothers and they share the same look of confusion I do. I look back at Kairo who raises a teasing eyebrow smiling.
I take a step away from King and pull my arm back from behind him to shake Kairo's hand.
"Reese Price," I manage to speak just over a whisper. Luckily, the music isn't too loud in this area. Kairo bobs his head.
"I've heard and read a lot about you," he shares. His brown eyes holding a hint of mischief, I can't help but be anxious.
Why is he acting like we're strangers?
"Roman Price," Roman takes a step closer and forcefully grabs Kairo's elbow pulling his hand to shake. He and Kai share an intense gaze as they both stand at the same height. Roman's jaw clenches and I watch it pop from where I'm standing.
"These two are the birthday twins," King shares oblivious to the tension. Kairo looks at King then at me before tugging his hand out of Roman's hand. He clears his throat and fixes his coat before looking back at us and smiling.
"Happy birthday guys, I'm gonna go fetch myself a drink now."
"Yeah man, have fun," King smiles taking a step away from me so Kairo can pass. When he's passing by, he secretly hands me a note. I clench my jaw as he smirks walking away.
"Let's go dance," King says taking my hand. I look at my brothers who clearly wanted to talk to me about what just happened, but I sigh heavily instead. They shake their heads and head the other way around to the living room so that they can enjoy the party too.
"I wanna eat something first. You go tell the DJ to play something better maybe Pop Smoke or Meghan you know," I suggest.
"Okay," King laughs and he heads over to the DJ past all the people dancing. For a second I stand there watching him in awe at how happy he seems.
Then I remember, Kairo and let out a deep breath.
I immediately turn around and read the note Kairo handed me. It says to meet him upstairs in the bathroom in five minutes.
I look behind me making sure that King isn't looking at me. When I see his back towards me talking to the DJ, I rush down the hall and towards the stairs.
I check a few doors before I finally find the bathroom. It's empty, so I stand inside closing the door behind me.
I pace back and forth as I wait for Kairo to come. I look at myself in the mirror and the lighting makes my skin glow. I smile a little but frown when Kairo's earlier image comes to mind.
What is he doing here?
When I was in Singapore earlier none of my friends reached out, so I assumed that everyone just moved on. I thought Kairo had done the same. I was also too busy with the funeral and my family to give them too much thought. We spent most of our time helping Grayson sort some stuff out in the office and then went sightseeing to show Astrid, Raven and King around.
When the door opens, my head snaps towards it. Kairo stands there with a cocky smirk when he sees me. I walk over and grab him by his caller as I drag him inside and pin him to the door. It's not as intimidating as I'd like it to be since I'm staring up at him, but we gotta make do with what we have.
"What are you doing here?"
"No hi? How are you? Sorry, I jumped off of the face of the earth and created a whole new life elsewhere?" he taunts with his brown eyes staring into mine.
"What are you doing here?" I push a little harder becoming frustrated.
"Whoa," he puts his hands up in surrender. "I'm here for my friend."
"Your friend?"
"Yeah, King. He invited me to the party," he shares smugly.
I sigh heavily backing away from him knowing that he's only taking my anger as a joke.
"What are you doing in LA, Kairo or Kai now, apparently?" I ask crossing my arms over my chest. "Also why'd you act like you don't know me? If King has been telling you about me, then why haven't you told him who you are?"
Kairo straightens up turning to the mirror. His hand runs through the perms fixing them and he fixes the creases in his jacket due to my grip on it. When he's done, he turns to face me. Slowly, he walks towards me and he's about to walk past me, but stop. He turns to face me and I shift to face him as he towers over me. I take a step back because we're too close and it's making me nervous. He takes a step forward and I feel my breath hitch so I take another step back. Again, he takes a step closer.
I go to take a step back but I'm met with the counter. My head drops, but when I look back up, Kairo's face is only inches away from mine.
His eyes bore into mine as I breathe deeply through my parted lips. My hands grab the counter behind me tightly. I feel Kairo's fingers on my exposed thigh slowly sliding up and for a second I stop breathing in fear. I gulp as my eyes look up into his. I look for an answer, but I find nothing in them as his fingers slowly climb higher. I'm frozen in my place. Stuck not being able to process anything as I pray to God, Kairo doesn't do anything to me.
The reason why Kairo and I fought so much was because I was still too scared to have sex with or do anything with him. He was patient at first, but it wore off quickly. I hope he doesn't take that frustration out today.
His hand stops where the fabric joins and I take a deep breath closing my eyes. I prepare for the worst, but when his hands fall cuffing behind my thigh, I let out a small scream. My hand on his shoulder he pushes me up on the counter.
His hand then grabs my neck and he holds my head against the mirror behind me with his face only centimetres away from mine. I hold his wrist with both my hands hoping it prevents him from choking me any harder.
My heart beats against my chest as my body becomes stiff under his hold struggling to breathe. His eyes darker than before, he stares at every feature of my face before his grip loosens. The smell of alcohol in his breath makes my insides churn and I gulp in fear. He slowly backs away and looks at me from arm's length. I sigh heavily and loosen a little, but he slams my head back and I scream in pain. My eyes blur with blurry white spots and one of my hands reaches behind my head, messaging it.
"Kairo," I plead with tears welling in my eyes. My hand falls down as I start feeling weaker. The man I knew wouldn't ever touch me or do anything like this to me. He was so much nicer, but that was only when we were younger.
Kairo changed a lot when we started dating too. He wasn't as bad as Silas, but I'm questioning it now. Maybe he just hid it well. I also don't understand what he's so angry about. If he knew I was here for months, then why not reach out to me before? The reason for his anger can't be my disappearance because we weren't even talking or dating each other then.
I'm scared that he's here and acting so cold and distant. He knows too much about my past that no one else here knows about. I don't wanna assume anything, but what if he tells everyone? I don't know if I can handle that and I know my family, for sure, will not take that well.
I thought everything was finally getting fixed.
He lets my throat go, but I don't move as I look into his eyes. My head glued to the mirror I watch as his finger goes to touch the side of my head. I flinch, but his touch is surprisingly gentle as he moves a stray piece of hair out of my face. A smile stretches out on his lips and he lets out a small chuckle as he takes a step back.
Observing his behaviour, I slowly bring my head down and breathe properly lifting my back off the mirror. My eyes wet with tears, I sniff as I use the back of my finger to dry them.
"You love King, huh?" he questions looking at me sympathetically. I look at him disgusted and hurt by his actions, but decide to remain calm as I can to prevent another outburst by him.
"I do," I assure looking at him. My hands curl around the edge of the counter and I grab it tightly trying to keep my anger at bay.
"Did you learn nothing from Silas?" he taunts. "Love gets you nothing."
"It's not about give and take, Kairo."
"Enjoy the night while the happiness lasts," he riddles before starting to walk away.
"What does that mean?" I question. He stops with the doorknob in hand.
"That all happy stories must come to an end," he riddles further before twisting the knob and taking his leave. He graciously closes the door behind him and I let out a deep sigh massaging my neck.
I hop off the counter and look at my neck for any marks but luckily there's none. I quickly fix my air and try to blink my eyes dry. They're a bit red, but I'm hoping King won't notice.
I don't know what Kairo wants or what he's here for, but what I do know is I don't have time for riddles so I'll take his advice, and enjoy my time instead.
My brothers will deal with him later.
When I'm done fixing myself, I head downstairs and join the party again. I find King in the kitchen with Ridge, Maverick, Cindy and Kairo.
"Hey," King smiles noticing me. "Where'd you go?"
"Bathroom," I reply looking at Kairo who is smirking. I then look back at King who notices our small exchange, but he chooses not to question it.
"Okay, well should we go dance now?" he questions.
"Yeah," I smile. We take our leave and head to the large living area where everyone is dancing.
We move our bodies to the beat of the music and I pretend for a bit that I'm just as high as I used to be without the drugs. I let myself float and with King's touch, it's not hard to be high.
I turn around and grind against him, his hands on my hips. He straightens up and brushes my hair to one side. His hot breathe fans my neck as he slowly kisses down to my shoulders. One hand on my arm, then the other rides up to my side cuffing my tit before he turns me around. His lips crash on mine before I can gasp at his boldness in public.
His hands on my waist, we kiss passionately. My hands grab at his hair and he moans as we kiss.
"Fuck," I gulp breathing heavily. King parts looking down at his watch. He smirks looking up at me and it brushes onto me making me smile nervously as my insides become a mess.
"I have a surprise," King says taking my hand. He takes me through the people up the stairs. We walk to the end of the hallway where King stops and digs out a key from his pockets. He inserts it and opens the door.
He urges me to go in first and I do. I walk in and turn to find a room full of red and white balloons on the ceiling over a white bed full of roses. There are candles lit around the bed setting the perfect mood. When I walk in further, I look to my left noticing the whole wall is glass facing the hills in the distance.
I gasp at the beautiful scenery as the lights look like stars on the ground during the night. I hear the doors close and lock before I watch King make his way in.
"How do you like it?" he questions.
"It's beautiful," I smile. I take my bag off and throw it on the floor before running to kiss him. His hands rest on my waist and we continue kissing as I walk backwards. When I hit the bed, King pushes me down and I giggle.
"Alexa, dim the lights," King instructs and I look around as the lights dim. My eyes go back to King who takes his jacket and vest off and then unbuttons the sleeves of his shirt before he crawls over to me. I move back until I hit the headboard. King smirks before pouncing on me and sucking the breath right out of me.
"Mm," I moan with his hand on my face. He parts from me and swiftly flips me over making me lie flat on the bad. I giggle as he unzips my dress. He pulls the dress off and throws it to the side. Then he, takes my heels off and I move my legs to annoy him, but he grabs them and makes me comply.
Once he's done, I make effort to turn over but he stops me as he lands small kisses down from the back of my neck down my spine. I shiver with each kiss and he stops in between just to suck and nibble on some spots driving me nuts.
I feel myself getting wet and bite my bottom lip. He lands a kiss on my lower back and I look back cautiously. His dangerous eyes meet with mine and he smirks. His hands pull my hips up as he stands on his knees. I yelp as I lie there with my ass in the air and face flat on the mattress.
He pulls my red thong off and I gasp.
"Fuck Reese," he moans as his fingers rub my clit.
"King," I moan as he rubs faster. His fingers then slide in and I moan louder as his fingers pump in and out of my püssy.
He then takes his finger out completely and his mouth takes over. His tongue moves up and down and at times reaches as far inside as it can go. I moan under him and he spanks my ass when I move too much.
"I need you... inside of me," I beg. King stops his assault and bobs his head complying with my wish. His lips are glossy as he licks them teasingly tasing me on him.
"Don't move," he warns and I groan as I watch him get off the bed opening the drawer next to it. I look at the clock resting on top and read that it's eleven forty-two.
He pulls the condom and before he opens it, I tell him to wait. I turn around and take my thong off completely throwing it somewhere on the ground.
"What?" he questions confused. I get up and scoot over to the side of the bed where he is. I sit on the edge and look up at him as I bite my lip. Then my eyes look down in front of me at the bulge begging to be let out.
I reach the belt and King throws his hands down to his side as he watches me. I unbuckle his belt then unbutton his pants to slide the zipper down. I pull his pants and underwear down to reveal his full length. Without a thought, I hold it and kiss the head. I look up and watch as he throws his head back. I then lick the tip before licking his full length teasing him.
"Stop teasing me," King warns in a dangerously low voice. I comply not wanting to test his patience. I open my jaw as wide as I possibly can so I can fit his girth. My one hand holds at the end wherever my mouth can't reach and I slowly take him in my mouth.
His dick pulsates in my mouth and I gag as I feel him at the back of my throat. King groans and moans loudly as my mouth goes back and forth on his length. His hand grabs my hair and I wince because of the bruise forming on the back of my head, but I push through it.
I take my mouth off slurping the extra spit as tears come to my eyes. King looks down at me and pulls me up to kiss him. He wipes my tears away before making me sit down again.
King quickly opens up the condom and slides it on. Once it's on, he pushes my shoulders making me fall back on my elbows. Before I can register anything, he pulls my legs closer forcing them to spread open. I scream and giggle as he bends kissing down my neck. He parts and I watch as he inserts himself inside of me.
I gasp, but it's not as painful as it was the first time. King picks up the pace and fucks me hard. I grab my tits and rub myself as I watch him fuck me.
He looks at what I'm doing and groans as his eyes roll behind his head.
"Fuck, Reese," he moans as he leans down kissing me and slowing his pace. His hand grabs my neck and unlike the last time, I take it off. If Kairo didn't give me PTSD earlier, then I don't think I would've reacted the way I did.
King looks at me with his brows furrowed. I give him a small assuring smile and he bobs his head understanding. Instead of ruining the moment, he continues his strokes.
"'Mm," I moan biting his bottom lip when we kiss again. "I love you so much."
"I love you too," he moans. He stands up tall. His thrusts become quicker and our bare skin claps as he forces his full length inside of me.
My legs start to shake and I moan under a mixture of pain and pleasure. My back arches.
"Cum with me," King directs and I moan loudly as our eyes lock. His hair now messy, he breathes heavily with sweat glistening his forehead.
I look past him at the clock and read the time as twelve pm. Then my eyes land on the hills through the window and how beautiful it looks. When my eyes meet King's grey ones, I feel the orgasm break through my body. King grunts as well and I feel him filling up my insides as he cums. He leans over and I watch the chords in his neck stretch.
"King," I moan as we cum together. My whole body spasming. Once we calm down, King slowly pulls kissing me one last time. He turns around and I watch as he takes the condom off and throws it away.
He pulls his pants up and turns around smiling. I sit on the edge of the bed completely naked and sweaty.
"Happy birthday," he smiles pinching my chin to kiss me.
"Happy birthday to me," I smirk. "Do we have to go back downstairs?"
"There's another surprise for you downstairs," King shares as he puts on his shirt. "We can come back after, I promise."
"Fine," I roll my eyes. I get up from the bed and grab my thong off the floor putting it on. I know it's not the most hygienic thing, but what do you expect? I'm not going commando especially with the dress I'm wearing. I grab the dress and put it on. King helps me by zipping it up.
I walk into the bathroom and quickly fix my hair and the makeup around my mouth which is coming off. I try to pat it down and hope that everyone is too drunk by now to notice. My mascara is definitely running so I try to take the black stuff around my eyes off, but it's not the best. I really just have to rely on people and their ability to drink because my makeup has given up for the night.
I sigh and quickly pee because I know that it's important. I wash my hands and look at myself one last time before heading out.
King has his jacket on and is fixing his hair, so I grab my heels and put them on. I grab my bag and pull the strap over my body securely.
"Ready," I smile.
"Great, me too," he smiles. We share a quick kiss before we head down. He makes sure to lock the room so that no one goes in there besides us.
The party is a lot more alive now with music blasting loudly. There's a bunch of strangers everywhere drunk and high. Some are dressed formally while the others are not telling us who the party crashers are.
We make it downstairs and we stop at the kitchen to get a snack. We grab some chips and stand on the side eating them and I grab a can of Seven-Up to down the chips with. We're both so hungry, we just stare at each other and don't say anything as we eat. But we're both smiling at each other like lunatics. If everyone around wasn't so drugged up, I think they'd question our sanity.
"There you are," I hear a high pitched voice and immediately groan knowing who it is. I look at King and notice the hard look on his face which confirms my guess. I shove another chip in my mouth and chug the Seven-Up. When I turn around, I burp in Ev's face.
"Shit, sorry. I didn't know you were standing so close to me. You know personal space and all," I speak as if I'm talking to a kid.
Her expression hard, I notice her fists clenched at her side. She's wearing a black long dress with two slits at the front. I'm assuming someone told her about the party because I know King was not about to invite her and frankly, neither was Grayson.
She displays a small psychotic smile. I swear the tension in her own expression makes it seem like her face was botched.
"Your brothers are looking for you so they can sing happy birthday and play the little video your lover had prepared," Everleigh grits. "I just thought I'd tell you."
"Oh, you didn't wanna say anything else?" I ask a bit confused.
"Nope," she forces herself to speak.
"Right, thanks," I smile. "Where are they waiting?"
"By the DJ," she answers.
"Great," I smile. I take King's hand I drag him out of the kitchen so we can go to the DJ. We make it through the crowd of people dancing and find my brothers.
"There you are!" Jaxson slurs a bit. Raven's by his side with a red cup in her hand. She looks amazing in a cream body con dress with thin straps.
"Happy birthday!" Raven yells. She goes in to hug me but practically falls on me.
"Thanks," I laugh.
"Happy birthday!" Roman yells next to me engulfing me in a tight hug. He almost sucks the life out of me, but I manage to squeak the words back.
When he lets me go, Landon and Jaxson wish me a happy birthday as well. King then tells the DJ to pause the music so that the video can play on the projector screen hanging above in the middle of the room.
The crowd boos, but King takes the mic and announces that it's my birthday so he has a present for me.
He says "play it" into the mic and a video starts playing on the screen. Everyone watches in awe as a PowerPoint starts with it saying happy birthday Reese Price with background music.
The second slide is titled reasons why I love you. When the picture fades, it transitions into a video. The noise hits first and it's my voice.
My heart drops at the words on the screen "because you're a whore". The words fade away as I watch myself in the video. It's an old video of me, my hair was much longer back then and I was much smaller because of all the drugs.
I'm sitting on a bed and there's a man's voice in the background. Tears well up in my eyes as I watch the video play out.
"Come on, baby you're no fun," Silas says behind the camera. Hearing his voice again brings back so many memories, I feel my heart sink further.
"I'm not fun? I snorted two lines of coke and now I'm about to let you fuck me for as long as you want," naive me teases. My eyes are droopy in the video and I can hardly keep it together.
"Turn it off," I word breathing heavily. I don't think anyone heard me because the video continues playing. I say it again, but no one hears me. My hands clench the strap of my bag on my stomach tightly, as I start shaking. I grab the strap of my bag that's over my stomach at the thought of what's coming next.
"Turn it off," I beg louder.
"Put the phone down and I will," the younger me talks in the video.
"It's just for me, come on," Silas urges. You can see his tattooed hand reaches out grabbing my shirt. In the video, I look down at myself contemplating but I can tell you there wasn't much going on inside of my head at that point. I remember being so high all I wanted was to get whatever he wanted to do over with so I could just be high and not have to deal with him.
I watch as younger me holds the bottom of my shirt. Before I can watch myself make one of the worst mistakes I ever made, I turn away from the screen screaming, "turn it off" at the top of my lungs.
"Stop, give me that," younger me giggles and the sound finally stops. The room utterly silent, my eyes are closed as tears slide down my cheeks. I try to control my breathing, but I feel myself starting to panic. My fists are turning white from the tight hold and my teeth grind against each other as I clench my jaw not wanting to break down in front of everyone.
I hear an echoed gasp from the audience behind me and I turn around. Everyone is staring up at the screen and my lips part in disbelief.
They're screenshots and screen recordings of a conversation on King's Instagram with Kairo. I read the messages, but I wish I hadn't. My eyes wet with more tears as I read the conversation.
In brief, King said that being with me was just a part of his bigger plan to get back at Everleigh and Sebastian for what they did. Kairo told him about my past with details that I decided to keep to myself. King said he wanted to hurt me to hurt Sebastian and that this was the perfect way to do so. King continues to talk about how hot, sexy and stupid I am. He talks about how much fun he has manipulating me and fucking me whenever he wants.
I'm so embarrassed that I don't have it in me to look at anyone else. Did my brothers watch the whole video? I'm hoping they looked away, but they know what happened. They also are seeing this. Seeing how the man I love is talking about me behind my back. The worst part is, it's just not my brothers watching this play out. It is everyone who is here and everyone who they're going to tell.
Everyone is gonna bare witness to my humiliation.
God, Reese what just happened?
"Reese," King touches me and I flinch facing him. He immediately pulls his hand back and I look at him through my teary eyes. His eyes are just as wet as mine, maybe even more. He makes sure to keep the two feet distance we have.
I don't wanna believe that the man standing in front of me is the same man that said those things, but the screenshots are too real to ignore. They didn't seem edited because the time was on them and there was even a screen recording of his account showing his profile.
"Was it all a joke to you?" Jaxson questions standing between King and me. I look up shocked. Roman and Landon join Jaxson's side and I stand behind them helplessly. They're all too drunk and if they weren't, someone would've been dead already. It's still taking them time to process everything and it's a blessing and curse at the same time.
It might make them slower, but alcohol also heightens their emotions. It makes them reckless and sloppy. They lose control and when they feel their emotions through alcohol, I won't be able to stop them from doing what they want so I stand there quietly crying.
"That's not me. I didn't say those things," King breathes, carefully choosing his words. I watch him gulp with one hand up trying to keep a distance from my brothers. "You guys are all drunk, think rationally."
"I just watched a video of my sister up there which humiliated her in front of everyone!" Jaxson grits, getting louder with each word and stepping dangerously close to King, but King doesn't flinch. He simply brings his arm down letting Jaxson live through his anger. King takes it like a man and it breaks my heart into pieces thinking about everything that has happened between us. Was it all truly a lie for him? "You want fucking rationality? Fuck you," Jaxson says swinging his fist and I hear King grunt. The crowd disperses as he falls to the ground.
Roman throws a punch at King who's already on the ground. Then Landon kicks King who flails on the ground taking it. The three of them surround him like a predator does their prey. King's lips bleeding, he wipes it staining his cream-coloured suit as he stands up. He hunches at first but snaps his back straight groaning in pain.
He looks up at us cautiously, breathing heavily through his parted lips.
"I'm not gonna fight you, do whatever you want. I didn't do this. I would never do this to Reese," he states looking past my brothers to me. My breath stops for a minute as our eyes lock. I gasp when Jaxson punches King taking us both off guard. This time Jaxson doesn't stop. He keeps going and Landon and Roman join in too. King is squirming around on the ground when Roman climbs on top of him punching him over and over again.
I look around at everyone who is watching. They all seem just as shocked as me, but some people are recording the scene. When my eyes land on Ev, I see her smirking.
How evil do you have to be to find pleasure in someone else's misery?
I snap my head back to the scene and cry frustrated. Blood splatters each time Roman's fist meets King's raw flesh. Crimson red blood covers King's whole face with dark purple bruises forming underneath.
Does King have a death wish? Why won't he fight back? Fight back, King!
I cry as I start panicking. I realize he's too stubborn. He said he won't fight, so he won't fight. He's not one to take his word back.
But what about everything he said to me? All the times he said I love you and said that he would never hurt me? What about those words of commitment? What were those, Reese? I think to myself, but I shake my head free of the thoughts.
I can't get an answer to those questions if King is dead, so my first priority is to make sure he stays alive.
"Stop, Roman," I yell, but he doesn't stop. I finally let the strap in my fists go and take a deep breath trying to feel anything but the pain running through my veins. Then I walk over to Roman as time seems to be slowing down the faster I move. I feel my lips moving, but I don't know why no one can hear me.
"Roman!" I yell reaching down to him. When I touch his shoulder, he flinches growling back at me. I look at the bloody fist he has up in the air. His crystal blue eyes lined with reddens, they scan my full expression through his inebriated state. His eyes water as his jaw clenches. "Stop," I beg but he ignores me continuing his attack and pushing me away. I stumble back a little but manage not to fall as I straighten back up.
I look down at King noticing parts of his face are already swelling up. His eyes fight to remain open and he makes effort to look at me. His eyes hardly open, his lips stretch ever so slightly and I watch as he words "I love you" through the endless punches Roman keeps throwing.
My lips quiver as I start sobbing at the sight in front of me. I thought I couldn't be more hurt, but for the third time, I feel my heart shatter.
Why is King doing this? I think but can't come up with an answer.
Despite everything, I still love him. No matter how much I'm hurting right now, I would never be okay with him dying because of me and witnessing my brothers anger, I don't think that possibility is far fetched at all. The thought of that scared me and I tell myself to get it together.
I take a deep breath in and breathe out.
Gradually, I start hearing everything again. The noise comes in slowly. First, it's Roman's grunting then the sound of flesh pounding flesh sounds more vivid than it did before. Kings small grunts of pain reach my ear and then everything gets louder with the crowd's whispers.
I take one deep breath as the sound becomes overwhelming and yell with every single ounce of strength I have left in me.
"Stop!" I yell so loud my lungs burn and my voice cracks. When I open my eyes, I notice my scream was so loud that Roman fell to the side of King. Breathing heavily, I speak through teary eyes, "He didn't do it."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Roman huffs angrily getting up. I look at King who is lying unconscious on the ground. I stare at his chest and I watch it slowly rise. I gulp and sigh relieved knowing he's alive barely clinging to life.
"We're not doing the Silas shit again," Landon spits grabbing my arm and turning me to face him. I wince at his touch and he drops his hold on me.
"Really?" I look at him astonished. Does he really have to mention that now and throw that in my face like that? He looks shocked and becomes red as his own words process.
"I-I'm sorry–"
"I'm saying he didn't do it, so he didn't do it," I sniff wiping my tears away and not bothering to listen to Landon's apology. I know he's angry and he wasn't thinking, but I don't have it in me to deal with everything. I just want to be alone and make sure no one kills King. "I- I don't wanna fight about this and I wanna be alone so I'm gonna go."
"Really?" I hear a voice from the crowd. People part letting Sebastian through and my face contorts feeling my emotions become even heavier. I push all the feelings to the side and start before he can though knowing I don't have it in me to listen to whatever he has to say.
I know I keep saying he didn't do it. That King didn't do it, but I don't if I'm convinced either. All I know is I'm saying what I have to say to save King from dying at the hands of my brothers.
So when Sebastian walks up to me with broad shoulders and a slick walk, I know he's about to say I told you. And no one likes being told I told you.
"Stop talking before I slap you," I warn and his mouth clasps shut. He looks around as his brows furrow.
"Reese, I told you he was dangerous. I'm so sorry he did this to you," he says anyway. I roll my eyes and groan as I start crying again feeling the heaviness on my heart. He comes close to me grabbing my arms. Our fronts pressed against each other, I look up at Sebastian determined to make me listen to his words. I gasp at his tight hold and proximity, but he doesn't care. "That's not love. You don't do that to the person you love, Reese. I love you and I would never have done anything like this to you. He's fucking sick!"
"He didn't do it," I repeat as I cry looking into his eyes.
"Reese, denial–"
"I swear to God Sebastian if you don't shut the fuck up, I'm going to make sure that the two of you are physically as close as you two were in that sentence. Understood?" I snap escaping his hold and pushing him away from me. I look down as I sniff wiping my tears.
This only makes him angrier. He grabs my arm and drags me to King. I look at my brothers for help, but they all remain silent watching us.
Are they too drunk to process that this man is physically hurting me? Or are they going to let that slide because they think I deserve it so I can realize that what King did is real? Do they really think that's going to work? That if people yell in my face how wrong he is that it's gonna make it easier for me to understand?
I didn't love Silas and it took me months to realize that. I actually fucking love King with every ounce of my soul and being. Abuse isn't going to make me believe or think otherwise. It is only gonna drive me further into a hole I tried so hard to escape from.
Sebastian grabs my face roughly and makes me look up at the screen. My hair is stuck to the tears on my face and a few strands linger over my eyes, but no one seems to care about the mess I've become. Everyone is too busy consumed by their own emotions to show me any sympathy for the one time I actually need it.
Sebastian forces me to look at the video that's playing on repeat without the sound and I whimper under his hold. His mouth close to my ear, he says, "Look at what he did. He humiliated you in front of everyone. He took your weakness and used it against you for his own agenda."
"Stop," I beg holding his hand on my face. I close my eyes not being able to watch the video over and over and over again. I already know it happened. I was there. It's me up there. I suffered then and I'm suffering now again because of it. I just want it to stop. "Please, stop."
"You're begging the wrong person," Sebastian words letting go of my face. His grip on my arm is still tight and he shakes me forcing me to look down at King lying on the floor as I scream. I can't even recognize him through the blood and bruises. "He did this to you and you look dumb as fuck standing there defending him. Maybe it's because that's all you've known, but this isn't love."
I cry heavily and breathe deeply as the room around me caves in. I look at Sebastian and his face is full of rage looking down at King. Sebastian's grip is painful. I stare at him so consumed with rage and oblivious to the effects of his own actions, I remember everything he's done to me. How many times he has already hurt me and how he's purposely using this moment to benefit him.
The thoughts make me panic even more so I pry his fingers off and slap him as hard as I can. His face falls to the side and my hand tingles from the force.
"This is my life. I will deal with it the way I want," I spit. "Do not rub it in my face because regardless of King, I know I never want you in my life. You are nothing."
He stares back at me; eyes burning with rage as his fists clench anchoring the anger residing within him.
"You heard her, leave her alone," Raven is the one to break in. Sebastian looks back at her angrily. They both stare at each other before Sebastian gives up walking back through the crowd and only God knows to where.
I look around at everyone staring at me as if I've grown a third head. I wipe away my tears and sniff trying to clear my nose. My brothers can't seem to meet my eyes and I don't blame them. Raven looks at me sympathetically and I can tell she's still really drunk but is doing the best she can to remain sober.
I sniff one last time before proceeding to take my leave. The crowd parts and I walk past them with my chest held high no matter how much I want to curl up in a ball right now.
When I'm by the door, I look to the side and find a bottle of vodka lying there. I look back at the crowd and it had submerged by now. I lean down and grab the bottle before I exit.
Annoyed by the heels, I take them off and throw them on the driveway as I make my way out onto the street.
The guard smiles and I salute him on my way out as a drunken person would. I must seem like a psychopath, but oh well. When I'm out on the street, I look both ways before taking a right. I don't know where I am and the concrete floor is rougher than I'd imagined it to be, but being lost physically might hurt less than being as lost as I am mentally.
I open up my bag and take out my phone to turn off my location. When I said I wanna be alone, I meant it so I turn my phone on airplane too before putting it back in my purse.
I don't want to talk to anyone right now and I don't need to either. What are they gonna ask me anyway? Are you okay? How am I supposed to answer that when I don't even know?
My parents spent so much money trying to hide my past from everyone and it came crashing down in a matter of moments. Everyone at that party is gonna talk and that video is gonna be the next best thing for the next couple of weeks, maybe even months. What people don't realize is that it might not be viral for the rest of my life, but that video will follow me wherever I go probably until the day I die.
A car honks at me and I rush to the side of the street. The driver passes me a dirty look as he drives by. It's dark and not many cars are out on the streets either. It's kind of scary, but then I think about what's going on in my head and well, nothing in the world is as scary as it is up there right now.
I look down at the bottle of clear liquid in my hand and hold it up in front of me as I walk.
The liquid inside sways and my head mimics the motion. I laugh at myself and bring the bottle down as I look out at the sky and feel my eyes tear up as my heart sinks.
I blink and the tears fall from my eyes. I keep walking though. The pavement is cold and rigid against the soft soles of my feet. I step on a few rocks here and there, but I keep it moving. I take a left, right, left, right, right, left, left, right, left and then honestly I stop keeping track.
By the time I'm tired, I'm in a large connecting tube tunnel underneath a wide road. I walk halfway into it before I sit down on the side.
I cross my legs and hold my knees to my chest while holding the bottle of vodka in the other.
I look down one end and then the other. I'm all alone. The dome is lit brightly with artificial light and it feels safe as it can be.
I stare at the bottle of vodka in my hand and then look around again. I set the bottle down and then stand up looking down at it. Nervously, I start pacing back and forth weighing my choices.
It's a whole year of sobriety that you're gonna fuck up, Reese.
But I can't think about it, I can't. If I'm sober I can't do it.
King... fuck. I think about his state earlier and what had just happened.
I feel myself starting to panic.
Tears rush down my face and I squat grabbing the bottle as I unscrew the top. I bring the bottle to my mouth and gulp the stinging liquid down. I take about four large gulps and some even slides down my neck onto my dress. My eyes tear up and I hunch over coughing as I take in the taste.
I wipe my face and breathe deeply waiting for the effects to take over. I take a few more gulps and pace back forth knowing it'll help speed up the process.
After a few minutes, I turn around to pace the other way but then, I feel it. My head starts buzzing and time slows down for a brief second before it speeds right back up and I gasp for air.
My shoulders feel heavy and my legs becoming weak as my knees clasp. I land on my knees sending a string of pain throughout my body. The bottle in my hand chimes against the concrete floor as I set it down next to me.
I grab at my stomach and clench it hard as I can silently sobbing. I muster up a deep sound and it comes out as an ear-piercing shriek as I look down the empty tunnel.
The scream echoes every sorrow inside of me right back slicing me like sharp shards. My body feels like it's been starved and beaten for days as I wail on the ground. I hunch over my thighs grabbing at my stomach as my other hand grabs the ground. My forehead meets the ground as the side of my fist pounds the ground.
I continue to sob in pain as tears make a small pool right underneath my face.
I believe there are three types of pain in the world, one that is purely mental, one that is purely physical and the deadliest one is the one that is mental, but physically leaves you disabled; unable to function and bedridden wishing that you were anywhere but here.
I don't know what will happen next, but all I know is nothing will matter for the next couple of hours so I continue to feel the depth of my pain as I cry alone in the middle of nowhere being the type of drunk I haven't been in a long time.
The funny thing about your past is that you can run from it but you can't hide, especially in the era of modern technology.
Everyone keeps receipts these days.
Everyone.
A/N:
Cliffhanger😬
Sorry, not sorry.
I feel really bad, my poor Reese's piece 🥺
She was so happy and then...
Leave your guesses in the comments! I can assure you no one dies so you can cross that off your list!
I'm determined to finish the book this week or by next week at the latest so let's see if I'm able to!
Also, yes. I did hesitate to publish this chapter because it's such an emotional roller coaster. I swear my own heart is hurting, but I promise it'll bring the whole story together.
Do you think King actually did all that?
Where do you think Kairo went when everything was going down? Why do you think he did what he did?
What do you think about how Sebastian behaved? Was he truly being genuine or...?
What about Ev? How evil do think she is? Like damn girl, have some sympathy.
Grayson and Aaron aren't even in the country. How do you think they'll take the news? Do you think Jaxson, Landon and Roman can keep things together or will they make things worse by the time Grayson and Aaron get home?
What do you think Reese is gonna do?
I wanna know your answers so make sure to comment! I see them all!
Also, if you love the story make sure you share it with your friends and family!