Izzy's POV
We hopped in Luke's car, him peeling out of the driveway right after. He didn't even wait for me to put my seatbelt on, he just wanted to get the fuck out of there. We sat in silence for a moment, not knowing what to say after that nightmare of a dinner.
"Brett was nice." I said, giving him a goofy smirk. His hardened features softened as he turned to me, and we both burst into laughter. I figured the comedic approach would be the best way to go about this. Yeah, I was genuinely traumatized, but I didn't want him to feel bad about it.
"I'm glad you like him." He chuckled, after the fit of laughter died down. We stayed silent again for another couple minutes, the elephant still remaining in the room. Neither of us wanted to bring up how Jaime acted, but Luke was the brave one to do it.
"He didn't touch you, did he?" He asked carefully.
"He tried to. That's when I started banging on the door." I told him quietly, not wanting him to get worked up again.
"I knew it was a bad idea." He sighed, stopping at a red light and grabbing my hand in his. "He's not doing it again, I can tell you that. Brett wasn't having any of his bullshit. And I'm not leaving you alone with him again, that's a promise."
"It's fine, he just made a fool out of himself. He thinks he's god, but I could piece together enough to know that Brett has the final say." I assured him, not letting how Jaime acted affect me. Yeah, he was a dirt bag, but the world was full of them and I couldn't let every single one bother me.
"Brett's the only one that looked out for me after our parents died. That's why he got me to sell for him, he knew I needed the money. Social services denied his request to be my guardian so he took care of me the best he could." He explained, merging onto the highway back to campus. "Jaime just showed up every once in a while to rough me up. My parents hated him and everyone knew it. He's bipolar as shit, sometimes he's a decent guy and next thing you know he's down your throat."
I let him rant to me, finally getting fuller picture of what his teenage years were like. If it wasn't bad enough already, a scum bag brother tormenting him really sealed the deal. I couldn't imagine it, granted I didn't have any siblings, but still.
"You turned out pretty good, you know?" I turned to him and gave him a sincere smile. He looked at me quickly, smiling shyly before returning his eyes to the road.
"Yeah, I don't know about that. But thanks." He said, chuckling lightly.
"I'm serious. You could have turned out like Jaime. You had a good enough head on your shoulders to want better for yourself." I rubbed his upper arm and squeezed his hand that he was holding mine in. "I knew something was up when I saw the way you looked at him. I just didn't realize how much of a prick he was." I finished, leaning my head on his arm.
"You have no idea." He mumbled, thinking I didn't catch it.
"What do you mean? What else is going on, Luke?" I asked him seriously. I didn't want to be left in the dark. He sighed, pulling his hand out of mine and running it through his hair.
"The first time he came to see me after I got placed, he slept with the girl I was seeing." He said simply, making my jaw drop. Sophie said that his last girlfriend cheated on him with a guy from school, I bet she didn't even know that it was his own brother. Ashton probably left that part out, and rightfully so.
"Are you kidding me?" I asked in disbelief. "And he just tried to make a move on me? What the fuck is wrong with him?" I kept throwing rhetorical questions at him, not even expecting answers. I just couldn't believe he was that low.
"He's an asshole so girls just fuck him and leave. He hates that I can actually get one to stay. Brett just doesn't even try anymore so I'm the scapegoat." He said, everything making sense. He was jealous, but hell, I would be, too. Luke could get any girl he wanted if he put in the work, and I couldn't imagine anyone taking a likeness to Jaime.
"Well, you don't have anything to worry about. I didn't think I could hate someone more than I hated you when we first met, but he just proved me wrong." I laughed, making him smile at me.
"You hated me, huh?" He asked, a smug smirk on his face.
"Rightfully so." I chuckled. He put his hand on my thigh while he kept his attention on driving.
"What about now?" He asked, biting on his lip ring.
"Shut up, you're being cringy." I laughed, not wanting any part of this mushy shit.
"You don't even have to say anything! You can't get enough of me." He laughed, hectically shaking my leg.
"Fine, just shut up." I continued laughing as he finally pulled into a parking space in the lot on campus. We sat in silence again for a few seconds after he put the car in park. He let out an exaggerated breath and turned to me, leaning his back against his door.
"Can I ask you something?" He said, bringing his tone back to a more serious one.
"Yeah, of course." I assured, giving him my full attention. He looked at me for a minute before continuing, making me nervous.
"When were you gonna to tell me you're a virgin?" He asked the question I was dreading all night. I knew he hadn't dismissed it after I let it slip, and here we were. I sighed, leaning my head back on the window. I didn't even know the answer.
"I don't know. I just wanted him to shut up, so I blurted it out. I know I should have told you so you didn't find out like that I just-" He cut me off.
"Izz, I don't care either way. I get why you said it, it just caught me off guard." He told me. I brought my eyes back to his, noticing how he was analyzing my face.
"If it bothers you I get it." I whispered, not knowing if that bit of information was going to affect the way he looked at whatever this was.
"It doesn't bother me, I just... I don't know. I've never taken it before." He said, giving me an unsure look. "I mean that's even if you want me to take it. I don't know, I wasn't assuming anything I just-"
"Luke." I stopped him from rambling any longer. He was nervous, I could tell by the way he was chewing on his bottom lip. He looked up at me when I said his name. "You're fine." I chuckled, appreciating the fact that he was even worried about it. "I just... I think it's a little too soon to talk about that." I said quietly, trying not to offend him or anything. I just didn't know if he was the one I wanted to lose it to.
"No, yeah, you're right. I get it." He said awkwardly, looking at his hands and away from me. I felt bad for having to say it to him, but it was true. I didn't want him to act differently now that he knew. A silence overcame us for a moment, not knowing what to say again.
"That night at the party... was that the farthest you've ever gone...?" He asked hesitantly. My face dropped, not wanting to admit to that, even though he could tell by my reaction.
"Yeah." I looked down to my lap. "You're not mad, are you?" I quickly asked.
"No, no. Izzy, I'm not mad." He chuckled. "Why would I be mad about that? I'm just impressed." He smirked at me, making me blush and turn my head. I didn't realize I was that good to impress him.
"Come on, I'll sleep with you tonight if you want." He motioned to get out of the car but froze when he figured out what he said. "Not like that. I just meant in your room, not like, in you." He cringed at himself, slapping his hand to his forehead.
"Just stop while you're ahead." I giggled, jumping out of the car and meeting him on the other side.
We walked hand in hand to the entrance of our building, where he only let go to open the door for me. He pulled me into his side as we walked through the lobby, and I laughed as he made a joke. Regardless of how the night started, it was ending on a high note, and I hadn't been this happy in a long time.
"I had a feeling you were both hiding something." We both looked up to see Michael leaning against the front desk. "Just didn't know it was each other." He didn't look too pissed, he just looked hurt. Like us lying to him really bothered him, which I guess would have bothered me too if the roles were switched.
"Mikey, I'm-" I went to apologize, explain why we didn't tell anyone.
"Why didn't you tell us?" He asked, making my heart sink.
"I didn't want her to say anything." Luke stepped in front of me, taking all the blame for keeping the secret. He wasn't wrong, but I still felt bad for letting him take all the heat.
"Dude, we've known each other for 6 years, but you couldn't tell me?" He took a couple steps toward us, looking at Luke to figure out what went wrong. I was glad no one else was in the lobby, or else this conversation could have been a lot more awkward than it was already.
"Mike, we've had a long night, can we just talk about it tomorrow?" Luke pleaded, putting a hand on Michael's shoulder.
"Where did you take her?" He asked, giving Luke a weird look, like he thought he was tainting me.
"Not right now." Luke said, walking back over to me.
"Izz?" Michael called to me, making me turn around.
"Mike!" Luke shouted, making me flinch.
"Don't yell at him." I scolded Luke, turning back to Michael so I could tell him what he wanted to know.
"Where did he take you?" He asked, concern written all over his face. Why was he so worried about it?
"Please, Izz." Luke begged. I didn't get why he didn't want Mike to know where we went, but the more that I thought about, the more it started to make sense. I looked at Luke one last time before answering Michael.
"To meet his brothers." I told him honestly. I wasn't expecting Michael to revolt the way he did. He shoved Luke back yelling right in his face.
"Why the fuck would you do that?! You know how Jaime is!" He shouted. I ran up to him and pulled him back, not wanting them to fight like this.
"Mike, I'm fine! He was just an asshole!" I tried to get him to calm down, but he wasn't having it.
"No, it's not fine. You know better!" Michael pointed a finger at a silent Luke. "Him raping your last girlfriend wasn't enough for you to keep her away from him?!" I took a step away from them both, processing what Mike just said. Luke left that small detail out.
"He raped her?" I asked, hurt beyond belief. "Why wouldn't you tell me that?" I looked at Luke, guilt plastered across his face.
"Because Brett got it swept under the rug! I couldn't do anything about it!" He shouted, frustration finally breaking through.
"You fucking helped him make it go away!" Michael shouted back. My mind was racing, trying to understand all the information being thrown at me. It was like drinking out of a fire hydrant.
"Jaime held a gun to my 15-year-old head! What was I supposed to fucking do?!" He pushed Michael back, making me flinch again.
"Stop!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. They both turned to me, shocked that that kind of volume came from my small frame. When I felt tears fall I pushed past them to get to the elevator. Luke grabbed my arm to try and stop me, but I turned around and pushed him back.
"Right now you need to leave me alone!" I said through tears of anger, watching his heart break. He threw his hands to the back of his head and took a step back as I turned on my heels and went up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator.
I locked the door behind me, not wanting anyone to come in after that. I didn't know what or who I was mad at, but the faster my mind raced the more I realized it was everything. Luke lying about what happened with his last girlfriend, he and Michael fighting like that, Brett covering such a thing up and making Luke help. I couldn't stop thinking about it all.
I sat at my desk quietly, thinking about how Luke could put me in a position like that. He left me alone with Jaime, knowing what he was capable of. Brett was the only reason nothing happened to either of us. And even thinking about Brett made me angrier. No wonder he had to look after Luke, their brother was a sociopath.
He came and banged on my door for a while, but he didn't listen when I asked him to go away. It took 5 minutes of me ignoring him for him to finally get the message. I just wanted to go to sleep after everything, not stay up and argue even more. When I heard his door open and close, I took a deep breath and got ready to go to bed.
A/N
Just finished this first book at like 6 am this morning so I'm just going to start spamming you guys with chapters while I start writing the sequel. BIG PLANS AHEAD ERRBODY