Break Me (Brayshaw High) - Meagan Brandy Page 0,133
on with her aunt like she did with her parents, but it wasn’t fucking good.” I point toward the front of the house. “That girl’s had no one, for almost four fuckin’ years, not a soul to trust or body to hold on to. She was alone, in her house, in the dark, in her fucking mind. No friends, no family, other than a brother who was here, protecting mine while no one was around to protect her.” A humorless laugh scrapes past my lips. “How fucked is that?”
Raven offers a tight smile and small shrug. “You ever think maybe she was strong enough to handle all that by herself? That she didn’t need a hand to hold her, that she could make it on her own until it was time for her to... fall into the arms she was meant for?”
“What, mine?” I scoff and it burns in my throat. “Please. She’s everything I am, all that I’m not, and so much more. I could never be enough to deserve someone like her, and I refuse to steal her fucking light.”
“You’re a fucking idiot.”
I whip my head around to find Maddoc standing there, and he’s pissed. Fuming and damn near foaming at the mouth. He holds my gaze.
“You’re the reason we have what we have,” he snaps angrily, growing closer. “You believed in Raven first, led us into the thought of opening up to someone new. You saw something in Victoria we refused to until you convinced us to look deeper. When we break, you step up with a bottle and break with us. You don’t judge, you don’t push, and you don’t fucking run. If there was something in this life I couldn’t give Raven, I couldn’t live with that, but you’re stronger than I am, brother. If your girl for real loses her sight, you’ll find a way to make her see. No-fucking-body else will be able to give her that. You’re not her ruin, Royce, you’re her only fuckin’ recovery.”
“Think about it, Ponyboy,” Raven whispers. “You don’t get close to people, neither does she. She’s been alone, and you feel alone even when you’re not. Maybe that’s because deep down you feel something’s missing, something we can’t give you.” She stands with a shrug. “Maybe that something is her.”
“I told you to stop trying to convince yourself of something none of us, including Brielle, will ever be convinced of. I didn’t think a single soul would ever deserve to be loved by you, Royce Brayshaw, but now it’s so obvious it’s her. I know she will never want for anything in her life, she’ll never fear a soul, and she will never look back with regret,” she whispers. “Now get your ass up and go talk to that girl before Bass does something stupid we’ll be forced to kick his ass for, like tie her up and throw her in his car.”
My throat begins to clog. “And if she decides she wants to go with him?”
“Then you bare your broken boy soul to her and convince her otherwise. If that doesn’t work, we do the tying.” She lifts a shoulder. “Our town, our rules, right?”
I look to my brother who nods to Cap several yards away, keeping his eyes on the two who must still be near the porch and us tucked back here in the corner. He tips his chin.
I look to Raven and hold my hand out.
I don’t allow her to hold my weight, I know she’s still sore, but her grip is firm on mine.
She smirks. “Go on, Ponyboy. Show her what you’re made of.”
“Trust me, RaeRae,” I whisper. “She knows.”
Raven’s eyes dart to mine and then the three of us laugh.
We hop out, and toward the front of the house I go.
Ready or not, baby. Here I fucking come.
Chapter 34
Royce
With my keys in my hand, I run out the front door, and the sun punishes me for all the alcohol I’ve been drowning in, shocking and fogging my vision.
I squint, flopping a hand up to block the summer rays for a clearer look, and fuck me, I’m hit with every emotion all at once, my thoughts and vision coming back with a vengeance.
Brielle stands a few feet away, leaning against my ride all gorgeous and perfect-like with no makeup and tied back hair.
Something raw and deep burns in my gut, twisting and fucking turning.
Never in my life have I ever touched a girl harmfully.