Break Me (Brayshaw High) - Meagan Brandy Page 0,33
head and downs his in one long swig.
I sit back and swirl mine around, my focus glued to the amber liquid.
If I had to guess, I’d say she understood.
She was coming whether she wanted to or not.
But I’m not convinced she didn’t want...
Brielle
Holy crap, I shouldn’t be here.
I should call my brother.
I definitely should not call my brother.
I mean, he’ll figure it out soon enough—the plane ride is only an hour and a half long.
If Bass knew how living with my aunt really was, I have no doubt he’d have found a way to come back for me, but I have never said a word because I didn’t want him to give up the chance he was given.
The Brays may not have wanted me, the puny little sister then, but they wanted him, and he deserved a chance in hell and more after freeing us from ours. I owe him my life, and I’ll likely never be able to repay him for all he’s done for me, but this might be my chance to earn my own.
I would be a fool not to take it.
If everything works out, Bass will get to keep the life he loves, save the money he earns, and I get my brother back.
That might be the only reason I even stepped onto this plane.
I run my fingertips along the cool, marble countertops and pluck a grape that hangs from a bundle draped perfectly over the edge of a crystal vase that I really hope is glued in place.
I spin around, leaning against the counter, my eyes landing on the plush, ribbed white seats.
I’ve never been on a plane, and now I’m on a fancy private one with a guy I was never meant to meet.
Who was supposed to leave my aunt’s little town believing my cousin was me and never look back.
I sigh, running my hands over my face and into my hair, gripping it loosely only to let it fall back into place.
God, this is so far from how any of this was meant to go.
Royce showed up on Tuesday morning and come that night, he was gone.
I woke up Wednesday prepared to begin the whole ‘forget the Bray’ process.
But then I got to school, and who happened to be walking up at the same exact moment as me?
Travis.
I steeled myself for his insult, but it never came. In fact, when he noticed me, he forced his eyes to skate right by. His black eyes, and just like that, the night before made sense.
Royce had rushed back into the diner to make sure his little show wasn’t one that would be shared, because he didn’t want me to have to deal with what I told him would follow.
After that, I spent most of the day overanalyzing everything that happened when he was here. How he got upset when Franky put his hands on me, how my cousin acting like an ass bothered him, his little freak-out over me being outside at night alone and how he later played it down.
A smile finds my lips.
That might have been my favorite part, along with everything that followed.
I got to talk to someone that night, really talk, and about things that nobody cares to hear from me. Maybe I gave too much, but I don’t care.
It felt good and Royce... I knew he heard me. Really heard me. It was all there, in his shadowy eyes.
I decided, like I pretend the bad in my life has a purpose, Royce pretends he’s this cavalier Casanova, but in my short time with him, I recognized the truth.
Royce Brayshaw has a heart.
It might be coated in toxic candy, but it’s there.
Later that night, after the darkness came, the fog followed, and stole the stars from sight, so all that was left was me. I was sitting in the grass with a running mind I tried to clear, but with each buried thought came another, all followed with a sense of compulsion.
I felt a need and acted on it by texting a guy I had no business texting.
Royce didn’t reply, of course, but I didn’t send it for a response. I sent it because I wanted to. Because it felt right.
I pull my phone from my pocket and pull up the message again.
Me: Thank you for what you did. Travis didn’t say a word.
It might seem silly, thanking him when the entire situation was his fault for opening his own cocky mouth in the first place, but I don’t care.