Break Me (Brayshaw High) - Meagan Brandy Page 0,69

supposed to magically save you from drowning?”

I laugh. “No.”

“So why’d you hop in the pool, in the dark, alone, if you can’t swim?”

“I don’t leave the shallow end. I just push off the side where I can reach, and glide from one corner to the other.”

“You can’t swim.”

I turn, kick off the edge and begin doggy paddling, but my body begins to sink so I let my feet fall back to the bottom. Laughing, I turn to him.

“I can doggy paddle, Playboy. Kind of.”

A grin pulls at his lips and he stands now in the shallow end with me. “That’s pathetic, even my niece’s doggy paddle game is stronger than that.”

I smile.

Royce’s face goes slack, realizing he’s, once again, slid out from behind the armor he’s built so strong around him, and this time, what slipped out was about something, someone, far more precious in his life.

He whips around, disappearing under the water.

A niece. He has a niece.

I want to ask more, but when Royce comes up, it’s right in front of me. He towers over me, a heavy warning in his shaky glare. “Forget what I said, do you understand? Mention her and I’ll—”

“I get it,” I cut him off in a whisper, and his face hardens, his nostrils flaring as he stares at me.

I give a small smile.

“You don’t have to do all that, threaten and warn me every time we have a conversation. It will only lead to me not wanting to have any more.”

“What makes you think I care?”

I can feel that you do, even if you don’t want to...

I don’t say that.

I shrug and glide back in the water. “I mean, you’re in the water with me right now. Kinda seems like you might not hate being around me, even if you do get mad at least once every time we’re around each other.”

“That’s ‘cause you piss me off.”

“You piss yourself off.”

He glares and I laugh.

I spin around, bringing myself closer to the wall where the water comes about halfway up my stomach.

Royce’s eyes fall to my triangle top and thank god for padded swimsuits.

“Come on, Playboy.”

Slowly, his eyes lift to mine.

“Teach me how to swim?”

He stares a long moment. “I’ll have to touch you.”

A laugh bubbles out of me. “Is that a problem for you?”

“It will be for you.”

I tip my head playfully. “Oh yeah, how so?”

He scoffs, a small tug playing on his lips as his body suddenly loses all of its tension. He walks forward as fast as the water allows him to and smirks. “Clearly you’ve never been touched by a Bray.”

Oh, he’s got jokes.

Okay.

I plant my feet against the wall, grip the edge, turn to look at him, and smirk back. “I’ve never been touched at all.”

I kick off, holding my breath longer than I should as I glide through the water. When I pop up, it’s with a loud gasp. I look toward Royce.

He has yet to move his body, but his eyes, they followed.

I can’t see them from here, the moon now at his back, but I know they’re on me.

Without a word, he climbs out, grabs his clothes.

He leaves.

Ten minutes later Mac is coming through the gate, offering me a ride back to the house.

His ‘offer’ sounds a lot like a requirement, so I accept, and ten minutes after that, I’m stepping into the shower in my bedroom.

I don’t remember falling asleep, but the next thing I know I’m awoken to the sound of my phone ringing.

I frown when I see it’s Ciara who is calling, but quickly answer and bring it to my ear.

“Hey.”

Sniffles sound on the other end and I push against my headboard. “Ciara?”

“Hey,” she whispers.

I frown. “What’s wrong?”

“My mom,” she says quietly, as if she has to whisper. “She’s a piece of shit.”

“What happened?”

“You left.”

I open my mouth but nothing comes out, so I wait for her to speak.

“When I heard you were carried out of school, I went home to... you know, see if you were okay or whatever.” She clears her throat, and my lips twitch. “When I got there Micah was just leaving with all your shit, which is so fucking weird by the way.” A low laugh leaves her.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” I mumble.

“Franky sort of had a fit about that, too, by the way. He’s convinced you two must have been screwing around before that...” She trails off.

I drop my head against the headboard. I hate that for her.

She’s quiet for several seconds before adding. “A guy