The Entitled (The Entitled Duet #1) - Cassandra Robbins Page 0,73
scale. Lana does though. His eyes light up with approval. “Svetlana.” He leans down to tenderly kiss her.
That’s it. I push my chair back. “Excuse me, I need to use the ladies’ room.”
I’m going to puke. I can feel it coming up, burning my esophagus. My legs move as fast as they can. Bursting into the restroom, I lean over the toilet, waiting for my body to purge itself. I heave, but nothing comes out. As the agonizing seconds tick by, my mouth stops watering and I lean back resting against the side of the stall.
Reed is with Lexi!
Closing my eyes, I try to calm my manic mind, but the stupid childhood song plays in my fuzzy brain. Reed and Lexi sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. I almost start laughing at the betrayal and that this might be my tipping point.
“Unbelievable!” I kick the door, and it snaps open and shut like a boomerang. This is the ultimate nail in our coffin. He wanted to send me a direct message? Mission accomplished.
Hands go up to my face, and I want to hide. My life is a joke—a sad waste of a pretty face.
“Tess?”
I push open the stall door. Brance stands with his arms crossed.
“You’re going to get us thrown out.”
“Maybe.” We stare at each other. He nods, knowing what I’m going through.
“This one hurts the most.” Tears swim in my eyes.
“Christ, you should have let me castrate him.” He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “Come here, Pretty Girl.” The tips of our fingers touch as he reels me in to his warmth. The thought of Reed’s dick, thick and proud, pulsing in my hand, is enough to make me wail, especially if I had allowed Brance to cut it off.
Lifting my chin, he stares at me. “You know what, screw that! Let it go. Fucking freak out if you want.” He crushes me to his warm chest, rocking me back and forth, then opens the bathroom door, pulling me with him around a corner and through a side exit.
“You know that door is for the employees.”
“You need some air.”
We’re in the alley, but I can still see the quaint street we came in on. It’s alive with twentysomethings mingling and shopping.
“I want to feel like them,” I say, motioning to the carefree girls who are laughing at something on one of their phones.
“I hate him, Brance. And I hate my father. They stole that from me.”
Brance glances at the giggling teenagers. I notice my mascara has stained his pale pink button-down shirt.
“If it makes you feel better, I hate him too. Reed, not your father.”
I snort, then wipe at his shirt. “I think I got snot on you.”
He shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. But you have to let him go if you’re ever going to feel like them.” He tilts his head toward the giggling girls.
I nod because it’s true. It’s time to bury Reed Saddington.
“I need your help.”
He smiles, his pretty white teeth, distracting me. “Anything.”
“Good.” A siren goes by. “I want to dye my hair blond,” I yell over the sound.
He frowns. “Blond?”
“Uh-huh… and I want to pump my lips with collagen.”
He blinks at me. “Excuse me?” He grabs my elbow, moving us away from the dumpster and the rancid smells inside it.
“You heard me,” I say, wiping my eyes. This is going to take some manipulation.
“No way. No lips. You want to dye your hair, fine. No lips. You’ll look like one of the Simpsons.”
Rubbing my nose, I say, “Brance, I love you, but I’m going to do this, so you can either support me or go home.”
Hurt darkens his eyes. “Really?”
“Yeah, I’m done being nice.”
“Apparently.”
“Whatever, I can tell you think I’m being dramatic… and immature.”
“You are.”
We stare at each other in silence. Until I feel a slight drizzle on my eyelashes.
Brance shakes his head. “Congratulations, Tess. Way to let Reed drag you down again.”
“I want to be blond and have big fat lips. Just once, I want to tell everyone to fuck off.”
“You already have big fat lips,” he snarls.
“Bigger. You know what I mean. I want to do something that Reed would hate. I need to be everything he despises. Call it closure.”
Brance looks baffled, but then his lips start to twitch.
“Don’t you dare laugh!” I say, my lips starting to twitch also.
Looking down at the wet pavement, he responds at last. “Well, I guess you’re going to be a blonde then. I will,