“Do you want to touch me, Bain? Is that why you stare? Is that why you follow me around?” My heart boomed, and blood rushed with an anticipating dose of terror that I found myself swimming in.
“Fuck. No! Jesus.” Just as he barked out his refusal, the door barged open, the stupid lock flinging off and clamoring to the ground. The light was switched on, and I wasn’t surprised to see Cade standing there with a beet-red face and an angry glint to his eye. He glared at me and then to Bain, and before I knew what was happening, I was quickly shoved behind Bain, my back slamming into the wall. Wait, did he just protect me? From Cade?
Cade snarled, “You’re dead.”
I yelped as Bain and Cade rushed toward one another. Both of their hands went around each other's necks, and I stood there, glued to the floor, shocked from watching what was unfolding in front of me. Their beady eyes were set on one another, their hands wrapped around the other’s windpipes, crushing them so they couldn’t speak.
Cade lacked oxygen as he pulled the words out and directed them toward me. “Did he touch you?”
I caught his burning gaze, and my resolve crashed and fell. The guilt was there, wrecking me as I stood in front of someone who hurt me and someone who didn’t want me. A scream bubbled in my belly as I barely held it together.
“No,” Bain wheezed. “I didn’t fucking touch her.”
Cade’s brows dropped slightly with confusion, and he and Bain remained steady, clamped onto one another’s necks.
I brushed away the hurt and dropped the guilt back on the ground. “Let each other go. This has nothing to do with you, Cade.”
Bain’s lip curled in satisfaction as he squeezed one last time, causing me to step forward. Then, at the exact same time, they dropped their hands, and Cade was suddenly backed by Brantley who glared directly at me.
I dropped my eyes to the ground, and I jumped when I heard Cade bark to everyone, “Out. Now.”
I peeked up, heart hammering in my chest, as if I were in trouble. Bain glanced back at me once, but I couldn’t tell what was going through his head. There was something tender lingering there, but something angry was brewing, too. It did nothing but cause me to question everything.
Brantley muttered, “It’s like fucking Groundhog Day,” before shutting the door and leaving me alone with my guilty conscience and Cade.