Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
But it’s not her house, is it? When I shoot Wren a look, she tugs the hem of Maya’s loose T-shirt. “Come on. Let’s let him in, hear what he has to say.”
“I’m really not interested in what he has to say.” Still, she steps aside, huffing when she does. If anything, I’m sort of glad she’s acting like this. It means Elliana has people in her corner who actually give a shit. For once, she’s got friends.
And she’s going to need people by her side once she stops hiding and has to show her face in the world.
“Come on. Sit down.” Wren waves me toward the living room off the front entry hall. I look up the stairs, asking a question without saying a word. “She’s playing video games with her friends online,” Wren explains, referring to Briggs’s little sister. “She won’t come down.”
“Though who knows? Maybe she should,” Maya adds with a bitter laugh that tells me she is way past anger and sliding into rage, maybe hatred. “This way, she will always remember to protect herself from people who make it their mission to cause misery.”
It’s not like Wren looks any happier with me as we walk into the living room, but at least she doesn’t snarl at me like a rabid animal. Instead, she sits on the sofa and crosses her legs under her before folding her hands in her lap. “Okay. You’re here. What is it you want to say?”
Straight to it. The back of my neck prickles, and my skin feels cold and a little sweaty. “I need your help. You both know it was Tiana who sent those pictures around. I was unconscious. I didn’t have a clue she was doing it, I swear.”
“But you realize she wouldn’t have gotten the idea to do it in the first place if you didn’t make it seem like it was okay to bully Elliana. Right? You understand that?” Wren asks while Maya smirks at me.
“I know. And I already told her to cut it with that shit,” I insist. Just the thought of it makes my blood boil. “I warned her to leave Elliana alone, or she would have to deal with me, but she did it anyway.”
“Because she’s twisted,” Wren mutters. Her lip curls in disgust before she exchanges a look with Maya, who pretty much wears the same expression.
“Fine.” Maya shrugs, glancing toward Wren once she flops onto the sofa next to her. “Good for you. You’re not a completely heartless bastard. Only somewhat.”
“You shouldn’t have had those pictures of her in the first place,” Wren reminds me, like she needs to. Like I don’t already know.
I have to deliberately bite back that comment, since I’m lucky they even want to talk to me. “Listen, for what it’s worth, I’m ashamed of myself now.”
“Now,” Maya repeats before her lips thin out until I can barely see them.
“Maybe you should’ve thought of that sooner,” Wren murmurs. The disappointment in her voice is heavy enough that I want to run away from it. That’s not what I do. I don’t run away.
But I’ve never been through anything like this before, either. I don’t know how to feel or why all of these conflicting thoughts are running through my head in the first place. It’s a lot to wrestle with.
“You’re right,” I agree, nodding, folding my hands behind my back as I stand in front of them. Like the accused, standing in front of the jury. Only I don’t think the jury is supposed to flat-out look like they can’t wait to fry the accused. “I should’ve thought about it. I should’ve thought about a lot of things. I can’t take any of it back now, though I wish I could. You have no idea how much I wish I could.”
“Because your parents are going to come back from their honeymoon, eventually?” Damn, Maya is determined to not give a single inch. She’s looking for a fight, her shoulders hunched around her ears, glaring coldly at me.
“I hadn’t thought about it until now. But no,” I tell her, shaking my head, “this isn’t about them. It’s about hoping I can get through to Elliana.”
“Why? What for?” Wren asks.
“What you did is despicable,” Maya whispers, and now her voice trembles. Like all this time, she’s been trying to hold back her real emotions.
“Because there is no way she would have let you take those pictures if you’d asked her,” Wren points out, not like she needs to.
“I know, I know,” I groan, scrubbing my hands through my hair before letting my arms drop to my sides again. “Look, you can cut off my balls and roast them in the oven if you want to, but let’s do that later. Right now, I need to figure out how to get through to her. I need her to understand I never would’ve done that, that I’m sorry it happened, and I wish I could do something to take it all away.”