CHAPTER NINE

ASHER

I ignored another text message from Sofia.

She’d been sending me messages every day since we broke up. It didn’t matter that I never responded to any of them.

My phone pinged, signaling another notification.

This time, I clicked on the message, curious about what she wanted to say.

Sofia: Look, I’m sorry that I slept with your stepbrother or whatever, but you have to understand I’m not solely responsible for what went down. It’s your fault too. You never really gave me attention. You didn’t want to go to parties, didn’t want to go for dates, you didn’t want to do anything with me.

I only slept with Elliot to get your attention. It meant nothing, trust me.

Call me. Or text back. We can still fix this.

Huh. Guessed she’d moved away from being apologetic.

To be fair, she had a point. If I was being honest with myself, I pulled away from the relationship and unintentionally started stringing her along. 

She was easy to be with but maybe that was the problem. At some point, the relationship had become comfortable, too comfortable maybe, and I’d stopped making an effort. 

But that didn’t justify her cheating on me.

And with my stepbrother, no less. The very person who had decided to engage in a one-sided feud with me.

But then again, what did it say about me that I’d also done certain things with said stepbrother?

Things I could not even dare to say out loud.

Things our parents should never find out about.

Things I didn’t regret even if I desperately wished I did.

Things I definitely wanted a repeat of.

I stared at the bruises on my knuckles. My jaw still ached faintly from where Elliot had hit me.

Physical reminders of what we’d done.

And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to regret any of it.

Not the fight.

Not the way I’d pinned him.

Not the way he’d eventually melted in my arms and the anger in his eyes faded into something else.

Not the way he’d come apart when I finally put my hands on him.

Especially not that. Although, that was probably the worst part of it for Elliot— experiencing pleasure in the hands of the very person he hated.

I smirked faintly at the thought.

For once, Elliot hadn’t been smirking, taunting, hiding behind cruelty. He’d been flushed, breathless, undone. Something that was definitely new to him.

He was so used to getting the upper hand, he was probably unraveling now.

Speak of the devil.

I adjusted the strap of my backpack as I watched Elliot make his way down the corridor.

He was with his usual group. The two guys that were always with him and one girl who laughed at everything he said. They were mid-conversation, his posture relaxed in that careless, aristocratic way he wore like armor.

Then he saw me.

It happened in a split second.

His body went still.

His friends kept talking, not noticing the shift. But Elliot’s gaze locked onto mine from across the corridor.

There it was again. The glare.

A look that was meant to be sharp, defensive, designed to wound.

It never affected me but it was especially useless this time.

Because beneath that look that could cut glass, his cheeks were faintly flushed.

And no, it wasn’t from the walk. It wasn’t from the heat in the crowded hallway.

It was from me.

From the memory of what we’d done.

My lips twitched before I could stop myself.

His jaw tightened when he noticed.

Good.

If he expected me to look away or be ashamed, then he didn’t know me at all.

I held his stare, unblinking, letting the silence stretch between us even with the background noise of passing students. 

I didn’t smirk or wink. There was no need for that.

I just looked at him like I knew.

Like I remembered exactly how his voice had sounded when it cracked.

Like I could still see him falling apart.

Elliot’s friends finally followed his line of sight and glanced at me. One of them muttered something under his breath. Elliot blinked.

Then he scoffed, rolling his eyes like I bored him, and turned back to his group. But he wasn’t as relaxed anymore. His shoulders were as rigid as that of a statue’s.

“What’s got your attention, handsome?” a sultry voice whispered close to my ear. Maybe too close for comfort.

I turned my head to find Sebastian, his blue eyes glittering with amusement.

He was in my personal space again. If I shifted just a little, then we would be kissing. The guy just had no concept of personal space.

I sighed, my face the very picture of frustration. “I thought I told you to stay away from me.”

My harsh words would have deterred anyone else. Maybe even make them stomp off and leave.

But not Sebastian.

He grinned and ran a hand through his dark hair in a move so effortless that even I had to admit made him look good.

With his carefully styled hair, his icy blue eyes, sharp cheekbones that stood out starkly on his face, a sharp jawline, Sebastian Sinclair was a good-looking man.

There was a reason he was so popular at the university, especially among the ladies.

Unfortunately for them, he was gay.

Sebastian’s lips pursed in a mock pout. “How could I stay away when you’re this charming?”

He rubbed a hand down my bicep and I pushed it away with a tsk.

No matter how cold I was to him, he never left. He wasn’t at a loss for friends but for some reason, he had decided to attach himself to me.

“Did you miss me?” he asked with a grin, waggling his eyebrows.

He had gone to Milan for one of his modeling gigs and was only back now.

“Absolutely not,” I said.

Although, that wasn’t entirely the truth. Sebastian might be an annoying person who had no concept of personal space and stuck to me like glue, but he was still the closest thing I had to a friend.

So yeah, I missed him. But just a little. And I was definitely not telling him that. Though, I had a feeling he knew anyway.

“Is that what’s got your attention?” His gaze was now on Elliot’s retreating back. “Your stepbrother?”

A slow smirk made its way on his face.

I gave him a warning look. He was definitely about to say something stupid.

But pointed looks never worked on Sebastian. He always spoke his mind. So, I wasn’t surprised when he stated in a matter-of-fact voice, “You’re obsessed with him.”

“No, I’m not,” I countered, maybe a little too defensively. “Elliot is the last man I’d ever be interested in.”

He arched an eyebrow. “I never said you were interested. I said you were obsessed.”

I had nothing to say to that so I kept my mouth shut.

“I don’t get it,” he went on, pursing his lips as if in deep thought. “I mean, yeah, objectively he’s hot, but he’s just so… so…”

“So what?” I prompted.

“So surly. He’s always scowling like he’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

That description couldn’t have been more apt. Elliot did act like that. But then again, with everything that happened, maybe he had a right to.

“He’s been through a lot,” I said, making a lame attempt to excuse Elliot.

“Are you defending him right now?” Sebastian asked, an incredulous note to his voice. “After everything he’s done to you?”

Yeah. Yeah, I was. For some reason, I just couldn’t stand Sebastian thinking of Elliot like that.

He sighed. “What a travesty,” he said, shaking his head dramatically like he was truly sorry. “Such good looks and yet, such terrible taste in partners. First, the cheating Sofia and now this.”

“I’m not interested in Elliot,” I repeated.

Sebastian didn’t even look like he heard me. “Why not me?” He gestured to himself. “Am I not good enough for you?”

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics. “You’re not my type.” I ignored his gasp of outrage and went on, “And for the record, neither is Elliot.”

But even as I said that, there was a weird feeling in my chest that told me that the last part was a lie.

I was beginning to realize that surly, pretty boys with messy blonde hair were exactly my type. And that, right there, was the problem.

Sebastian gave me a knowing look as if he could read my thoughts. “If you say so.”

I adjusted my bag on my shoulder and started walking. “Let’s go. We’ll be late for class.”

We still had about fifteen minutes to spare but I wanted to be done with this uncomfortable conversation.

“This conversation is far from over, you know,” Sebastian said behind me as he tried to catch up to me. “You still have to tell me why you like that unfriendly guy.”

I walked even faster.

Sebastian would have to wait for the answer to that question because that was the exact same question I was asking myself.