Zach shook his head. “Unless you have the power to stop a storm.” “What about our clothes?” “I have clothes here. You can borrow mine. I’ve got a stock of new toothbrushes too and clean towels. If you’re hungry, I’ve got enough food here.” He went to the double-door fridge and opened it for me to see. He had beers, Breezers, milk, fruits, ice cream, and ready-made foodstuff. “I can stay here for days and never go hungry,” he said. I reached forward and touched the bottle of watermelon Breezers and smiled to myself. “There’s a bathroom upstairs. You might want to take a shower. My clothes are in the cabinet. You can borrow whatever you want. When you come down, we’ll play some pool and drink some beer.” He led me upstairs. There was a canopy double bed and matching gray-wash bedside table and wardrobe cabinet. Seeing the bed made me gulp. It brought back a lot of memories of that night I spent with him. I quickly shut the memory out of mind. I can’t think about him that way! E

Zach.It was forbidden. She was forbidden.She was still my adoptive parents’ daughter. The society still saw us as siblings. We lived in the same house. Her blood relatives still saw me as their own. There were still some things that people around us couldn’t understand. Our parents would not accept this. Dad wouldn’t. And I was more afraid of what he would do to her. He loved me. But he didn’t love her.I didn’t care what they’ll do or say to me or about me. I was only worried about her. As her big brother, it was left up to me to protect her reputation, her dignity. I was the last person expected to corrupt her innocence.And I did just that the past few months. I was in the shadows, watching over her, watching who moved within her circle. Shoo away any guy who may be interested in her, threaten them if necessary. Like I said, I was possessive that way. And if I couldn’t have her, no one could! It’s hard enough for me to deal with not having her. Imagine how I’d be, dealing with so

Blaire.I gave him one last glare, and then I went inside his car.He kneeled beside me and said, “I will close the door. If you were planning to run off as I round my car, I want to remind you, I can run really fast. I’ll just haul you back again. And I won’t get tired of doing it over and over.”I glared at him.“Good,” he said.He went inside the car and locked the doors. Then he started driving in silence.Halfway through the drive, he finally spoke, “What’s the problem, baby girl?”“There’s no problem, Zach!” I muttered. Yeah, he could screw whoever he wanted, and I didn’t have any right to stop him. I didn’t have the right to get jealous, but fuck! That’s what I was feeling! I was jealous of the fact that he’d been hooking up with other girls while I was not yet over him! He just told me last Friday that he was still into me. How quickly did he get over me?“There is if you’re acting that way,” he said. “What did I do this time?”“Nothing!” I said. There was no way I would admit

Zach.“Hook up with other girls. Keep fucking Stephanie Bell. Be a sex-crazed college jock. There’s a long line of girls wanting a piece of you. Take a pick.”Was that why she was here on a date? Because she thought I was screwing another girl behind her back? After spending that amazing Friday with her and telling her how much I still wanted her?I didn’t know Stephanie Bell personally. She was stalking me. Messaging me. But I was ignoring her. I made it clear that I wasn’t interested. For months now, there was only one girl who’d been constantly on my mind. And just when I thought I made it clear to her how much I wanted her, Stephanie Bell had to put other ideas in her head, and now, she’s here with some other guy I was about to murder. I just might include Stephanie in my hit list.I went up the second floor and exited toward the balcony. This gave me a view of the pool and garden. I scanned through the area for her. I found her sitting in one corner, holding a bottle of Breezer i

Jasper said that loud enough for everybody to hear. I watched Zach’s face. He held his angry expression in place. He didn’t change it, like whatever Jasper said didn’t affect him at all.“Stay away from her!” he warned him again.Zach shook off Drake’s arms around him. Then he walked toward me. I was struggling to catch my breath as everybody watched us.Zach looked down at me, his face was crimson, but his expression was unreadable.“Let’s go,” his voice was low, thick with emotions. I couldn’t say no.I simply nodded, and I felt him take my hand and pull me toward the exit. I walked behind him quietly. He held the door out open for me. I got into his car without a word of protest.We drove silently. He was staring up ahead, and his knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. I was confronted by mixed emotions. Some more powerful than the others. I was angry at Jasper for being so brazen. I was furious at him for pointing out to Zach that he was just jealous because