Page 80 of Cinder & Secrets
“Coffee. Black. Thanks, Char,” Jackson says just a few inches from my ear before backing into the bathroom, clearly sensing this is not a conversation he wants to be a part of.
“I knew you liked to get around... But this...” He gestures to the door Jackson just stepped through. “Seems you’re making your rounds with your friends’ brothers.”
I draw back like he’s just slapped me straight across the face, tears stinging the backs of my eyes from the impact.
“Go fuck yourself.” I shove past him, taking off down the hall before ducking into the stairwell. I take the stairs two at a time, damn near falling toward the bottom but somehow managing to catch myself on the railing before I go down.
River catches up to me once I’m outside.
“Red.”
“Don’t!” I spin on him so fast I nearly fall for the second time in less than a minute. “How dare you!” My voice carries across the open space. “How dare you leave the way you did and then show up unannounced and insult me?”
“Forgive me.” He sneers. “What do you expect after that bullshit I just saw? Maisie’s brother, Charlotte, really?”
“I didn’t sleep with Jackson!” I growl in frustration. “And if you care to verify that claim, perhaps you should go back upstairs and speak to his sister, who is inside the room.”
“He was coming out behind you with no shirt on.”
“Yeah, because he’s here for Maisie’s game and didn’t want to stay with Lyric and Kai, so he crashed on our floor. Not that I owe you an explanation. You’ve made it perfectly clear that we aren’t together. That you don’t care about me...”
Some of the anger leaves his face, but he’s still fisting his hands at his sides.
“I’m standing here, aren’t I?”
“After a week! You don’t text. You don’t call. You just leave and then nothing.”
“I needed time to think.”
“Well, good for you. I hope you enjoyed it.” I move to turn, but he catches me by my forearm, holding me in place. “Let go of me.” Unshed tears cloud my vision.
“I’m sorry...” He blows out a slow breath, releasing me as he takes a full step back.
I take my first real look at him, drinking in the sight of him after far too many days thinking I’d never see him again. Other than the dark circles under his eyes and his messy hair, which appears to have been pulled and pushed in every direction, he looks just as handsome as ever.
The sight of him further intensifies the crack splitting my chest open.
“I’m sorry for what I said upstairs. And for not calling or texting.”
I soften slightly at his words.
“Why are you here, River?”
“For you. I’m here for you.”
I open my mouth to say something, but my vision blurs, and suddenly, it feels like the world is tipping sideways.
“Char...” River’s panicked voice is the last thing I hear before everything goes black.
Chapter Eighteen
River
“Where is she?” My sister appears in the doorway of the waiting room, her eyes wide and hair tangled like she just rolled out of bed and didn’t have time to brush it. Kai enters behind her, a hand resting on her back.
“She’s with the doctor,” I tell her, running a hand through my hair.
“What happened?”
