Bare Yourself (Consumed: Book Two)

by Alex Grayson

  There, sitting on her ass on the ground is Willow, a weeping fucking Bryan with his arms wrapped around her middle and his head in her lap. I know it’s Bryan from the picture Willow showed me of him one day.

  “You fucking son of a bitch,” I growl, rage making my voice sound demonic.

  Willow’s head pops up at my words, and seeing her face red and covered in tears spikes my anger even more. I take stock of Bryan, trying to see if there’s a weapon somewhere. Not seeing one, I take a menacing step toward them.

  “Get your fucking hands off her.” I break my stare from him and soften my voice. “Willow, come here, baby.”

  Her eyes are wide, filled with both pain and fear. I’m not sure where the emotions are directed. Is she fearful because Bryan is here and she’s unsure what he’ll do? If that’s the case, why are her arms around him in a comforting manner? Or could it be that she’s fearful of me? I know my face has to look murderous at the moment.

  And the pain…

  Is she in pain because of the horrid condition Bryan is in? Or…

  I look over what I can see of her body. I don’t find any injuries. I swear to fucking Christ if he’s hurt her in some way…

  I take a step closer to her, but stop when she holds up a shaking hand.

  “Don’t,” she whispers, the sound coming out jagged. Fresh tears start dripping from her eyes, and it tears me up inside to see her like this, especially for the scumbag in her arms. “Please.” She looks down at Bryan, then back up at me. “He didn’t mean it,” she continues to whisper.

  My jaw hurts from clenching it so hard. How in the hell can she be defending this asshole? How can she sit there and comfort him after everything he’s done? I know he’s her brother, but blood or not, there’s some things you just can’t get over.

  “Willow.” I try to keep my voice calm, but it’s a feat I’m unable to pull off. I’m so fucking pissed right now. “You’ve seen what’s he’s done. He hurt your friend. He hurt you. He almost let you get raped.”

  She flinches. I want to feel bad for what I said, for reminding her how far her brother’s down this black hole of his, a hole he dug himself, but I can’t. Some people can’t be saved.

  “What in the hell is he talking about, Lo?” Bryan says hoarsely, finally stirring in her lap. I have to force my legs to hold me in place, when I want nothing more than to yank her away and pounce on him.

  I get my first good glimpse of him when he turns his head away from her lap to look up at her. He’s not the same man in the picture Willow showed me. This man is just a shell of his old self. He sits up, then gets to his knees right in front of her. Willow’s hands fall limply to her lap.

  She closes her eyes, then shakes her head. “It’s nothing,” she says softly.

  “The fuck it’s not,” I growl again. “Damn it, Willow, get off the ground.”

  Her eyes meet mine and they plead with me. “Tegan, please.”

  “Please what?” I ask, and take another step. “Please let him go free? Please don’t kick his ass for everything he’s put you through? Please let him continue to manipulate you?” I shake my head. “I can’t do that, Willow. You mean too much to me to let him continue to do that.”

  “Lo,” Bryan says, his voice stronger than a few seconds ago. It grates on my nerves. “What did… what did he mean you almost got raped?” She looks from him to me, then back to him. She reaches out to touch his arm, but he flinches away. “Answer me!” he says louder.

  I force my feet to stay in place, but I still snarl, “Watch your fucking tone with her.”

  She swallows, looks down at her hands, then back at him. “The day you called me to come help you. One of…” She glances to the side, then looks back, a swirl of emotions in her eyes. “One of your friends was there. You were passed out on the couch. He cornered me against the wall.”

  “Oh fuck, oh fuck,” Bryan mutters, then leans over, falls to his hands, and starts puking.

  Willow scoots out of the way, but stays close enough to rub her hand over his back. It should be him comforting her, not the other way around. This bastard’s hurt her enough, and he’s still doing it right now.

  I’m about five seconds away from pulling her away from him and taking her inside, when he looks up. Spit and God knows what else is on his chin, and he wipes it off with the back of his hand. Had I had any compassion as far as he was concerned, I’d feel sorry for him. Devastation is written all over his face, but all I can feel toward him is malice.

  “Please tell me he didn’t—”

  Willow cuts him off before he can continue. “No! I was able to get away.”

  “With no help from you,” I spit out, and he brings his bloodshot eyes to me. “She screamed for you, you fucking bastard, but you were so fucking high you didn’t even hear her.”

  He sits back on his heels and grabs fistfulls of his hair, pulling hard.

  “Stop it, Tegan,” Willow says angrily, pointing her eyes to me. She reaches out and tries to pull Bryan’s hands from his hair. He starts rocking back and forth on his knees.

  “He needs to fucking know what he’s done. He deserves to know it.”

  She stands up. “Not right now. Not like this. He needs help.”

  I stalk over to her, grabbing her shoulders and giving her a slight shake. “You’re right,” I tell her. “He does need help, but he has to want to be helped. You can’t save someone that doesn’t want to be saved. You know this. You’ve tried already.”

  More tears pool in her eyes, then slide down her cheeks. “He does want help. He told me so.” She drops her eyes down to Bryan, who’s still rocking on his knees, moaning to himself, then brings them back to me. “Please Tegan. I can’t just leave him like this. He’s my brother. I love him.”

  Fuck it all to hell and back. I pull in a deep breath to rein in my temper. I want to kick the ever-lovin’ hell out of him. I want to rage in his face and tell him about every single hurt he’s caused Willow over the last several years. I want him to hurt with the knowledge that he’s hurt his sister. I want to leave him on the ground to rot away in his own vomit. I want to gather Willow in my arms and never let her go, protect her from assholes like him.

  But I can’t do any of that. I can’t because I love her, and I know she’ll never forgive me if I turned my back on him. It’s not about giving up on someone. It’s not about looking the other way while someone suffers. It’s about knowing when to give up and realize you can’t always help the ones you love. Willow’s been trying to help him for years and has gotten nowhere. He better hope to whatever God he prays to that he doesn’t fuck this up. Because if he hurts her again, if he makes her shed one more fucking tear, I’ll tear him apart.

  I cup her cheeks and lean my forehead against hers. “As much as I don’t like it, we’ll do what we can. But it’s not just me you have to convince. Logan is going to be just as livid as I am about the situation. He hurt Minnie, Willow. Logan’s not going to like him not being punished for it.”

  “Oh fuck,” Bryan mumbles from the ground. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.” He looks up at us both. His cheeks are red and wet with tears. “Please tell her I didn’t mean to hurt her, Lo. You know I would never hurt Minnie.”

  She releases me and squats down in front of him. “She knows,” Willow says quietly.

  Bryan nods, but he still seems to be upset about it. It’s obvious he doesn’t like the thought of Minnie hurting, especially by his hand. He should have thought of that shit before he did what he did.

  I may have just agreed to help her loser brother, but I don’t have to like it. I curl my lip up in disgust as I look down at him. His head hangs as Willow murmurs comforting shit to him. He doesn’t deserve her sympathy. I get that he lost his dad, and that shit will mess a person up, but she lost her dad as well. He should have leaned on Willow and Minnie, and let Willow lean on him as well. Not pushed her away and hurt her.

  “Umm…” Willow says, looking up at me. She looks nervous. She g
ets to her feet, but bends at the waist and says something in Bryan’s ear. He nods, then climbs clumsily to his feet as well. She puts her arm around his waist when he stumbles. The fucker is high as we stand here.

  “Tegan.” She looks at Bryan, then turns to me. “This is my brother, Bryan. Bryan, this is Tegan, my—”

  I cut her off before she can finish. “I’m her boyfriend. The guy that’s going to kick your ass if you fuck this up.”

  His eyes meet mine, and in them I see determination, but also fear. I don’t know if it’s fear because he’s worried about hurting her again or fear because of what I’ll do to him if he does. It doesn’t matter though. He needs to know exactly where I stand.

  He holds my stare and nods. “I won’t, but if I do, then do whatever the fuck you want with me.”

  Relief has Willow’s shoulders slumping. Her arm leaves Bryan and she walks over to me. I hold my arms out to her and she walks straight into them. I still keep my eyes on Bryan and he watches us with a curious expression. After several seconds, he drops his gaze.

  I pull back from Willow, grabbing her shoulders and looking her over, just to reassure myself that she’s okay. Her face is blotchy and her eyes are slightly swollen from crying, but other than that, she appears to be fine. That is, until I look down and see her wrist. It’s red and looks like it’s starting to bruise.

  I swing my eyes over her shoulder and pin Bryan with a menacing look. As if he feels my stare, he looks back at me. Before Willow can stop me, I’ve eaten up the few steps between us, and my fist connects with his cheek.

  “Tegan, no!” Willow cries from behind me, grabbing my arm. But I’m already done.

  Bryan stumbles, then lands on his ass.

  I stand over him and glower. “That’s for her wrist,” I growl. “Leave another motherfucking mark on her and that’ll feel like a thump compared to what I’ll do next.”

  He doesn’t say anything, just sits there with his knees bent and his arms resting on them. But the look he gives me is satisfying. He’s looking at me with respect and something else I can’t name. His eyes flicker to Willow, who’s now crouching down beside him.

  He’s just getting to his feet when a loud crash comes from the house behind us. Willow steps in front of Bryan, and I turn to see Logan storming across the yard. His face is red with anger and his eyes blaze with hatred. I step in front of him and put a hand to his chest.

  “Logan,” I call, even though I’m right in front of him. He doesn’t pay me any mind, keeping his eyes over my shoulder, killing Bryan with his dark glare.

  “You fucking bastard! I’ll fucking kill you!”

  When he tries to go around me, I step in his path again.

  “Move!” he snarls.

  “Logan, man. Wait a minute.” I keep my tone hard, but not confrontational. It fucking bites my ass that I’m keeping him away from Bryan, when he has every right to kick the guy’s ass for what he did.

  He finally looks at me. “Let me go,” he grates out.

  “Logan,” Willow calls from behind us. “Please, Logan. I know you have every right to want to hurt him. He deserves it. He deserves to pay for what he did to Minnie. But he needs help.” Her voice cracks. “Please, I’m asking you, begging you, to let me and Tegan take him to get help.”

  I keep watching Logan as he keeps his eyes on Bryan. The venom there would make anyone cower.

  “He doesn’t need damn help. He needs his nose punched through his fucking skull.”

  He tries to slide around me again, but I grab his arm, forestalling him. “Logan, don’t, man,” I warn.

  “Stay the fuck out of this and let me go.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  When he tries to jerk away, I tighten my grip and swing his arm around his back, pinning it high up the middle of his back.

  “Fuck you, Tegan,” he grits out between clenched teeth, struggling in my arms. He’s a big guy, and although I’ve got a good grip on him now, I’m not sure how long I can hold him. “He deserves it. He hurt her. He could have hurt her worse.” His voice gets deeper when he says, “He could have hurt Luna.”

  “No,” groans Bryan, and we look over at him. He pushes Willow to the side and takes a couple steps forward. His eyes look tortured and frantic. “I wouldn’t hurt the baby. I wouldn’t…” He trails off, drops his head, and laces his fingers over the back of it.

  “Goddammit!” Logan shouts and starts struggling again. He throws his head back, and I barely miss the head plant to my nose. “Let me the fuck go!”

  “Logan!” a loud voice sounds behind us.

  Logan immediately stops moving. I let him go and we both swing around and see Minnie standing a few feet away holding Luna. She’s pale and shaky. She looks at Bryan, and her face crumples in pain, before looking back at Logan.

  “What are you doing out of bed, baby?” Logan asks, walking swiftly over to her. He takes Luna out of her arms and cradles her close to his chest, then puts an arm around her waist.

  “I heard shouting.” Her eyes flicker to Bryan again, then back to Logan. “Don’t hurt him,” she whispers, just barely loud enough for me to hear.

  “Minnie—”

  She shakes her head and grabs his shirt. “Please. I know he didn’t mean to hurt me.” She looks down at Luna. “And I know he wouldn’t have hurt Luna.”

  “Baby, you don’t know that.”

  Her eyes turn sad. “Yes. I do.”

  His jaw gets hard and he closes his eyes for a brief second before opening them. His voice is guttural when he says, “Fine. But we’re calling the cops.”

  I feel Willow step up beside me, and I know she’s going to object, but Minnie beats her to it. Which pisses me off, because Bryan deserves some form of punishment.

  Again, she shakes her head. “No.” Minnie looks to Willow. “Let Willow and Tegan take him. He’s needs treatment, not incarceration.”

  That’s fucking debatable. Although it’s the loss of their dad that started all this, it was still a choice that Bryan consciously made when he turned to drugs, which in turn made him the bastard he is. He should be made to atone for his actions.

  Logan lets out a deep breath, the anger still making his face hard.

  Keeping his eyes on Minnie, Logan barks, “Get him the fuck out of here.”

  Willow deflates beside me, so I reach out and snag her around her waist. We both turn to Bryan, who still looks tormented. We walk over to him, and I get close enough that I block Minnie and Logan from him.

  “Let’s go.”

  He nods and turns, but then turns back. “Minnie,” he calls in a strangled voice.

  “Fuck no!” Logan snarls. “You don’t get to talk to her. Get the fuck off my property before I change my mind about taking you out.”

  Bryan looks like he wants to argue, and I brace for the wrath that Logan will bring down on him if he does. I’m just about to forcefully turn Bryan around, when his eyes drop to the ground, and he turns around on his own.

  “I’ll call you later, Minnie,” Willow says, voice wobbly.

  She nods and smiles sadly at Willow. Her eyes once again land on Bryan’s back and her expression turns torturous. I know this can’t be easy on her either. Once upon a time, she thought Bryan was the love of her life, only to be betrayed by him in one of the worst ways.

  Logan hands Luna back to Minnie, then bends to scoop them both up and carries them toward the house. I lace my fingers with Willow’s, and with a dejected and still drugged-up Bryan, we leave through the side gate.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Willow

  I hang my head, my hair curtaining my face, as the water sluices over my shoulders. My tears mix with the stream of water. I feel exhausted and boneless, and I wonder how my legs are keeping me up. The stress of the day is catching up with me fast. Seeing my brother again, and the condition he was in, worse than the last time I saw him, was a big hit to my emotions. He looked broken and utterly defeated.

  I feel a whoosh
of cold air seconds before warm arms wrap around me. When I first came to take a shower, Tegan wanted to join me. I told him I needed time to myself. I needed to process what happened today. Now that he’s here, I’m beyond grateful. It’s like he knew I needed him, even when I didn’t realize it myself.

  I sag back in his arms, and he accepts my weight as his own. A new flood of tears drips down my cheeks as relief, fear, and unimaginable gratitude consume me. Relief for my brother finally admitting and accepting help, fear that he won’t follow through, and gratitude for having a rock in the form of Tegan. I have no clue what I would have done without him, and I’m so grateful I didn’t have to find out.

  A sob escapes my lips and more of my weight settles back against him.

  “Willow,” he whispers, the sound coming out tortured, like he can’t handle seeing me in pain. His arms tighten around me.

  I lean my head back against his shoulder, and the water now hits my chest. Tegan’s forehead meets my temple and his lips rest against my cheek.

  “What if you’re right? What if he can’t be saved?” I voice my fear.

  Tegan loosens his arms and gently spins me around. I wrap my arms around his waist while he tips my head back so I have to look up at him.

  “You can’t think like that.” His brows dip down into a frown. “I know I sounded doubtful earlier, and I still have my reservations, but he’s your brother. You know him better than I do. Pray for him, and be there for him when you can. But remember, if it doesn’t work, don’t take on that weight. It’ll hurt, but you can’t let it take away your happiness.”

  I know what he’s saying, and I know he’s right, but I also know it’ll be easier said than done. Bryan is my brother, and I’ll always love him. If he hurts, I hurt. And if this doesn’t work, it’ll hurt even more, because I’ll know he wasn’t strong enough to beat the demons inside him.

  My forehead drops to the center of Tegan’s chest. His arms wrap around me and he holds me against him for several moments. I love the way his arms feel wrapped around me, almost like a cocoon. I lay a soft kiss against his chest, right over his heart, then look up at him. I feel the heat in his eyes, not from desire, but from an emotion I’m almost too afraid to hope for, and suddenly I feel the need to say something.