by L. A. Casey
"I was drunk, so that's why I said whatever I did last night. I can't remember it so it didn't happen-"
"It happened, and you liked it. You fucking purred when I cuddled you."
I purred?
What the fuck did he think I was, a cat?
"Humans don't purr-"
"Baby, you made a rumbling purr sound because you were so relaxed and content in my arms. Whether you like it or not, you enjoyed sleeping with me!"
I narrowed my eyes to slits. "I was drunk."
"That's your excuse? You acted like you did because you were drunk?"
Eh, yes!
"Obviously, Dominic, I can't stand you so I would have to be drunk out of me mind to willingly crawl into your bed and want you to touch me!"
His silver eyes flared.
"Fuck you, Bronagh, you're being a real cunt-"
I punched him, directly in the face. I surprised myself with my sudden action of violence, but I couldn't stop it.
No motherfucker called me a cunt!
I didn't even care if he hit me back, it wouldn't be about a male hitting a female because at this stage I put my hands on him more than any person should to another person, but this prick asked for it.
I turned to storm out of Dominic's room, but a hand gripping my hair hard and an arm came around my waist, halting my movements.
"Let me go!" I shouted, my hands flying to grab the hand on my hair.
"No," he growled in my ear, "because you hit me again."
"You called me a cunt, so I don't give a flyin' fuck!" I screamed.
His teeth, yes, his teeth, latched onto my neck and bit down. I knew it wouldn't have been hard enough to break the skin, but it hurt; it hurt a fucking lot.
I screamed again and swung my hands back, punching at any piece of him I could hit.
"I'll kill you!" I swore.
He suddenly released me with his mouth and hands, so I swirled around and literally jumped on him with my hands swinging.
We collided and fell back onto his bed; I was on top for about three seconds before Dominic rolled us over and pinned me under him. I was acutely aware that I was in just my dress from last night, and it had risen up to the very top of my thighs showing off my underwear and bare thighs.
"Blue lacy? I would have pegged you for the granny type of panties-"
"Get off!" I screamed and tried to kick him since he had my arms pinned down, but he pressed himself between my legs to stop me from hurting him that way.
"Calm down, you aren't doing any good acting like a psychopathic bitch-"
"Oh, my God, do you know anythin' about women or people in general? Don't insult someone when tryin' to calm them down because it has the opposite effect you fuckin' retard!"
I ignored the fact that I should take my own advice because Dominic was just as mad as me right now and calling him names wouldn't make him any happier.
He shook his head, hissing at me. "I could honestly throttle you right now, you're un-fucking-real!"
"If it wasn't illegal, I'd murder you!" I snarled back.
Dominic's lip curled then before he shook his head and chuckled lightly. "Right back at ya, pretty girl."
I growled, and he glared back at me.
He lowered his head down to mine, and I held my breath when the tip of his nose touched mine, making my heart pound into my chest.
"I hate you!" I forced out.
Dominic's left eye twitched. "I hate you, too."
He then slammed his mouth down to mine and kissed me with a hunger and intensity that surprised me.
I fluttered my eyes closed and tried to squeeze my legs together because the shivers I was currently experiencing were shooting straight down to one location. The fact that Dominic was between my legs only made my legs squeeze his hips making him growl down at me.
My hips bucked forward into his.
I hated him so much for making my body react this way to him. I hated him even more when I opened my mouth to him and kissed him back, hard!
"You drive me fucking crazy," he growled into my mouth.
Back at you, mate!
He released my pinned hands and put his weight on his elbows as he leaned over me. I should have used my hands to push him off me or to claw at his face or something along those lines, but I didn't. I did a stupid thing and put my arms around his neck and pulled his head as close to mine as I could.
We kissed each other, and it was an exact replay of the scene from the last time in his bedroom. He had me on my back, on his bed, ready to give him something that wasn't his to take.
"Bronagh?" I heard Branna's voice shout loudly, then she started banging on Dominic's door.
Dominic groaned into my mouth, and then growled when I pulled away from him.
"We're busy!" Dominic shouted.
Whoever was outside with Branna laughed then yelped.
"Get away from me sister you pervy little fucker or I'll end you!" she bellowed.
I pushed at Dominic. "Get off me," I breathed.
He did, so I quickly stood up and fixed my dress. I grabbed my bag that was on the floor and looked around for my shoes, but I couldn't find them, so I just rushed over to Dominic's door and opened it.
"I can't remember anythin' or how I got up here, but I didn't do anythin' with him; I swear!" I gushed to Branna who looked as bad as I felt.
She looked me over, and her eyes landed on my neck and her face turned red.
"You better not have touched her without permission-"
"I didn't! I'm not a fucking rapist!"
Branna growled. "You better not be because I'll fuckin' rape you if you harmed her in any way!"
Dominic's smirk was enough to put me back in a bad mood with him.
"You can rape me anytime you want, gorgeous."
I gasped.
The fucking prick!
"You're a prick!" I snapped.
He flicked his eyes to me and rolled them while sighing. "I'm kidding, don't be mad at me for that. I prefer you over your sister even though she is smoking hot."
Was that meant to be a compliment or something?
"Piss off, Dominic."
I turned to Branna and grabbed her hand. "We're leavin'!"
She nodded then looked back to the figure behind her. "Move!" she snapped to him.
"I'm not letting you leave until you hear me out!" Ryder said in a firm voice.
I scoffed. "You can't keep her here, arsehole."
He flicked his eyes to me and narrowed them. I sort of moved behind Branna because it was only then that I realised how much bigger he was than me; he was even bigger than Dominic.
"Don't look at me sister like that, do you hear me? You're scaring her!" Branna shouted.
Ryder scrubbed his face with his hands. "Bran, baby, I didn't know Bronagh was your sister. You called her Bee when you talked about her. If I had known who she was I would have told you, so you didn't look at me like you did last night."
I widened my eyes.
They knew each other?
"Hold up, rewind and freeze. Branna… are you seein' him?" I asked, blatant shock laced in my tone.
She looked to me and frowned. "I wasn't keepin' it from you, sweetie. I met him at Darkness a few weeks ago when he was there with Alec and Kane. We hit it off and went on some dates since then; I wasn't goin' to tell you about him until I was sure about him. I know how you feel about people, and I didn't want to bring him around unless I was sure he was goin' to stick around." She cut her eyes to Ryder then, and he was looking at her with such intensity that I gasped.
"What is your deal with people, Bronagh?" Dominic's voice asked from behind me, making me tense up.
Branna felt my hand grip hers so she looked at Dominic. "It's none of your business," she snapped then looked back to Ryder. "I'm not doin' this to her; she doesn't like you, and that means it won't work between us."
Ryder looked beyond mad as he reached for her and pulled her away from me so they could talk in private
, but it was pointless because I could still hear everything that was said.
"You can't just dump me because you sister doesn't like getting close to people, Branna. I really like you, and I care about you a lot. I know you feel the same way about me. I don't want to end this; I want you to be my girl. We can take things slow; I won't press Bronagh out of her comfort zone but please don't give up on me, on us."
My heart broke for him; I didn't know he and Branna had a thing. I thought he just pulled her last night when I found her sitting on his lap at the table, but I guess they were sort of a couple, and that's why they were sat the way they were. It made sense when I thought about how Branna said she wanted to introduce me to Ryder before I cut her off in the club last night. Things had clearly escalated since then because they weren't smiling and acting all loved up with each other anymore like they were before all hell broke loose last night. They had obviously fought over me and Dominic, and that made me feel like crap. They shouldn't not be together because of us or more importantly because of me.
"Branna," I mumbled.
She looked at me, tears in her eyes.
She clearly felt the same way about Ryder; she didn't want to break up with him, and I didn't want her to.
"Don't break up with him. I'll… I'll try harder for you; I promise," I said, lowering my head.
Branna cried then and said, "Baby, you don't have to try for me. Try for yourself, this outlook you have isn't healthy. I want you to let other people in; you can't only have me in your life. If anythin' ever happened to me, you would be all alone, and that terrifies me Bee, more than anythin'."
I nodded my head; I knew it was weird to only limit myself to one person in my life but I was afraid to allow anyone else to become a part of my life simply because I knew they could leave as quick as they entered, and I hated the worry that came with that.
"Okay, I'll try harder. I promise." I nodded my head.
She kissed my cheek and hugged me tight. When we pulled apart, I looked at Ryder and awkwardly met his gaze.
"Sorry for causin' trouble for you, Ryder."
He smiled at me. "I think you just saved me a lot of trouble, Bronagh."
I smiled a little at him then, because when he looked at Branna, he looked really happy.
I couldn't believe I didn't know about him.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me about him. You usually can't keep shite to yourself, so how you didn't let on about him is beyond me."
Branna laughed, sniffled, then rubbed under her nose. "It was horrible. I wanted to tell you so many times but had to bite my lip or talk about somethin' random."
I chuckled. "So, you're both like a real couple? Boyfriend and girlfriend?"
They looked at each other, smiled, and nodded.
I snorted. "This should be interestin'."
Ryder looked to me. "Why is that?"
"Because she is a freak, and you will soon learn things about her that will have you runnin' for the hills. For example, she is an OCD cleaner and has multiple personalities. I'm not even jokin', she could be me sister one minute then me ma and da the next."
Branna slapped my arm while Ryder laughed.
"Why would she be your mom or dad?" Dominic asked from behind me.
I instantly looked down; I had forgotten he was there.
He just overheard all of that conversation.
Oh, my God.
"Our parents both died nine years ago, Nico, I've been her guardian since I turned nineteen. I took over raisin' her when our parents passed away, so she considers me her sister, her ma, and da all wrapped into one. Her memories with them are limited, because she was so young when they passed. She doesn't talk about them at all."
I squeezed my eyes shut when the image of my mother's pale face framed with her dark chocolate-coloured hair flying in the wind as she ran while my tall father chased her around our back garden filled my mind. Branna looked like mam with her heart shaped face and blue eyes while I looked like my dad with his pale white complexion and bright green eyes. That much about them I could remember without seeing their pictures. I didn't know why but I couldn't remember anything but that single memory of my parents messing around in our back garden. I refused to see a therapist when I was younger but one made an educated guess to Branna that the impact and trauma of losing them made my mind completely block them out.
I loved my parents, and my chest hurt when I thought about them which was why I didn't do it often. I thought it was good that I could barely remember them. It made losing them sort of bearable even after all these years. Some people liked talking about their lost loved ones and decorating their house with their pictures but not me and Branna. We acknowledged certain things like their birthdays, their wedding anniversary, and their death anniversary but other than that, we didn't have reminders of them, because it was just easier that way. It hurt less.
I blinked my eyes open when the memory went away and found things were quiet for a moment until Dominic spoke again. "Is that why you have people issues, you won't get close to anyone in school or people in general, because you're afraid you could lose them like you did your parents?"
I widened my eyes; he had hit the nail directly on the head.
"Dominic," Ryder snapped, "show some compassion!"
"I was just asking a question. When our parents were killed you took over the mother and father role like Branna did, but I didn't push everyone away from me because I was afraid they might die. That's a pretty shitty way to live."
Those words hurt me, because they were completely true.
"I want to go home," I said as tears filled my eyes.
"Bronagh," Branna whispered and quickly followed me as I pushed past Ryder and ran for the stairs. I heard Ryder shouting. Then I heard roars from Dominic for me to wait and that he was sorry.
I ignored everyone and everything and ran down the stairs at full speed. It amazed me how I didn't trip and fall to my death, because a couple of times I missed my footing and stumbled a little. I eventually had to slow down though, because there were some people sort of lying on the stairs on the bottom floor, which reminded me of the reason I was here.
The party.
I felt Branna's hand come into mine as she caught up with me and manoeuvred around the sleeping, drunken bodies that littered the bottom floor of the house. I heard a giggle and kissing noises so I turned and watched Damien walk a girl out of the kitchen and towards the hallway to the front door.
"Bronagh!" the girl gasped when her eyes landed on me.
It was Destiny.
Oh, Jesus!
I flicked my eyes between her and Damien; she was shocked while he was grinning at me.
"Babe, just hear me out before you leave-"
"Dominic, leave her alone!"
I blinked when Ryder and Dominic were suddenly in front of me. This caused Destiny's eyes to practically pop out of her head.
"You and Nico?" she gasped, looking at him in his boxers.
I frantically shook my head. She had such a big mouth and would have a rumour spread around school by the end of first period on Monday if I let her think what she was thinking.
"No, no. I'm here with me sister and her boyfriend, Ryder. He is Dominic and Damien's big brother; that's all."
Destiny blew out a breath and looked like she believed me until Dominic got in my face.
"So what was upstairs then? You didn't sleep with your sister last night Bronagh; it was my bed you slept in and I was the person you slept with!"
"Oh, my God! You slept together?" Destiny squeaked, her face twisted in rage. "Seriously?"
Her version of slept was clearly not what mine was.
Damien all but carried her down the hallway and out of the house once Branna lunged for Dominic and Ryder had to restrain her.
"That girl thinks Bronagh slept with you!" she shouted.
Dominic glared at Branna. "She did sleep with me!"
Branna snapped her head to me, so I held up my hands.
"He means slept as in the literal term; we literally did just sleep next to each other."
Branna threw her hands up in the air and pointed at Dominic. "I see why she can't stand you. You're a word twistin' little fuck!"
Dominic actually smirked, and it made Branna angrier than she already was. I pushed Dominic in the sitting room/gym room that was littered with drinks and rubbish. I slammed the double doors behind us and swirled around to face him.
"You know Destiny will tell everyone what she saw and heard. Everyone will think we had sex and that I'm with you or somethin'!"
Dominic shrugged. "So?"
I gaped at him. "So it's a lie, none of that is true!"
Dominic stepped towards me. "The being together part could be true."
What?!
I laughed. "You're havin' me on!"
He glared at me. "You know I'm not. I do hate you Bronagh, and I can't stand you at times. But I'm also attracted to you more than I have ever been to a girl in my life. I want you."
I just looked at him. "So you want us to be together because you fancy me even though you hate me?"
Dominic shrugged. "If fancy means having a crush then yes. I have a crush on you and once we work through our feelings, I bet we will like each other just fine-"
"There is somethin' wrong with you, you have a fucked up way of thinkin'!"
He smiled. "Trust me, I know."
I sighed. "Dominic, just leave me alone. Please?"
I locked eyes with him, and he stared at me hard before blowing out a big breath.
"Fine, if you want to go and not give us a shot then go. Leave."
The relief I felt come off my shoulders was as immense as the horrible pain that suddenly filled my chest. I didn't know why it hurt when I should have felt nothing but relief. I forced myself not to think about it.
"Okay." I nodded then turned and walked back out into the hall where Ryder was waking people up and pretty much kicking them out of the house.
"Are we good to go?" Branna asked.
The gym door slammed shut behind me, and music suddenly blared making Ryder sigh.
"He is pissed," he murmured while looking at the door, then looked at me. "What did you say to him?"
I shrugged. "He wanted us to be together, for me to be his girlfriend, but I told him no, because it wouldn't work between us."