Page 5 of Unhinged Love

Too late. Being around that spoiled, snobby bully brings it all back.

Not now. Later.I have to force myself to push the memories aside—if only so Paul doesn’t hold me up by asking if everything’s okay. I know everything I’m thinking shows on my face.

I just want to get to my room, where I can be alone.

I should know by now it isn’t that easy.

“I think I’ll head up and finish a little homework,” Carter announces as he gets up from the table. “Gotta pull the grades, right?”

There’s something about the way Paul’s head cocks to the side that tells me he sees through this bullshit excuse. I doubt Carter is big on studying. People like him never are. “See if Elliana needs help with anything up there. Maybe taking suitcases up to the attic?” he asks me.

Does he notice the ripple of tension that runs through his son? Maybe he does notice but doesn’t care. The man is determined to force this family thing down everybody’s throats. It’s nice of him, but he’s trying too hard. I wish I could tell him not to bother.

But how can I do that when I can’t get up the courage to tell him I will be fine getting my room straightened out and don’t need any help? Scared of my own shadow—something Mom has accused me of too many times. Not that she’s wrong. I wish she was.

If I refuse now, I’ll only look ungrateful. That, plus Mom’s sharp, unforgiving look, means I duck my head and start out for the stairs. Carter’s heavy footsteps follow behind me, and every step pairs with an angry grunt. He’s trying to send a message.This is my home, and you don’t belong here. He might as well tattoo it across his forehead.

I wonder if he’d believe me if I told him I don’t want to be here any more than he wants me here. I would rather go back to living in a house a fraction of the size, so long as it meant not having to interact—being forced into this new family dynamic. I never asked for this. Will he believe me?

And why do I care? Maybe it would be nice to take him down a peg or two and show him he doesn’t know half of what he thinks he knows.

“Taking your suitcases up to the attic,” Carter mutters behind me in a dark, menacing tone. “I’d rather help you pack everything back up. You don’t belong here.”

He’s right. I don’t. I don’t belong anywhere.Please, let this be over soon. With my arms wrapped around me, I reach the top of the stairs, then turn left. There are so many rooms up here, and until now, only two men lived in this house. So much empty space.

Yet with so many choices, Carter’s room is directly across the hall. I’m sure Paul chose this room for me because it was so close to Carter’s, like he wants us to have an excuse to run into each other all the time or something. He has good intentions, but they’re not helping me as we come to a stop outside the bedroom.

Carter only glances through the open door before rolling his eyes. “You’ve not even finished unpacking yet? What the fuck? Why didn’t you just say that downstairs?”

Nothing gets past you, genius. If only I had the courage to say that out loud. He deserves to hear it—and so much more. Something tells me there are a lot of things he needs to hear, the sort of things nobody has ever had the courage to tell him.

It’s a shame I don’t have the courage, either. Who am I kidding? I can’t look at him. Instead, I stare at the floor, studying the pattern of the wood in front of my feet.

He grunts, then pushes his way past me, even though there is plenty of room. “You probably don’t even have enough shit to make it look like anybody’s living in here,” he mutters in disgust. Is that supposed to be an insult?

Going to the bed, he picks up a corner of the duvet between his thumb and forefinger before flinging it aside. “Cheap. Guess Mom was too busy buying her new tits to get you decent bedding.”

Ignore him. He’s not worth it. I don’t know why he’s determined to get a rise out of me, but I’ll be damned if I make it easy for him. Is it enough that I have no comeback? I have nothing to say. No defense. He’s already won.

Why is that not good enough? My heart wants to burst out of my chest when he moves toward me. All I can do is back away until I end up in the corner, trapped. Since I don’t have it in me to look at him, I can only go by his snickering to tell how he feels about this while his arms cage me in, his palms against the wall.

I can’t take this. It’s too much. What did I ever do to him besides exist? The words are right there on the tip of my tongue, but something is holding them back.

“What the fuck is your problem?” His hot breath fans across my face—it smells like garlic and chocolate. Not the best combination, but it’s something to focus on beyond the absolute hatred dripping from his voice. “What makes you so much better than me? Too good to say anything? Too good to even look at me?”

“And there’s my dad,” he continues, making me jump when he slams his palm against the wall inches from my head. “Bending over backward to make sure you’re happy and comfortable, and you can’t even bother to look at him, either. What makes you so much better than us?”

Don’t do it.The tears stinging behind my eyes are the last thing I want to feel right now. I cannot give him the satisfaction of making me cry. I don’t have much, but I can at least keep a little of my dignity.

“Maybe that’s not it.” His words take on a softer edge, but it’s no less threatening, like the gentle hiss of a snake that could strike at any second. “Maybe you’re hiding something. Is that it? What, are you two a couple of grifters or some shit? Huh?”

When all I do is stare at my feet, he cranes his neck, trying desperately to make me lift my head to look at him. “Maybe I’mgonna make it my one goal to find out what you’re hiding. What do you think about that? Huh?”

He’s nothing. He’s not even here. This can’t last forever. Once he gets tired of me, he’ll go away.

“Fucking freak.” He slams his hand into the wall again and growls when I don’t react. I’m too far away now. I can’t hear him. He’s nothing. He’s nobody.

When he shoves himself away from the wall with a grunt and leaves the room, I can breathe. The tension holding my body together melts away all at once, and I have to lean against the corner while I slide down to the floor. My legs are too weak to hold me up now.

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