Page 6 of Welcome Home
This isn’t real.
“It’s me Cora, it’sme.I swear to you I won’t make those mistakes again. I'll love you the way I always should have. I can be what you needed from him. I’ve never done this-“ He cuts himself off, clearing his throat. The emotion swimming in his eyes stirs unwanted emotions in mine.
“You've never done what?”
He steps forward and I take one back, my heel hitting the gray scalloped garden stone. “You need me, Cora. They were close. Very close. The detective…Rappert. She thinks something is up.”
Because something is.
“I won’t let you get hurt. I won’t allow you to be in danger. You’re mine Cora. I'm him and you belong to me.” His voice rises. The conviction in his tone makes my breath hitch in my throat.
I don’t even know you. I never did. All the things about you I loved were nothing more than lies and illusions.
I gasp as he jolts forward, closing the short distance too quickly. The stitches in my elbow pull as he jerks me into him, locking my wrist in his large hands. His chest pressed against mine. “You don’t have to be afraid of me anymore, my love.”
Heat rises in my chest as his warm breath caresses the nape of my neck. I swallow hard, fighting the urge to shove him away and pull him closer. “I was never afraid of you.”
He half laughs, his nose gently brushing my skin, leaving treacherous goose bumps behind. “You’re a liar Cora Lynn Neilson, but it’s okay. I love that about you.” My breath lodges in my throat, my heart hammering away in my chest like it’s trying to free itself from the cage. “Now let's go back inside. We can order out.” I swallow hard. His hands tightly clamped around my wrist tells me I don't have an option. He tugs and one foot falls in front of the other. Letting myself be drug along behind him, my heart sinking deeper into my stomach with each step.
Tonight was… normal so cripplingly normal. I watched him, the way he navigated the kitchen just as effortlessly as he always had. The way he brushed his teeth, making sure to use the mouthwash twice. Everything about him screams my husband. My eyes are heavy with exhaustion from the day, but how could I possibly sleep? Lightning cracks across the sky, lighting the room with its violent bolt as I stare at him. His bare chest chiseled from stone. The heavy arm draped lazily across my waist feels heavier than ever before. I stare at the freckle on his nose, near the tip. His messy blonde hair hanging down in his eyes since he's not awake to tame or push it from his face. I adjust myself, gently pushing his arm from me. It feels so much heavier than ever before, like a two-ton weight and not just an arm. The veins underneath his flesh are pronounced, his skin pulled taut over his muscles. My tears leak onto my pillow, my bed is no longer mine. I'm sharing it with a stranger that I’ve known my entire life.
Oliver Fourteen Years BeforeThatNight
My smile widens as the crowd screams louder, our coach beaming from the sidelines. Adrenaline tunnels through my veins as my teammates run towards me. Sharp smacks to my helmet rattle my already shaken brain, but I don’t mind. I love this.
I live for this.
That’s why I trained so fucking hard. This moment made all those times I turned down going to parties with my friends worth it. The early mornings, working out until my muscles screamed. I need to keep being the best. To keep coming out on top. I want to congratulate them too. Hype them up the way they are with me, but I can’t seem to pull my eyes from the crowd. Their admiring smiles and hollers commanding my attention. Right now they aren’t thinking of him, they aren’t thinking about the black cloud he casts over me. Over the whole family. Right now, the number on the back of my jersey is mine. It was never his. I’ve worked hard to be more than my brother ever was.
I turn when I hear her soft, timid voice call out from me at the edge of the field. Cora Emmert.Her jet-black hair tied up high on her head as she bounds over straight into my arms like the good girl she is. Of all the things I’ve fought for, all the things I took from him, she's been the most difficult and rewarding. I shove through my teammates, tugging her up so she can wrap her legs around me, her small body so soft in my arms. She smells of cinnamon sugar, her light blue chalky eyes beaming. Such a strange color it just makes her stand out even more. She hates that.
She laughs as I spin her. “You did amazing, Ollie!”
I meet her halfway as she reaches up, giving me a quick, shy kiss before setting her back down, running my fingers across the small of her back. “Because I wanted to impress you.” Her pale skin flushes. Nobody understood when I set my sights on Cora after my older brother died. My friends thought it was below me the way I chased after the weird kid. I could’ve had my pick.
I do have my pick.
None of them would do, not long term anyway, good enough for a quick fuck but Cora… I had to have Cora. They wouldn’t understand even if I explained it, so I don’t bother. She’s mine.
I won and I keep fucking winning.
See, I know something they don’t. Something he never dared utter out loud.Heloved her, my perfect prodigal brother. He always loved the awkward, quiet girl we grew up playing beside. Arthur worshiped the ground she walked on, ever since we were in fucking diapers. The way he used to follow her around like a lost puppy made me sick. The attention deprived girl didn’t know what to do with all his admiration, so she ignored it. It was pathetic;hewas pathetic and when he died; he became a hero. Good kid, good football player with good grades and a bright future died in a tragic car accident. A small-town tale as old as time. He never even had the balls to tell her, and now she’s mine.
And I plan to keep her until she’s ruined.
My blood rushes towards my dick when Lizzy jogs over, her long golden hair tied up into pigtails. She finds her best friend quickly, and I don’t bother listening to Cora ramble on about how great she danced tonight. My eyes are glued to her huge tits, her perfectly tanned skin. Lizzy is a fucking knockout, bold and popular. Everything Cora isn’t.
“Oh, Cor, will you be at the party tonight?” She asks, her eyes linger on me for a second too long. I tense as Cora frowns slightly, shifting a little closer to me. She’s jealous, it’s kind of cute.
She scoffs, a bold sound coming from her. Somehow making even that come across timid and weak. “Of course not. You know how my mom is.”
“You know you’re turning eighteen in like two weeks. What is she really going to do?” Lizzy challenges, sticking her hands on her hips. Making her legs look even longer in her short cheer skirt that breaks every single dress code. Cora just looks down at the ground, like her feet have the answers.
I nudge her lightly. “Cora is a good girl, Lizzy. Cut her a break.”
“Yeah, well, in that case, I'll see you at the party later, Oliver. Night,good girl.” She snips, a bubble of annoyance building in my chest. If she doesn’t chill the fuck out, we’re going to get caught. Cora already knows they’re growing apart. She all but cried herself to sleep over it on the phone the other night. I was sympathetic, reassuring, just the way she needed me to be. My sheets still damp from her best friend’s pussy.
She smiles up at me from underneath dark lashes. “Thanks.”
