Page 25 of Sparks of Insanity
“I’m truly sorry, Ethan. I never meant for anything like this to happen, but I was very hurt and betrayed by how you went to my mother about me like that.”
Shewas hurt and betrayed. She was here to call me out for all of this, and that bemused the hell out of me. I dropped down into the armchair opposite her and stared her down, because if she wanted to talk, then she should fucking talk.
“There was no need for all of this to come out this way, Ethan. You could have just told me if you didn’t like my message. Telling my parents was so humiliating, and even now they’re still breathing down my neck. I’m probably the only eighteen year old on the planet with parental controls on my laptop!”
Was she for fucking real? I sat forward in my chair, fixing her with a fierce glare.
“You ruined my fucking life! You’re bitching about your laptop, when I can’t even afford to live now? I’ve lost everything! My house is the next thing I’ll lose, because I’m unemployable, so I can’t afford my rent. You did this to me, and for what? A crush? A bit of fun? Was it just about pushing boundaries, and getting attention? You destroyed me!” I clenched my fist, and the sound of a sharp pop shocked me into realising I was now holding the shattered remains of my wine glass.
“Dammit!” I threw the shards onto the floor, except for the ones sticking in my palm, and stomped to the kitchen, leaning over the sink as I plucked glass from my flesh and ran the stinging palm under the tap. Blood was oozing from multiplecuts, and wasn’t that just the perfect end to a perfect day, week, and month.
15
Ember
Ihadn’t expected himto be so angry, and that was me being a ditzy entitled kid, right? Why wouldn’t he be? He’d lost his job over me? He couldn’t afford his home now?
I should be ashamed of myself, and I was. I was definitely ashamed, but I also couldn’t leave him right now. He was injured, hurting, and he needed help.Myhelp.
“Ethan,” I said, making him jump and spin around on the spot, blood and water splattering his kitchen counter.
“Perfect. So you ruin my life, and now you ruin my kitchen. What’s next, Em? Do you just want to stick a knife in me and be done with it? There’s nothing left to take. Do you get it? NOTHING. I have fucking NOTHING NOW!” He roared those last few words, lunging at me across the kitchen, slamming me back against the wall as he towered over me.
It should have terrified me, but it didn’t. Quite the opposite, in fact. It was magnificent.Hewas magnificent. He was so hot,so strong, and attractive. He hadn’t been shaving recently, and there was a short stubble of beard on his face, darkening his chin and cheeks. His eyes were glaring down at me, but all I saw was the man I wanted. The only man who could touch me.
I wanted him to kiss me, even if he was rough, even if he hurt me or scared me. I just wanted it so much. He was still gripping my upper arms, and I could feel dampness seeping into the white fabric of my sleeve from his injured hand; water or blood soaking in, as he held onto me.
“Why are you here, Ember? I have nothing left to give, or to lose.” He closed his eyes, and I felt the fight drain from him. “Nothing. All I wanted was to teach, to shape young people’s lives. To make a difference.”
I pressed my palms against his chest, feeling the heat of his body through his t-shirt, and finding that it was more arousing than I’d imagined. I wanted to see him without the t-shirt. To touch him, touch his bare skin. His eyes had popped open at my touch, and his gaze dropped to my lips. Kiss me.Pleasekiss me.
I was moving up as his head lowered, and suddenly our lips were crashing together in my first real kiss, an aggressive battle of lips and tongues. He threaded his fingers into my hair, fisting it as he angled my face and kissed me harder, trapping me tighter against the wall with his body. Yes. Please yes, keep kissing me. Take me. Take me? Yeah, fucking take me. I wanted everything with him.
“What the fuck am I doing?” He gasped, shoving away from me, and leaving me bereft without his touch, without his kiss. My lips felt almost bruised from the brutality of his mouth, but it was all I was getting from him. I could see it in the suddenly closed-off expression on his face. He backed up further, and jerked his head toward the living room.
“Out. I need you out of my house right now, Ember. This isn’t right, and… and it won’t happen again. Leave. Get out of my life. Never return, do you hear me? Never.”
“But-”
“But nothing. Do you know what’d happen if you get seen here? Do you know what your dads will do to me if they catch me with you in my house? How’d you get here? Could you have been followed or tracked?” Oh god. Was there a tracker on mum’s car? Were they already aware of where I was?
“I… please, Ethan, let’s just talk about this,” I protested, even as he grabbed my arm and started hauling me to the front door. He grabbed my coat with his other hand, and shoved it at me, until I hugged it in front of me.
“There’s nothing to talk about. Don’t come back here, Ember. I won’t be here soon anyway, you made sure of that. You destroyed my life, and I want nothing to do with you. Do you get that? Nothing.”
His words were like fists, only worse than that, like fists of burning fire, searing their way through my skin, and into my chest.
“Please,” I begged, trying to block him from pulling the front door open. I needed him to give me a chance. Just one.
He managed to open the door, and unceremoniously deposited me on his doorstep.
“Don’t come back, Ember. There’s nothing for you here.” The door slammed soundly in my face, drowning out the sound of my first sob. He’d rejected me! He’d thrown me out of his house, and he was telling me to never return. How could he do that to me? We were meant for each other, and now there was nothing left to lose! If there was nothing left to lose, why couldn’t we be together?
Tears blurred the path as I stumbled down it, away from his door, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do with myself now.
I heard the words ‘oh shit’ from a woman, and that’s when I realised it was his neighbour. She was just getting out of her car, and caught sight of me. I rubbed the tears away from my eyes, as she darted for her front door and hurriedly unlocked it, trying to get inside and away from me as fast as she could.
Suddenly I wondered if she’d done as I’d demanded and stayed away from him. What if he was rejecting me purely because he was already getting what he needed from her? Was this whore taking advantage of him when I’d expressly warned her away?
