I huffed. “You’re insane. I don’t look at him like that, and he certainly doesn’t look at me like that. Besides, you saw him talking to Gina.”
Corina sat up. “Puh-lease. Gina is a money grubbing S. L. U. T. Steed’s not interested in her. She keeps throwing herself at him. Trust me. I was watching.”
“Since when did you become a Steed fan?” I asked, pulling my hair up and braiding it.
“Oh, I’m not. Believe me, when he introduced himself I wanted to junk punch him. His pretty face was a bit of a distraction though.”
Corina winked, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “He is handsome, I won’t argue with you on that.”
“Hell, they are all handsome. And bodies like gods. What in the heck did their mother drink while pregnant?”
Laughing, I dropped in one of the chairs in my bedroom. “When we were younger, oh man, the girls would go crazy for the Parker brothers. Tripp’s the oldest brother and lord did the girls throw themselves at him. It was almost kind of sad.”
“Did he ever date anyone?”
“Yeah, he had a serious girlfriend, Harley. They broke up, and he kind of started the path for the whole Parker man whore legend. I think she broke his heart and the only way he could get over it was to sleep with every girl he could.”
Corina rolled her eyes. “What about Mitchell?”
I smiled. “He’s always been the serious one. Anytime the boys wanted to do something that was borderline wrong, Mitchell tried to talk them out of it.”
“Explains the cop thing then.”
“Yeah. I think he’s probably the shyest out of all the guys.”
“Huh. Interesting.” Corina stood. “I guess I better head out before Steed gets here.”
My chest tightened as panic set in. “Maybe I should call and tell him another night.”
Corina placed her hands on my arms and pierced my eyes with hers. “Paxton, you need to talk to him. You’ve been needing to talk to him since the day he walked away. You won’t be able to move on if you guys don’t sort this out. I know you say you don’t have feelings for him, but I’m your best friend and I know that’s a lie. I see the way you look at him. Talk to him, honey. You can’t keep this inside much longer.”
A single tear slipped from my eye and made a slow trail down my face. “I know,” I whispered.
Squeezing my arms, Corina gave me a reassuring smile. “Tell him how he hurt you, Paxton. Get it out there in the open and close this chapter of your life. Then you can decide if Steed Parker is part of the next chapter or not.”
My chin trembled and all I could do was nod.
Corina kissed me on the forehead and turned to leave. A quick peek at the clock told me I had fifteen minutes until Steed would get here.
Corina stopped at the door. “Maybe you should take a shot of something.”
Jerking my head back, I asked, “Why?”
“Because you’re shaking like a leaf.” She winked.
After Corina left, I stood there for a few moments staring at the door. Taking a deep breath, I let my mind go back to the day that changed everything.
Everyone was celebrating the fact that we had graduated high school. Everyone but me. The cramps in my stomach were a constant reminder that I had lost the baby in the early morning hours. I was so tired. I’d driven myself to the hospital and sat there alone while the doctor told me what had happened.
Steed sat down next to me and reached for my hand. Pulling it from him, I turned to him. “Don’t touch me.”
His eyes were sad, but I didn’t care.
“Pax, please. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”
“You did this.”
The horror on his face should have made me regret my words, but I didn’t. I meant every single word I said.
“Please can we go somewhere and talk?”
“Talk about what, Steed? There’s nothing your words can say to make it better.”
He reached for my hand again, and this time I didn’t fight it. “Maybe I should leave for a few weeks.”
My head whipped as I stared at him. “What? Why?”
He looked at the ground. “You’re upset, and we both need time to wrap our heads around this.”
Standing, I glared at him. “You’re running. That’s what you’re doing. You piece of shit! You’re leaving me! Again! How could you do this?”
Steed stood. “Wait, Paxton, that’s not what I meant.”
I pushed him as hard as I could. “I hate you! I hate you so much right now. Leave! Go run and hide! I never want to see you again. And I swear to God the next time I see you if you even think of speaking to me I’ll cut your dick off and shove it down your damn throat!”