Unwanted (bxb)

Chapter 16

Cole's POV

Inside, I was burning. In every possible sense of the word. For days, I hadn't been able to stop thinking of that kiss at the races, and it was ruining my mood. Seeing him in my own home, rubbing something I couldn't have in my face, was more than I could bear. He looked incredible tonight; I couldn't take my eyes off his body. His thighs, his abs, his pullable hair... I couldn't take him dancing in front of me with my friends while everyone had their eyes on him. I'd heard more than a few of them utter obscenities about him, and I was surprised by how much it affected me. I was usually the first one to say stuff like that when a hot person was around, but people talking about Justin that way drove me mad.

When I'd seen him with my phone and realized what photos he was looking at, I'd felt pity for him and rage at the people who were hurting him, especially his ex-girlfriend, but that didn't mean I'd planned to take him into my dad's office and make out with him. Obviously, I'd had a few too many drinks and didn't realize what I was doing until the lights came on and I saw it all clearly. His cheeks were pink, his lips swollen from my kisses... Jesus, just thinking about it made me want to go back for more. But I couldn't, not with him. He was my stepbrother, dammit, the same person who was screwing up my entire life and had made me lose my car.

I tried to clear my head by going outside. I wanted to stay away from him. I couldn't sleep with someone who was living in my home, someone I'd have to see every day and who just happened to be the son of the woman who had taken my mother's place, a place I'd learned to forget about a long time ago.

I stayed outside until everyone started to leave. The house was a wreck, with plastic cups all over the lawn, beer bottles everywhere — a complete disaster. Frustrated, I walked to the kitchen door, where I could see the last few stragglers, among them Jenna and Logan. She was sitting on his lap, and he was kissing her neck, making her giggle.

I almost threw up in my mouth. Who'd have ever thought those two would end up that way? Logan was the same as me; he liked women (except I'm starting to question myself with Justin), parties, races, drugs... but now he'd turned into a little girl's lapdog.

Women were only good for one thing. If you let it go past that, you'd have problems. I knew what I was talking about from experience.

"Hey, bro!" Logan shouted, and I turned around. "Tomorrow there's a barbecue at Joe's. See you there?"

Barbecue at Joe's. That could only mean one thing: a party till dawn, hot chicks, and good music... but I had plans for the next day, plans six hours away that excited and depressed me in equal measure.

"I'm going to Atlanta tomorrow," I told him, making an ambivalent face he instantly understood.

"All right, man. Have fun and say hi to Daniel for me," he replied.

"I'll see you both when I get back," I said, and then crossed the house and walked upstairs to my room. There was a soft light coming from under Justin's door, and I wondered if he was awake, but then I remembered he was afraid of the dark.

Someday when things calmed down, I'd ask him about that. But for now, I just wanted to sleep. The next day would be a long one.

————-

My phone alarm went off at 6:30 in the morning. I groaned and turned it off, telling myself I'd need to get the lead out if I wanted to be in Atlanta by noon. I hoped a long drive would help dispel the bad mood that was lingering from the night before. I got out of bed and took a quick shower before putting on jeans and a T-shirt, remembering the hellish heat in Atlanta, which I'd hated since the first time I ever went there. Atlanta was amazing as long as you stayed in the air-conditioned hotels, but outside, no one could stand more than an hour in that heat before it got to them.