Linked (James Graham/Reece Bibby)

Chapter Twenty Seven

Three days. It had been three days since I’d seen James. Jake had made sure I had eaten something when we got back to the house yesterday. But other than that I just drank water. I didn’t understand how the boys could eat like nothing was wrong. But I guess they weren’t in love with James.

It was now Sunday night and most of the lads had gone out. It was just me, Charlie and Reece in the house. Charlie had gone upstairs to sort the rest of his stuff out, leaving me alone with Reece. He sat on one of the sofas at the other side of the room, watching me. I occasionally glanced up and met his gaze but then quickly dropped it. I felt ridiculously guilty but there was a part of me that wanted to run over to him and hug him.

I had been so busy staring down at my hands and thinking over the whole situation that I hadn’t realised Reece was now stood in front of me until I saw his feet. I looked up at him, his face no longer held the look of guilt it had recently. His eyes were now filled with something I could only describe as hunger. I didn’t move a muscle as he placed one hand on the wall behind me and the other on my waist, trapping me.

Reece moved closer and I could feel his hot breath fanning over my lips. I didn’t try to stop him when he kissed me. It felt good to be wanted by someone, to be close to someone. My hand came up and rested on Reece’s chest and he pulled away from my lips. “I can’t,” I breathed, my gaze falling to the floor. I practically felt Reece’s anger as he said, “He left you, Jasmine.”

I nodded. He was right. James had left me. “But he’ll be back soon,” I whispered. Reece let out a laugh which held no humour. “I doubt it. He walked away,” he told me. I finally looked up at Reece and said, “He loves me.” Reece moved his hand from my waist to rest on the wall beside me. “Then where is he?”

I hated the fact that Reece was right. I hated that James had left me to run into Reece’s arms. I was angry but I was guilty. I loved James. But as much as I tried to deny it, there was a part of me that wanted Reece. I didn’t know if that was because James wasn’t there and I longed for someone to hold me and tell me that it was going to be okay.

Reece kissed me once again but this time I didn’t make any effort to push him away. I wanted to be wanted. “Reece,” a sharp voice spoke. He pulled away and turned around to see who had said his name, keeping a hand on my arm as he did so. Barclay stood in the doorway, glaring at Reece. “What the hell are you doing?” Barclay asked in an angry tone.

“I think it’s pretty clear,” Reece muttered. The dominant bravado I’d seen in Reece just a moment ago was now gone. “She isn’t yours,” Barclay told him, coming into the room and shutting the door behind him. “He left,” Reece pointed out. Barclay shook his head and laughed a humourless laugh. “What about the bro code? What about James being your mate? That’s his girlfriend, his everything. The girl he is in love with,” Barclay spoke in a cold tone.

Reece didn’t reply. He just stepped away from me. “Why hasn’t he at least called?” Reece asked, avoiding answering Barclay’s questions. “He did. He called the other night. He told us where he is and when he’s coming back. So you’d better sort yourself out,” Barclay explained. Reece walked towards the door and Barclay caught his arm as he passed him. “If I catch you even touching Jasmine, I am going to be much angrier than this.” Reece rolled his eyes and nodded before finally leaving the room.

Barclay’s gaze landed on me now. It wasn’t the usual soft, caring look he gave me. He was glaring at me. “Jasmine, I am disappointed in you,” he spoke, causing guilt to rise. “I’m sorry,” I almost whispered. “I don’t want to hear it. Don’t go near him again. You’re lucky I’m not going to call James and tell him exactly what you’re up to while he’s away. You’re supposed to love him.”

“I do,” I said, tears spilling down my cheeks. “Oh, here we go. Turn on the water works. It’s not going to work, Jasmine. You are as much in the wrong as Reece and I don’t care who made the first move. You let him,” he spoke angrily. There was a short silence in the room before Barclay went to leave the room. “We came back because we felt bad for leaving you at home. The lads insisted on picking up pizzas so we could all eat and watch a few films,” Barclay told me without even looking at me. I felt even worse when he told me that. “They’re in the kitchen,” he said then walked out of the room.

I felt sick. I’d messed up again. But I needed to make a quick exit before any of the lads saw me crying. I rushed out of the living room, past the kitchen and upstairs. I slammed the bathroom door shut. The loud sob that erupted from my throat made me jump. As I sank to my knees, I threw up the toilet seat up and threw up the contents of my stomach, which was just water. Tears continued to stream down my cheeks as I continued to throw up. After a minute or so I was literally just dry heaving as my stomach had emptied itself.

My hand reached out for some toilet paper which I used to wipe my mouth before collapsing on the cold, tiled floor of the bathroom. My vision blurred and I could barely move. I was exhausted. I saw the bathroom door open and two of the lads rushed in. All I could hear was the muffled sound of Jake’s voice and then I blacked out.