HUGE HOUSE HATES: Chapter 12

The red mist that hovers behind my eyes is all I can see as I follow River down the stairs. The noise from the party gets louder and louder, but the thump of my heart in my chest and the rush of blood in my ears is loud enough to obliterate it all.

River’s the first to spot Kyle, who’s talking to Alden. They were friends at college, and although they don’t see each other much these days, they’re deep in conversation.

“KYLE!” River yells. Two seconds later, as Kyle’s mouth has dropped open as though he intends to say hi, River punches him on the cheek. “You fucking piece of shit,” River hisses as he throws another punch. Suddenly, my red mist is gone, and all I can see is my brother losing the grip he has on his self-control.

Alden steps in, trying to grab River’s flailing arm before it connects with Kyle’s skull again. “RIVER!” I shout, grabbing his shoulder and yanking him back. “STOP.”

“What the hell is going on?” Alden asks me as River pulls against both of our gripping hands, trying to free himself. Kyle has recoiled and is staring at River in disbelief.

“ASK THIS ASSHOLE,” River hisses. “ASK HIM WHAT HE DID TO CORA.”

“Shit,” I mutter, knowing this isn’t what she wants and knowing that River is going too far.

“Cora?” Alden says as a flicker of understanding passes over Kyle’s features.

“ASK HIM!” River rages.

All around us, people are staring, torn between moving closer to hear more and stepping back to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

Kyle’s arms cover his head as he cowers back, and I understand why. The two of us struggle to restrain River, and if we can’t hold him, all that power will rain down on Kyle like hellfire.

“I didn’t do anything,” Kyle says, and that’s it for me. There is no way this asshole is going to deny what he did. There’s no way I’m letting him do that.

Releasing River, I barrel forward, grabbing Kyle by the back of his shirt. The strength in me is like boiling lava, far surpassing anything I’ve ever felt before. Kyle’s a big man, but that doesn’t seem to register as I drag his scrambling form toward the door with River following us.

“What the fuck, man?” Kyle says, his feet struggling to make contact with the hardwood.

“Don’t even fucking talk to me,” I growl. “Don’t say another word and NEVER come back to this house again. DO YOU HEAR ME? DO YOU FUCKING HEAR ME?”

At the front door, my rage is so violent I fling him against the wall while I fumble with the doorknob. He’s just had time to straighten when I grab him again, tossing him through the open door and watching as he stumbles on unsteady legs down the driveway.

When River appears next to me, I put my arm out to prevent him from leaving. I’m not going to let my brother do something that could get him arrested. If anyone’s kicking anyone’s ass, it’ll be me. But someone like Kyle doesn’t deserve to bring anyone else down. We’ll deal with him at another time when there aren’t so many witnesses and when we’re away from our home.

Alden tugs me by the shoulder, trying to turn me, but I’m watching until Kyle leaves.

“What the hell? Kyle’s my friend.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not anymore,” I say, and then, as Kyle’s car drives away, I turn and close the door to explain everything to my brothers.

Danny clears the house of people. The party pretty much dies with Kyle’s expulsion, not because anyone is particularly bothered to see him go, but because all our moods are black at what’s happened.

I don’t hang around downstairs because the knowledge that Cora is upstairs suffering forces me to leave my brothers and the fallout.

As I duck my head into my room, I already know she’s not going to be there. Cora’s shown herself to be a closed and independent person. She wouldn’t hang around for more sympathy from someone who’s been involved in making her life a misery for the past weeks.

When I approach her door, I know it will be locked, but I knock anyway.

“Go away!” she shouts immediately.

“No,” I say firmly. “I’m not going away, and you’re going to let me into this room, or I’m getting Ross to come and remove this lock.”

“You wouldn’t,” she growls.

“Just try me, Cora.”

Leaning against the door jamb, I expect her to make me wait a little longer than she does. I guess, if nothing else, I’ve proven that I’m true to my word.

Her expression is murderous as her blue eyes find mine.

“YOU TOLD HIM,” she hisses. “You said my name.”

“Not me,” I say. “River…he lost his shit down there. You don’t understand…”

Her hands rest on her hips as she takes a step forward. I straighten, my palms already sweating.

“And I’m supposed to be grateful, am I? I’m supposed to be grateful that you ignored what I said, even though it was said through tears and trauma, and be thankful that you both stormed downstairs like raging animals and did exactly what you wanted to do.”

“It wasn’t like that,” I say, even though I know it was. She was clear, and River ignored her wishes. He let his anger and revulsion explode, obliterating everything in its path, and I wasn’t that much better. None of it was malicious, but it wasn’t right either.

“I’m sorry,” I say as River appears at the top of the stairs. When Cora follows my gaze and lays eyes on him, she might as well have focused the heat of a volcanic eruption onto him.

“Sorry. Sorry is something you say to try and bandage a wound you caused, but this one can’t be bandaged, okay?”

Danny appears next to River, then Mark and Alden. They stand with eyes that are filled with sorrow and empathy, but none of it touches Cora. She’s too armored, too overwhelmed with what it has taken to stuff down her trauma so that she’s not bleeding in front of us.

“I’m sorry, Cora,” River says. “I shouldn’t…”

“Shouldn’t,” Cora spits. “It’s too late for shouldn’t. None of what you say will mean anything to me because you’re all just like him.”

“No,” I say, the revulsion welling up like vomit in my throat.

“Yes, you are,” She inhales a deep breath and holds it, and I see the tremble in her fingers that are braced against her body. “I felt the way you looked at me in the kitchen. I saw what you did with that girl in my bed. I saw you at the party. You treat women like we’re meat and there for the eating. I just…I can’t.” Her chin wobbles, and her hands drop, curling her shoulders in defeat. “Just leave me alone.”

“We’re nothing like him,” Alden says so firmly that it lifts Cora’s face in surprise. “Nothing, Cora. Do you understand me? Whatever you went through with that asshole, we would never do that to a woman. I’m fucking disgusted that I brought him into this house. I’m disgusted that I counted him as a friend for so many years. And you should know that he’s not welcome in this house ever again. Now, my brothers could have handled the situation better, and I understand that this is raw for you, but you don’t get to hurl around accusations like that about my family and me.”

“Your family ruined my life once. And you’ve all been working hard to make sure it happens again.”

The words are like a slap, but I see her vulnerability. The hurt and disappointment behind it all. The betrayal. And I, for one, am not going to continue to pretend that all of this can continue a moment longer.

“I’m sorry,” I repeat. “For everything.”

Cora’s sapphire eyes are glassy as they find mine, and her emotion is like a knife to my heart. My hands flex, palms tingling with the urge to pull her to me, caress her and let her know that I will do absolutely everything in my power to make her happy and keep the demons at bay.

I’m filled with emotions that I don’t understand, driven by instincts that feel foreign to me.

Hold.

Shield.

Protect.

The words surge inside me, and I can’t ignore them. I know that when I step forward to take Cora’s arm in a gentle grip, I risk her lashing out at me. I know that she’s running on instinct too. But when my skin touches hers, it’s as though both of us experience the same sense of relief. I step closer, easing her into my arms, and, although rigid to start with, she relaxes into my embrace. “We’re sorry,” I whisper. “For everything.”

Cora’s chest hitches around a silent sob, and over her head, I find my brothers staring at me with questioning expressions. They’ve never seen me like this before. I’ve never been like this before.

But Cora needs us. She needs us to be good men in a sea of fucking assholes.

And regardless of all the shit that has led us to this point, I’m drawing a line in the sand.

It stops now, and that’s final.