Her smile is forced at best as she reaches for my belt. “I can help you get rid of all that tension, sexy.”
“No. I’m good. Thanks for offering.” I grab her dress that she stripped off teasingly earlier and hand it over. “I’m sorry again.”
Her shoulders hunch, but she takes the dress and starts to put it on. “We haven’t shagged since we got back together, Bran. Is something wrong?”
Everything is fucking wrong.
But I don’t say that and smile instead. “Just a lot to think about. I’ll be fine after some time.”
“Okaaay,” she drawls out the word. “Love you, babe.”
She waits for a beat, but when I don’t say it back, she turns to leave.
“Clara.”
She spins on her heel, a hopeful smile on her face. I should probably break up with her. This time for good. It’s not right to lead her on when I feel absolutely nothing for her.
Ever since I was in secondary school, whenever a girl has asked me out, I’ve said yes, knowing they just wanted me to take them home so they could meet Lan.
I didn’t mind. Because I had a girlfriend at all times, even if she was giving Lan fuck-me eyes. He never did—fuck them, I mean. But he always forwarded me screenshots of them sending him nudes and begging him to do obscene things to them.
I never responded. Just broke up with them over text and deleted whatever Lan sent me.
It didn’t matter. They were all part of an image. I never stayed with one more than a couple of weeks.
I met Clara in uni, and she made it her mission to ensure we’d bump into each other by ‘coincidence’ in the places I frequent. I recognized her tactics from a mile away, but, again, I didn’t mind. The reason I’ve stayed with her the longest is because, for the first time, someone came straight to me instead of Lan.
In fact, she doesn’t seem to like him. Probably because he often treats her like an insignificant insect.
So I kept her. She doesn’t get her nose in my business as long as I take her to high-end restaurants, buy her luxurious brands, and pose for pictures.
We broke up whenever she cheated, which happened four times that I know of, but then she said she was sorry and that she wouldn’t do it again and I forgave her.
I technically cheated on her, too, so let’s call it even.
Lan is wrong. She never hurt me. I’d have to have feelings to be hurt, and I don’t do those.
She was just a convenience and now, she’s not.
“We should take a break,” I say casually.
Her face falls and she nearly drops her precious Chanel bag. “But why? I didn’t do anything.”
“It’s not you. It’s me. I cheated on you.” But even as I say that, it doesn’t feel right. Being with her just now felt like I was cheating on him. Not the other way around.
I need to stab a fucking shard of glass in my neck this time.
Clara’s lips part and she frowns. “Wow, okay. That’s shitty.”
“I’m sorry.” I don’t mean a fucking word, but I say it anyway. Because that’s what’s expected. I’m nothing short of extremely considerate and spectacularly polite.
Except for when it comes to a certain wanker.
She closes the distance between us and grabs my hand in hers, nude fake nails scraping against my skin. “It’s okay. We’ve been through this before, babe. It hurts that you went to someone else, but I can forgive you like you forgave me all those times.”
I push away her hand and step back. “I don’t need your forgiveness.”
“Do you like her that much? I can do a threesome if that’s what you want.”
Desperate is exceptionally annoying.
My tone is detached as I shake my head. “We’re breaking up, Clara.”
“You can’t do this shit to me!” She stomps her foot on the floor. “I’m not breaking up with you. This isn’t how it works.”
“This is exactly how it works. Please leave.” I push her toward the door and open it.
She stands in the hallway and screams, “No! I refuse this.”
“We’re done.”
She storms back inside, but she’s pulled out again by a handful of her hair and tossed aside like a sack of potatoes.
My brother glares down his nose at her. “You heard him. He said you’re done, so take the hint and escort your cheap presence off our property.”
My oldest cousin, Eli, who followed Lan—probably after they were plotting some chaos in my brother’s room—looks her up and down. “Pretty sure I’ve seen you before, but where?”
“I’ve been literally coming here for the past two years!” she screams, her high-pitched voice grating on my last nerve.
“Oh, right! You’re the help!”
“I’m not!”
He looks at Lan. “She’s not?”
“Of course not.” My brother makes a mock gasp. “The help has more grace than this cheap rug.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” I say, exasperated. “Just leave, Clara.”
“I don’t agree with the breakup. We’re still together.” She cowers under my brother’s and cousin’s menacing attention. “I’ll text you later, babe.”
“Don’t call me that,” I mutter, a migraine starting at the back of my head.
“What?” she asks, seeming lost.
“Don’t call me babe. I’m not your babe,” I say, clearer this time, and her eyes widen.
She starts to say something else, but Lan stands in front of me and pushes her away as if she’s a prop. “Off you go. Don’t show your face around my brother again or I’ll cut it to pieces.”
I want to reprimand him, but I’m glad his words finally propel her to move. She quickens her steps down the hall, tension rolling off her in waves.
“I’ll let you know if someone else needs help!” Eli shouts after her and then asks us, “She’s really not the help?”
“The degradation is unnecessary,” I say with a sigh.
Eli rolls his shoulder. He’s an inch taller than us and has dark hair and metal-gray eyes that excel at making people feel uncomfortable in their own skin.
Personality-wise, he’s similar to my brother and they share a destructive nature, which is why they get along, although they like to pretend otherwise. They have a lot of interests in common, including a chess game at our grandfather’s house that’s been going on for over a decade.
But where Landon is a show-off, Eli prefers to work in the shadows.
He’s still too antagonistic, though, which is why I prefer the company of his younger brother, Creigh. However, Eli has always been like a big brother to Lan and me. He made it his mission to protect us when we were growing up and he continues to do so.
Eli, Lan, and even Creigh are firm believers of the King name supremacy and consider an offense against one of its members as a declaration of war. It’s not that I don’t share the sentiment. More like, I never felt worthy of the superior last name.
Lan clutches my shoulder, a wicked grin painting his lips. “Congrats on kicking the bitch to the curb. For the love of Satan, don’t get back together with her. She’s not for you.”
“And how do you know what’s for me? Are you an expert?”