Strung

Me: WTF?!

Demetri: I gotta go.

He didn’t answer my texts the rest of the night. When I flipped on the TV it was to see Angelica leaving Demetri’s hotel room. Well great.

A loud knocking on the door interrupted my irritation. Shit. It was either Nat or a serial killer.

Was it wrong to hope for a serial killer, maybe an Ax?

I couldn’t deal with her. Not now. Not when I was worried sick about my brother having a drug overdose or finding out my dirty little secrets with Angelica. Hell, my life was messed up, spinning out of control.

I jerked open the door. “What?”

“What the heck is his problem?” Nat roared, stomping into the house like a woman on the edge.

“Good evening to you too,” I muttered behind her. Was it too much to ask for her to have not seen the ONE glimpse of Demetri with Angelica?

“First he’s all trying to take advantage of me at your house, then spouting nonsense about you and me, and then…” Her voice rose to hysterical proportions. “He said that he wanted to be first. Of course, that was after his second attempt at getting me out of my dress and into his bed, and then he wouldn’t let me go, and then he got all weird and I saw pills and freaked. It was like he was saying goodbye. More like, Sorry Nat, but I’m gonna go screw some movie star instead!” Her eyes brimmed with tears. While I was still trying to figure out what the hell to do. Pills. Bed. Sex. Shit! “I’ve been heart-broken for almost forty-eight hours thinking I’ve done something tragic to him and he’s, he’s—”

“Nat,” I interrupted, my voice severe. “Stop.”

“No!” She whipped around and charged toward me, poking me in the chest. “You don’t get to tell me what to do! You rejected me! Twice — wait, three times!”

I rolled my eyes. “Listen, Nat. As much as I’d love to sit here and listen to you complain about my brother’s shitty decisions and lack of love for you, I’d rather not. Everything he’s done has been for you, and you repay him by coming over here and talking shit? Really?” Yeah I was so calling the kettle black but whatever. She was making out Demetri to be the monster when we both knew who currently held that title.

“How is him cheating on me doing me a favor? Because I’m dying to know. This ought to be good.” She crossed her arms and sniffed.

“It’s complicated.”

Her head snapped up. “Of course it is. It’s always complicated with you two, and you never tell me why! I don’t know why you’re here, I don’t know why you chose my mom out of all people to see, and I don’t know why you have the same stupid tattoo!”

“Get out,” I snapped, pulling at her arm. She could say whatever she wanted about me, but not about the tattoo, not about shit she didn’t know about, not even about Demetri. We brought her into our lives and all we did was invite more drama. So even though it hurt like hell to kick her out of my house, maybe it was better for everyone if we both cooled off.

“I didn’t mean it was stupid, just that—”

“Out.” I gently pushed her out the door. “Nat, go home. We should never have involved you in the first place.”

“What are you saying?” Her lower lip quivered.

“I’m saying goodbye.”

“You’re shutting me out,” she said numbly, her face going pale

I closed my eyes and whispered, “Family comes first.”

“And I’m not family.”

Silence.

“Right.” She choked back a sob and ran away from me, breaking my heart with each step. I wanted to chase after her, to apologize, but again, I was paralyzed in place. My desire to love her, to care for her, to be with her, it was never going to trump my desire to be the brother Demetri deserved. If he slid back into old habits, I needed to know. Nat didn’t understand. How did someone who’d never done drugs understand the pull they had on you? You don’t even realize you’re sunk until it’s too late. The most dangerous time to relapse is right after rehab, your body’s clean but you still take the same dosages before, it’s how people die!

I quickly dialed the number to another one of my body guards and of course our manager. I needed them to send someone over to Demetri’s hotel room… immediately. I couldn’t fly there in time.

An hour later — and I knew for a fact that Demetri had been passed out in his hotel room — sleeping. Big shock there. But had been sharing a few drinks with Angelica.

Did he sleep with her? Would he be that stupid?

I spent the rest of the night tossing and turning. Regretting every single thing that had flown out of my mouth when I’d talked with Nat. Fear had a way of making me overreact. And I owed her an apology. Which was why I was going to attach myself to her person all day Monday at school. People were going to be ruthless, especially considering they knew Demetri and Nat were together.

So it was up to me to make sure she had a good day at school. I may not be the man she deserved; I may never be that man. But I had today. And today I could protect her. Today I could do everything within my power to make her smile.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Demetri

IT WAS OVER.

We were so over.

I scrolled through the texts that Nat had sent me. She said Alec made her eat soggy fries — sounded like him. Swear the guy was obsessed with people eating. Actually, it had more to do with his insane need to control everything within his grasp.