Page 31 of Broken Pieces

Needing to fix this mess, I reach for the door handle, but I’ve been locked out once again.

“Maddox? Let me in. Let me help you.” I must sound pathetic, but I don’t care.

When I don’t get a reply, I trudge back to my own room and sit down on my bed.

Looking down I realize the bear is still clasped tightly in my hand from where I fell asleep holding it. Not able to look at its sickeningly happy little face any more, I toss it behind me. I check my phone incase Mom or Reginald have sent any updates on Max, but there's nothing.

I don't feel like I'll be able to get back to sleep even though I still feel exhausted, but maybe a shower will help wash the night away.

Every brush of my hand over my body as I wash brings back flashes of my two stepbrothers standing above me as I knelt at their feet and took their cocks in my mouth.

Was I dumb to have given in so easily to my desires?

Yes.

Was I dumb to say no to being theirs?

Definitely, yes.

The last thing either of them needs is the drama that will be sure to come if we had a relationship though. It's the right thing to do, to stay just as we are, whatever that actually is now.

Maddox will understand once he's had time to calm down and Max…if he's okay after all of this, I'm sure he'll be the one that will understand the most.

9

Violet

“You’re not going to see him before you leave?” I stiffen as Maddox's harsh voice comes from directly behind me.

He’s so close all it would take is one tiny step back and I’d be pressed against his chest.

I’ve missed him and Max so much these last few days.

After Reginald spoke to my college admissions office, they agreed I could delay my start by a few days, but I’m out of time now.

Rather than spending those few extra days at Max’s bedside, I’ve been hiding in my room.

Mom’s kept me updated on Max’s condition. He’s still in the hospital, but he’s awake and recovering. According to her, he’s lost some use of his right arm and with it his scholarship since he's not coming home for a while.

His entire life was baseball, he practiced constantly, did more than enough to earn his future in the game and that’s all wiped away like it was nothing. Because of me.

I’m sure he doesn’t even want to see me after what I’ve done to him.

Anyway, he has everything he needs here, he doesn’t need me.

“How is he?” I swallow as I turn to face Maddox. He looks like he’s not slept at all. There’s a thick layer of stubble on his jaw that I’ve never seen before, he’s always kept himself clean shaven, they both have.

I wonder what Max looks like now and if he’s being looked after well enough in the hospital.

I reach my hand out to run my fingers over the roughness on Maddox’s cheek, but he bats it away. “Go and ask him your fucking self.” He spits the words at me, like they’re venom in his mouth, then starts walking away from me. I grab my last piece of luggage, hauling it behind me as I rush downstairs after him.

“I’m so—”

“Don’t, Vi.” When he comes to a stop in front of me, I notice his right arm twitches and he grabs it at the elbow. “Please, just don’t," his voice cracks and he looks so broken. All I want to do is help him, but I don't know how to stop him from pushing me away.

If I didn’t run off after the party, I wouldn’t have hurt the two people most important to me. I’ve really fucked everything up, for all of us.

I want to say I’m sorry, but he doesn't want to hear it. "I was thinking I could stop by and try to say goodbye to him on the way to the station."