Page 138 of Burning Embers
“Not in front of your brothers,” he murmurs in a low, husky voice.
Is this guy a fucking chain smoker? I swear it sounds like he just ate a handful of gravel.
Sydney seems disappointed but forces a smile on her face. That smile remains as she watches him follow Ethan down the hall. Only when he’s completely out of sight does she turn towards me with a frown.
“I need your help.”
“Yeah?” I arch an eyebrow.
Sydney glances in both directions, ensuring we’re alone, before she reaches into her pocket and holds out a tiny flip phone.
“What…?”
“It’s Grayson’s,” she explains. “I stole it off of him.”
Now I’m really confused.
“Why would you do that?”
Sydney’s lower lip begins to wobble, and tears materialize in her eyes. “Because I think he’s cheating on me.”
For a moment, I only sit there in stunned silence. But then her words register, and a murderous rage courses through me.
That motherfucker!
I’ll fucking cut off all of his toenails and then shove them up his ass if that’s true. I’ll skin his cock and then sew together his balls. I’ll gouge his eyes out with a rusty spoon.
Sydney must see something in my expression because she quickly sniffles and wipes at her eyes. “I don’t know for sure,” she admits. “But…”
“But?” It takes every ounce of self-control I have to keep a leash on my anger.
“Okay, take this phone for example.” Sydney waves the tiny device in the air. “What person nowadays owns a flip phone?”
“And you think he’s cheating because ofthat?” Slowly, my anger begins to abate.
It’s not as if I don’t believe my sister, but she’s been known to create wild conspiracy theories, especially ones that concern the men she dates. She broke off with her ex because she was convinced he was secretly a part of the mafia after she overheard him talking to someone named Alessio, demanding his money back.
Spoiler alert—Alessio is the owner of the local pizza joint, and Sydney’s ex wanted a refund after he received sausage on his vegetarian pizza.
My sister begins to spin the phone around in her hands. “I could’ve sworn I saw him with an iPhone once. So why would he have two phones?”
“Maybe that iPhone wasn’t his?—”
“And he has never kissed me. Not once.”
I awkwardly scratch at the nape of my neck, wishing more than anything a flesh-eating monster will emerge from the ground and swallow me whole. “Errr, maybe you should tell Ethan this?—”
“I practically throw myself at him,” she continues, oblivious or choosing to ignore my unease, “but he always puts me down. Says that he wants to take things ‘slow.’” She makes exaggerated air quotes around that last word.
“Why the fuck are you making me be the voice of reason?” I run a hand through my already spiked hair. “That’s Ethan’s department.” I shake my head and then focus back on her. “Okay, look, there are logical explanations for all of that. He could have religious reasons for wanting to take things slow, or maybe he’s just old-fashioned. You know how some guys are. Besides,”—I give her a pointed look—“you shouldn’t be getting attached to him. What would you do when you find your Heart?”
Sydney’s in a pack with two other girls, but so far, they haven’t come into contact with their fated mate. For the time being, all three of them have been playing the field, so to speak, in the hopes of forming a connection with someone.
“You’re one to talk.” She waves a disapproving finger in front of my face. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the way your eyes lit up when you talked about Isabella. You’re going to be mated to Desiree at the end of the school year. Why put yourself through the heartbreak?”
Dread settles in my stomach like a clump of cement. I fucking hate the direction this conversation is going.
My family knows the truth about my pack’s arrangement with Desiree, and though they don’t approve, there’s nothing they can do about it, despite Dad being a member of the Council.