Bad Impressions (Revive Me #1) (21 page)

“Okay?” she asked when I finally stepped back and released a huge breath of relief.

I nodded and she hurriedly put her clothes back on.

“Ollie, I’m decent!” she called out through the door.

A second later, he burst into the room, eyeing
me
accusingly. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to Soph. “Where is that fucker?”

“Gone,” she said simply, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

“What?” Ollie asked. “But, your hands? You…you fought him or something? And you’re not…hurt?”

“Brad taught me how to fight,” she said, smiling sweetly at me.

“You took him down?” I asked. Yeah, I’d taught her how to fight, but she was a tiny thing. The most I ever expected her to do was to fend off an attack and then run like hell, not to actually cause so much damage. Her knuckles were proof that she’d definitely gone the damage route.
Shit.

She shrugged like it was no big deal. “He’s gone.”

“How long ago?” I demanded.

“Too long ago for you to do something insane like going after him.”

“Soph, I want a location.”

“And I want to forget this awful night ever happened,” she said, her eyes pleading with me to let it go. “Please, baby.”

I heard Ollie grunt at her endearment. And I couldn’t stop myself from snapping, “Oh, fuck you. This is your fault, you prick!”

He took a threatening step towards me. “Say that again.”

“You heard me, asshole,” I threw back, getting right in his face. “You invited that psycho in here and then left her here alone with him!”

“Brad, he didn’t know,” Soph said, her hand grasping my bicep.

Just the slightest touch from her had the ability to pretty much rewire my brain.

I found myself calming rapidly. The next thing I knew, I was stepping back from Ollie and actually backing down.

Ollie couldn’t hide the shock on his face. He looked between us for a few moments as though he was trying to understand how the hell his sister could have such an effect on a man like me during the heat of such an intense rage. And then he looked away, seemingly satisfied with what he saw and murmured quietly, “I’m sorry, sis. If I’d known…I mean…he seemed like such a—”

“I know,” she said. “He manipulates people.”

Thinking that was the end of it, I could feel myself becoming tense again. I couldn’t allow her to let him off that easy.

But then she surprised me by glaring hard at him, while telling me, “Brad, can you give me a moment alone with my brother?”

“Sure,” I said, leaving the room.

I closed the kitchen door behind me.

Barely a second had passed when the real blow up started.

“How dare you do that to me?”

“I was trying to help you, Soph.”

“Help me? I’m happy, Ollie. Brad makes me happy.”

“Right now, maybe. But you’re young and naïve.”

“No. You don’t get it. You want to know why I came back here? Because I was lost, Ollie. Lost. Because of Jake, because of everything. But Brad helped me to get that back. To get me back. Without even knowing it. Why? He knows me, Ollie. The real me. He always has. And he accepts all of me—faults and everything. He doesn’t try to change me. He doesn’t try to manipulate me. He loves me—unconditionally. And I love him, too. We bring out the best in each other. We push each other. We get each other. And, most of all, we fix each other just by being together. You say you want the best for me? Well, I already have it—with him.”

“Soph, he’s not...he’s too much like me.”

“What?”

“He’s rooted here. If you stay together, that will happen to you. I want more for you, sis.”

“Is that what this is all about?”

“A lot of it, yeah.”

“No one will stop me from any of that, Ollie. Give me some credit.”

“So, you’re not planning on staying here with him then?”

“He hates this town and now you’ve ruined his reputation, I don’t see how he can stay now anyway.”

“Oh.”
There was a pause, before he went on.
“You know he almost killed his father, right? He’s violent.”

“He would never hurt me.”

“What about when you piss him off?”

“It’s already happened many times.”

“And?”

“And…we yell at each other, like any other couple.”

“Huh, well…I….”

I stepped back from the door and walked away into the living room.

I slumped down on the couch as I thought about everything that’d been said between the two of them, trying to process it all. I decided to put a pin in Ollie’s comments about me being violent. I’d deal with that another time. No need to get more worked up. My damn hands were still shaking as it was.

I sighed heavily and rested my head back against the couch.

Hearing her talk about me like that sent a warmth through me that I hadn’t felt since the first time she’d told me she loved me.

After her reaming me out months ago for being closed off, I’d been very open with her about how I’d felt from that day on. I had no reservations when it came to that.

But she had. She’d always been a little hesitant and out of her element when it came to all of that relationship stuff. But in the kitchen, she’d basically bared her soul to Ollie and confirmed how I’d
thought
she felt about the two of us. Finally actually hearing it soothed me in a way I’d never felt before.

I’d always been very aware of her being a few years younger than me
and
being far less experienced. But the way she’d discussed possibly moving away from the city and following
her
own path without being influenced by anyone—not even me—had me rethinking her level of maturity. Not to mention, that knot in my stomach that’d been plaguing me for the last few hours had now lessened considerably as I’d heard her talk to Ollie about her plans.

After the shit that’d gone down with Jake, though, I’d have to wait on telling her my big news.

Despite her bravado in the kitchen and acting like she hadn’t been the least bit affected by being cornered by that asshole in her own home, I
knew
her. It’d affected her all right. She’d probably drop her bravado later when I took her home with me and things were calmer.

Chapter 27

~Sophie~

“Closer,” Brad murmured, his voice rough with exhaustion.

I chuckled and scooted closer to his side of the king-sized bed and rested my head on his shoulder. He groaned in protest, apparently still not satisfied. He took matters into his own hands, wrapped his arm around me and pulled me tightly against his muscular chest.

“Better?” I asked, amused at his neediness for me. I wasn’t going to lie; I loved it.

“Much,” he said, kissing the top of my head chastely.

After my talk with Ollie earlier, the three of us had actually managed to sit down to dinner together. Ollie had brought back pizza after all. I’d thought he’d just made that up as an excuse to leave me and Jake alone, or something, but it’d turned out he’d been serious about it. Oddly enough, it’d been
his
suggestion for the three of us to have a meal together. I hadn’t been sure what his motive had been.

On the one hand, I wanted to believe it was his attempt at a peace offering and his way of demonstrating that he
would
accept mine and Brad’s relationship. But in reality, I highly doubted that idealistic notion. Judging by the way he’d barely spoken a word to Brad and focused all the conversation on me, it seemed his plan had been to feel out the dynamic between Brad and I. It’d seemed like he’d wanted to observe us together and make sure Brad was living up to what I’d told Ollie about him during our private conversation.

Well, even a fake peace was better than nothing. Beggars really couldn’t be choosers.

Brad had been amazing. If he’d been agitated or uncomfortable during dinner, he hadn’t shown it. Like Ollie, he’d focused his attention solely on me in a bid to avoid agitating Ollie in any way.

I still couldn’t believe that Jake had had the audacity to actually show up at my house like that.

I’d lied to the boys when they’d barged into the house. I hadn’t been fine at all. And I still wasn’t. But seeing the fear all over both their faces had forced me to lock it up in front of them and put on a cool and collected façade.

Yeah, I’d managed to fight back and actually come out on top with Jake. But it had still shaken me up; something that I could barely admit to myself. I hadn’t wanted it to affect me at all. I didn’t want to be weak like that. But taking my fists to someone and dealing with that much aggression and violence had been a lot to take. Being with Brad and Ollie right after and through dinner had done a lot to distract me from it.

But as I looked at Brad, who had fallen asleep, there was no distraction left to hide behind. I had no choice but to hear my own thoughts.

I carefully extricated myself from Brad’s hold and climbed out of bed.

I tiptoed down the hall to the bathroom and closed the door quietly. I breathed a heavy sigh as I lowered myself onto the closed toilet seat.

Flashes of that predatory look in Jake’s eyes assaulted me. His fist coming at me. The way he’d slammed me against the wall and threatened to
teach me a lesson
.

I was too tired and burned out emotionally to be able to fight back against the memories and they overwhelmed me with ease.

Before I knew it, I had my head in my hands as I sobbed like a damn baby. I couldn’t stop. Maybe it was the shock finally catching up with me, or maybe it was because I’d repressed it for too long and it was biting me in the ass.

I jumped as I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder.

I looked up through my tears to see Brad kneeling in front of me.

I tried to move away. I didn’t want him to see me in a state and I definitely didn’t want to talk about it.

To my surprise, he seemed to understand that.

He didn’t say anything.

Instead, he wrapped his arms around me and just held me quietly as I cried. It was like he’d expected it, or something. Unlike most guys, he didn’t seem the least bit put off by me blubbering right in front of him.

“I was scared,” I mumbled.

“I know, princess,” he whispered in my ear.

“I’m weak…pathetic….”

He pulled back and took my face in his hands gently, forcing me to look at him. His expression was pained as he shook his head. “You were brave. You used what I’d taught you and you stopped him.”

“But—”

“You took on someone a lot bigger than you, Soph. Someone who had hurt you before. Of course you felt fear. It doesn’t make you weak. It makes you smart. You, my little princess, are anything but weak. I knew you were shaken up earlier, but you were hiding it.”

“You knew? So, you weren’t really asleep then?”

He shook his head. “I was waiting.”

“For me to break down like a child?”

He wiped my tears away with the pads of his thumbs. “For you to let it out.”

A sudden thud coming from the front door downstairs startled both of us.

It sounded again and again, each one louder and more aggressive than the previous one.

I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I heard voices as well.

Brad got to his feet and took my hand.

His expression was blank and completely unemotional. I had no idea what he was thinking at all. He seemed completely calm as well.

He led me back into the bedroom.

“Go to sleep,” he told me softly, grabbing my hips and lifting me onto the bed.

He snatched his jeans up off the floor and pulled them on, along with his socks. He smiled at me reassuringly as he slipped on a white ribbed t-shirt. He crossed to his closet and pulled out a pair of black steel-toed boots. He slipped them on and then headed for the bedroom door. The pounding on the front door continued, but he barely reacted to it. He moved fluidly and efficiently, but he didn’t rush in any sort of panicked haste.

“Stay here. I won’t be long.”

“No! Brad, what are you doing?”

He held up his hand, willing me to stay where I was. “To deal with this.”

“No, we should call the cops.”

“The town is entrenched in a snow storm. It would take them a long while to get here. It’s nothing to worry about. Probably just some kids fucking about.”

“It’s happened before then?”

“Yep.”

Before I could analyze his expression to see whether he was bullshitting me or not, he turned away and walked out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

“Stay in here,” he called through the door. “I mean it, Soph. Do you hear me, darlin’?”

“Yes,” I called back.

***

Probably just some kids fucking about
. That was the lie I’d told her.