Branded (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Special Edition) by Lexie Davis Read Free Book Online

propped up on his fist. “Erin, I’m sorry I didn’t come back for your father’s funeral. You could have called me anytime if you needed me. I honestly don’t know what you expect of me. I’m here for you, but you don’t want me around. I stay away and you’re pissed off that I left. I do care, Erin. I want to help you, and it has nothing to do with getting pussy while I’m here. You were always more than that to me and you know it.”
    She closed her eyes. He was easier to talk to if she didn’t have to stare into those intense, deep blue eyes. “I wanted you to ask me to go with you.”
    “When?”
    She opened her eyes. “That night—the last night we were together. I wanted you and Kade to ask me to go with you.”
    He brushed his fingers along her arm. “You wouldn’t have gone. It would have been boring for you, and you would have hated every single moment of it.”
    “I know that.” She stared at his finger as it lightly stroked her skin. “I wanted to go, though. You guys just left early in the morning with me still asleep. I woke up and it was like a dream. Both of you had vanished and I was all alone. I felt used.”
    He leaned down and pressed a kiss against her cheek. He moved closer and wrapped his arm around her. “I’m sorry.”
    She pulled back and sat up. “Yeah.”
    Blaine blew out a breath. “Erin, you’ve got to know I care about you.”
    “I don’t know that, Blaine.” She didn’t know much about anything anymore. “I’m done talking about this.”
    She didn’t know what possessed Rory to allow them to stay at her house without so much as mentioning it to her, but she wanted to kill her brother for doing so. She combed her fingers through her hair.
    “We’re nowhere near done talking about this.”
    She glanced back at him. “I am tonight.”
    “What the fuck do you expect for me to do, Erin?” Blaine slid from the bed and walked around the bed. “I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I didn’t come back when you needed me. I’m so fucking sorry that I’m not a mind reader and cannot pick up on every little emotion you’re having.”
    She shook her head. Blaine mad was a big deal. He had a bad temper and the obstinate desire to get what he wanted. She didn’t expect anything from him. Even with all the crap between them, she honestly wanted them to stay the three days and leave.
    “Please get out of my room.”
    His nostrils flared. Erin stared at him, waiting for him to say what was obviously on his mind. He didn’t. Blaine took the high road and grabbed his cell phone from the floor. Stomping out of the room, he slammed the door behind him.
    Well that went well.
     
    * * * *
     
    Blaine sipped his beer in front of the TV, mad as a hornet. Erin’s little tantrum was warranted to some degree, but it fucking hurt to know she thought so little of him. He punched the buttons on the remote to change the channel.
    The door to her bedroom opened and a few moments later Erin came around the corner. She’d dressed in flannel pajamas that hung on her body like a bag. Blaine watched as she grabbed a laundry basket from the breakfast table and carried it to the living room to be folded. He lifted his beer to his mouth.
    “You left your condoms in my room.”
    He put the footrest down and sat his beer to the side. Blaine didn’t know where the guys were, but he really wanted some reprieve. Scotty was best at handling her moods. Blaine preferred to stay away.
    He picked up the boxes of condoms and lube from her floor and carried them back to the living room, tossing them to the coffee table. She stared at him for a moment, before continuing with her laundry.
    He couldn’t stand the tension any longer. “How can you say I don’t care about you?”
    “How can you say that you do?”
    “I’ve done nothing but help you since I got here.” He propped his hand on his hip. “What’s it going to fucking take?”
    She sat the laundry basket aside. “I can’t handle this right