Page 8 of The Cabin-A Reverse Harem Romance
There was a kitchen on the left of us, with a breakfast nook that had even more windows. A formal dining room was off to the side with a table that could easily fit six to eight people. A hallway on the right surely led to more bedrooms, and probably a bathroom. It could easily sleep six to eight people, and there was enough seating for all of us on big, oversized and plush sofas, situated directly in front of the fireplace.
“Nice place,” I said dryly.
“Thanks,” Brad said, his tone just as dry as mine.
“May we speak to Elise alone?” Nolan asked, once again proving to be the mediator.
Brad started to protest, but Elise put her hand up. “Please, Brad. Let’s not fight anymore, okay?”
“It’s my cabin,” he said again, which was still pissing me off – ownership of a cabin did not entitle you to put hands on a woman.
It just took one more withering look from me to silence that thought. Brad once again rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath, but he walked upstairs without a fight. Not that most private place for us to talk, but it would do. As long as Elise was comfortable with it, so was I.
When he was out of sight, I asked the question we’d all be dying to ask.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said.
She paced the room with her arms crossed in front of her tightly, her expression dark and conflicted.
“You’re obviously not fine,” I said, walking over to her.
I grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stop pacing, and turned her toward me so I could look her in the eye. She scowled, pulling away quickly.
“Don’t touch me,” she said.
“I’m sorry, I –”
The look in her eyes made me pause. Elise and I had been close at one time. Very close. I knew she still hadn’t forgiven me for what had happened. Hell, I still hadn’t forgiven myself for it. I knew, in her mind, she didn’t fully understand my reasons for dumping her, but part of her did. She knew Aaron wouldn’t have been okay with me dating his precious, baby sister. She knew the drama and conflict it would have created within the group.
Nolan stepped up, and Elise turned away from me, choosing to focus on him instead. Her face softened when she looked at him, and my insides twisted in both jealousy and hurt. I pushed those feeling aside though, because it was my own fault. I fucked things up with Elise. There was no two ways about it. It was my fault, and I had to deal with the consequences.
The two of them talked in whispers, and I could only pick up on a word here or there. Sean stepped over to me, a curious look on his face.
“What was that about?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
I hated lying to one of my best friends. It physically hurt me to keep my mouth shut, and to prevent myself from telling everyone what happened between us. I valued honesty above most anything else in this world, which made me feel like a flaming hypocrite for keeping the secret. I had to do it though, for Elise’s sake. She didn’t want anyone to know, and it was probably for the best.
Nolan patted me on the shoulder. “So I guess her and Brad got into an argument,” Nolan said, keeping his voice low. “He didn’t hit or her anything, but he did break her phone on accident.”
“On accident, my ass,” I muttered.
Nolan shrugged. He didn’t buy it either.
“Still, with the weather as it is, and everything else going on, I think it might be best if we stayed here for the night. Just to keep an eye on things,” he said.
“I agree,” Chase said, speaking up from the corner.
“Think Brad will let welcome us with open arms?” Sean asked.
“What choice does he have?” I said. “There’s four of us, only one of him.”
“He owns the place –”
“And you think the cops are going to come out here in that blizzard?” I asked. “Fuck him, he’s not going to do anything.”
Elise had joined our little circle. She’d heard everything. Our eyes met briefly, and I got lost in the bottomless depths of them for a moment, but she quickly looked away and the moment passed.
She muttered, “There are a couple guest rooms down the hall.”
“Plus the couches,” I said.
She nodded but kept her focus on the floor instead of on me. She kept her arms wrapped tight against her, as if she was cold. The fire kept the place pretty toasty warm. A little too warm, if anything, not cool enough to warrant hugging yourself so tightly. There was definitely something going on that she wasn’t willing to talk about.
“Brad isn’t going to like this,” she said under her breath.
