TANGLED Read online

  Kyle, for some reason, was hanging around while Louise and Mum talked in my new room.

  I said good bye to Mum and she gave me a final hug before leaving. Louise showed her out.

  Which left me and Kyle in my new room.

  He learned against the doorframe and looked fucking delighted that I was here.

  “Why the hell are you looking at me like that?” I snapped at him as he kept grinning at me. Did he forget the part where we broke up and he broke my heart? Had that skipped his mind! Cause he was looking at me like I was his favourite person. Hell he was giving me that look he used to give me before he told me how much he loved me.

  “My luck is turning around,” he said, still grinning at me.

  What the hell was he on about? His luck turning around? How was me moving in making his luck better?

  Chapter Two

  Soph

  I needed to get tougher skin if I was going to survive being here. I had to sit through dinner with Kyle, who for some unknown reason—and I was questioning his sanity—took every opportunity he got to make conversation with me.

  He was acting like he had forgotten all about the part where he broke my heart. He even asked if I wanted to watch the football with him, like we used too. I couldn't understand how he had been so cold and blunt when we broke up, but now… now he was being friendly and caring and the guy I had fallen in love with.

  The thought even crossed my mind for a second, maybe at max ten seconds, that was he trying to get back together with me. Then the doorbell rang and his new girlfriend, and my ex-best friend, showed up.

  Immediately Kyle changed. He went from friendly to defensive. I lasted ten minutes in the same room as them. Kayla was all over him. It made my skin crawl. I couldn’t cope seeing them. The way he kissed her back, the way he didn’t stop her from being all over him… I did notice though she was the one touching and kissing him. He didn’t start it.

  But he also didn’t stop it.

  I had escaped from the lounge room right before I lost my shit.

  Now I was in the shower. This was the first time I’d had a shower in this bathroom. I had always showered in Kyle’s ensuite.

  I was so lost in thought, basically plotting the death of Kayla, when the door swung open just as I turned the taps off.

  “Fucking hell, Kyle, why are you using my bathroom!”

  I spun around and saw Joshua.

  His eyes were scorching with anger, until he looked up and spotted me standing naked in the shower.

  The annoyed and angry expression on his face disappeared, replaced by shock.

  I was just as shocked to see him. He wasn’t wearing a top; he was bigger, more toned, and his body was covered in tattoos. Some of them I had seen before, others I hadn’t. His black hair was short. His sharp blue eyes were the same, but he looked older. And he didn’t seem as carefree as he used to.

  I think the only thing he did in prison was workout. My mouth fell open. As I gawked at him, his eyes ran up and down my body.

  I think a few minutes passed as we just looked at each other.

  He didn’t do the gentleman thing to do and look away, or turn around and leave me, instead he was the Joshua I always knew—a man that didn’t shy away from an awkward situation.

  His eyes snapped off me and he picked up and towel and through it my direction.

  It was an automatic reaction to catch it, even in my shock. The embarrassment slowly ticked in and I went bright red.

  He crossed his arms. “Well, you’ve certainly grown up, Soph.” A smirk on his face.

  I knew what he meant by that too. When he last saw me, I didn’t have breasts. I actually had plastic surgery to get the breasts I have now. Before that I was flat chested. I was skinner too. In fact, I had changed a lot since he last saw me.

  I wrapped the towel around me, still with flushed cheeks. I hoped he thought it was from the shower and not him seeing me naked. Only one person had seen me naked and that was Kyle.

  “Kyle didn’t mention you were staying. Why aren’t you in his shower?” Joshua didn’t leave, instead he stepped in and closed the door behind him.

  I’m not going to lie. I had always been attracted to Joshua. He was older and he had this rough exterior. In short, he was the bad boy. While Kyle was the golden boy, Joshua didn’t follow the rules. He didn’t give a fuck what others thought of him. He lived to piss them off.

  So right now, instead of doing the right thing, which was leaving, he leaned against the wall, his eyes on me.

  Hadn’t Kyle mentioned that he wasn’t with me anymore? That I was being forced to be here? How had Joshua not seen his brother making out with another girl downstairs?

  “Why aren’t you talking?” he asked, frowning. “Don’t tell me after all this time you’re finally scared of me.”

  I rolled my eyes. The reason I hadn’t answered was because I was trying to come up with a way to tell him Kyle and I weren’t together.

  “We broke up,” I finally said and held the towel tighter around me.

  He frowned. “No you haven’t. He is downstairs with your best friend.” He clicked his fingers, trying to remember something. “Kylie?”

  “Kayla,” I corrected him. “And that is his new girlfriend. So, not my friend.”

  His expression hardened. “He is dating your best friend?”

  “Yeah, pretty much.” That did sum it up. “I’m being forced to stay here while my parents are in Africa.”

  “He always was a dickhead,” he muttered. “Guess that means we’re sharing a bathroom.” A grin appeared on his face. “I thought Kyle was in here just to piss me off.”

  “Nope, just me.” I ran a hand over the fogged mirror. God, I looked drained. My flushed cheeks were the only thing giving me colour.

  “You still cheering?”

  I scoffed. “I’m the least cheerful person I know. So the answer to me being on the squad is no.”

  “But you were captain.”

  Yeah, I had been. The youngest captain in history. I had always gone to gymnastics, so I excelled in cheerleading. I only joined the squad cause Kyle pushed me too. I actually ran up the ranks and before I knew I was captain. But I wasn’t this year.

  “Like I said, I’m not a cheerful person and the thought of cheering depresses me.”

  I saw his eyes narrowed at me in the reflection of the mirror. “Does my brother have something to do with your sudden change?”

  “Nope.” Yes.

  “So how long you here for?”

  “I’m hoping just two months.” I turned around. “Are you going to let me get dressed?”

  His serious expression changed and he gave me the biggest smirk. “I’ve already seen everything, sweetheart.”

  I kept control over my reaction. I would not get embarrassed. He was challenging me, and the old Soph would have bolted from the room, taking my clothes and changing in the bedroom.

  But the new Soph didn’t give a fuck anymore. So I dropped the towel and his eyes went wide.

  “Fuck, I was kidding, Soph!”

  I shrugged and threaded my underwear on. I never thought a day would come that I would be naked in front of Joshua. But the new me just didn’t care what people thought. When you have nothing to risk, you find yourself doing things you never thought you were capable of.

  Like getting changed in front of your ex-boyfriends hot brother.

  “I guess I missed the memo where you were joking, Joshua.”

  His eyes ran up and down me and then finally locked with mine just as I was clipping my bra on.

  “Call me Josh. I hate Joshua.”

  I smiled just a little. “But all your family call you Joshua?”

  “Kyle does it cause he knows I hate it. And the parents do it to try and take higher ground.”

  I nodded my head. “I only get Sophia from the parents when I’ve pissed them off. I hate it.”

  He grinned and nodded his head. “I’ll make sure to always call you Sop
h then.”

  “And I’ll make sure to call you Josh.” I slipped on my dress and was going to close the zipper when I felt his hand move over mine and do it for me.

  His eyes locked with mine in the mirror—his sharp blue eyes slicing through my hazel eyes. I noticed something in them, something I hadn’t seen before, but I couldn’t explain what it was.

  He gave me a small smile and his fingers hovered on the zip.

  “I… um, won’t barge in next time,” he said, still with a small smile on his face. “I didn’t realise it was you.”

  “No big deal.” I think I had handled the situation well. I wasn’t nervous or freaking out. And I had just shown him my naked body.

  I turned around and noticed how close he was to me. I couldn’t step away from him; I was already up against the basin.

  My hands clamped down onto it and I tried my very best to not let my breathing become sharp. He towered over me and I just stared up at him.

  “I always thought Kyle didn’t deserve you.” His words were gentle. “Glad you ended it.”

  I frowned. “I didn’t. He broke up with me, on my birthday in front of everyone, and then told me he had been sleeping with my best friend for three months.”

  Josh looked down at me. “You’re joking, right? He wouldn’t have done that.”

  “If you don’t believe me, ask him. His new girlfriend is mighty proud of how it ended.” And I knew that for a fact on how she acted when he told me. She loved seeing him break my heart. Some best friend she was.

  “He’s a dick. You didn’t deserve that.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Doesn’t really matter now.”

  “Guess you’re hating it here?”

  “You could say that.” Watching Kayla all over Kyle was hard. Really hard. Especially when he had been nice to me all night and morning and then she shows up and he goes cold towards me. Treats me like I’m invisible.

  “Well, if you ever want to escape, I’m in the shed.” He took a step back. “Kyle is allergic to anything involving a car.”

  I grinned. “You’re right. He isn’t really hands on, like you.”

  “You saying I’m more skilled?” I couldn’t believe it, but Josh was flirting with me.

  “When it comes to cars, yes.”

  “Well, my mission is now to show you I’m more skilled at everything.”

  I still had a grin on my face. For the first time in days of being here, I felt relaxed. “Don’t get a big head now. I said you were skilled with cars, isn’t that enough?”

  He shook his head with a carefree grin. “I’ll prove to you, when it comes to everything, you are better off without Kyle.”

  My grin fell. “I realized I was better off without him when he showed his true colours.” And that was the truth. I may have been heart broken. But I knew he didn’t really love me. Because when you love someone, you do everything humanly possible for them not to get hurt. And never been the one to cause them pain.

  Josh stepped back away from me. “I hope he hasn’t ruined your faith in all guys.”

  I scoffed. “I won’t ever trust another guy. Not after him. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I won’t be giving anyone power like that over me again.”

  The power to cause me to become an emotionless zombie. To be a tearful mess. To squeeze my heart so tight that I feel physically sick. Kyle had damaged me and I still wasn’t healing. So the last thing I was going to do was fall for another male who would just do what Kyle did.

  I trusted Kyle and look where that got me.

  “Um, I’ll see you around, Josh.” I stepped away from him and picked up my towel. “And next time knock.” I gave him a smile before he could say anything else. The last thing I needed was his pity. I wasn’t some helpless case. I was putting myself together. It was just going to take time.

  So I left Josh standing there before he could say anything.

  Chapter Three

  KYLE

  “Fucking stop it,” I snapped at Kayla. “She’s not even here.” I was hoping that would get Kayla off me. Instead she kept to my side and kept her hand locked with mine. When she didn’t pull away, I got up, fucking sick of the show. “You’ve made your point now piss off.”

  “I thought we could watch a movie.” Kayla said, pretending to be innocent. “Come on, Kyle, calm down.”

  “You’ve come. You’ve made your point, now fuck off, Kayla.”

  “You know what, I don’t think I have made my point because you are still clinging to the chance she is going to take you back!” Kayla got up abruptly. “She still looks at you like you are hers.”

  “I am hers!” I would always be Sophia’s. She was my other half. I never wanted to hurt her. I never wanted to not be by her side. So right now I was suffering.

  “No. You are mine,” Kayla put down a fake claim on me again.

  She could say it over and over. She could lay claim on me anyway she wanted. It didn’t change the fact that my heart, every single piece of me, belonged to Sophia.

  “You better start living up to the expectations, Kyle, because I’m not getting the thrill out of blacking mailing you as I was at the beginning.”

  “How’s it my fault you are getting sick of your own game!”

  One night. I had screwed up one night. And she just so happened to be there. I regretted having that line of ice, more now than when Kayla first approached me.

  She had a picture of me doing that line. And if you looked at the environment around me, you would think I was a regular user. But I wasn’t. It was my first time. And I should have taken everyone’s warning when it came to drugs.

  I shouldn’t have done it. My one night of letting go had cost me everything. My dad was running for Mayor, and if that photo of me got out he wouldn’t have a chance in winning. Kayla knew.

  Fuck, she was counting on me taking her offer, knowing I wouldn’t want my Dad’s career to suffer because of my mistake. My one night of letting go—of forgetting the pressures that surrounded my life.

  One night, that was it.

  And it cost me the woman I love.

  At first I didn’t think Kayla was serious when she approached me. But she meant it when she said she wanted me to end it with Soph.

  I had delayed it three months.

  But when Soph’s birthday came around, Kayla said it was now or the picture was going to the press.

  I never wanted to hurt Soph. I had promised her I would never hurt her. And instead of just hurting her, I betrayed her trust, broke her heart, and shattered our future together.

  I knew that, one of these days, the pain in Soph’s eyes when she looked at me would turn to hate, and as soon as it did, I would never get her back. I would never be able to get that hate out of her eyes or heart.

  I knew it was coming. I shouldn’t feel joy when I saw the pain in her eyes. But I was thankful to see it because it meant she still felt something towards me.

  I didn’t want her to suffer, but I didn’t want her to let go of me completely.

  Kayla was right when she said I was clinging to the chance of getting Soph back. I was. I was clinging to every chance. I was hoping when the election ended that I could tell Soph the truth and hope to God that she takes me back.

  Soph

  I rolled over. Another sleepless night. I couldn’t get comfortable. I couldn’t stop the racing thoughts. I couldn’t turn the volume down. Always going over the same thing… How did I not notice Kyle was in love with someone else?

  How could he do that to me?

  How could he go from loving me to breaking my heart?

  I sighed, frustrated. It didn’t matter how many hours I wasted thinking about him, trying to come up with a reason he did what he did.

  It didn’t matter because, at the end of the day, why he did what he did was beyond me.

  I still couldn’t explain why he wanted to hurt me so badly by picking Kayla.

  I guess you don’t pick who you fall in love with. I sure as hell di
dn’t mean to fall in love with Kyle. I didn’t pick him. My heart did.

  And now… now I was suffering because of it.

  I lit up my phone. Just after two in the morning. It was now a Saturday and I had dinner with one of Dad’s friends tonight. It was meant to be a whole family dinner with him—Jeff always gave me the creeps—so I wasn’t looking forward to a one on one dinner with him.

  I picked up on the fact he would always make an effort to sit next to me. He would always touch me, just slightly, so not to come across like he was, and enough for me to explain it away as an accident.

  But those “accidents” happened every time he saw me.

  JOSH

  I lit up a cigarette while staring at the motor. Whose idea was it to replace the motor? Mine. Seemed like a good idea at the time taking this heap of shit and turning it into a fine muscle car. I had more time on my hands than anything else. Now I was questioning my sanity.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket. I got it out automatically, not taking my eyes off the motor. I inhaled on the cigarette sharply and glanced at my phone. Then did a double take.

  Soph’s name was on my screen. How did she know I still had this number? More importantly, why would she be messaging me?

  I hadn’t seen her since I walked in on her in the bathroom. I smirked just remembering. She really had grown up. Fuck. It wasn’t just her body that made me see she had grown up. She was way more confident now. I had only been with her for a few minutes and when she didn’t bolt from the awkward situation I knew she had really matured.

  I unlocked my phone and her message opened.

  Help

  I frowned. What did she mean by that? Was that message for someone else? Something told me it was meant for me. Well, if she wanted help, she would have to tell me what with and where.

  Where r u? I sent back and took the cigarette from my lips.

  Diamond Carat.

  Why would she be at that restaurant? It was for the rich. I guess she was rich, well, her family was. Still, Soph never flashed money around. When it came down to it, Soph never rubbed in other people’s face that her parents earned more than someone’s yearly wage in a month.