Kiss My Sass [Books 1 & 2]

[book 2] chapter thirty: nothing but the truth

THE DAYS BLURRED by, each as miserable and uneventful as the last. I kept to myself and only left the house when I had to go to the office, otherwise, my days were spent cooped up in my bedroom. Niko and Vanessa took care of the wedding planning details without a complaint, Brenton and Alex stayed out of my hair, Amber was giving me space, and Holden...

Well, Holden wasn't really speaking to me, not that I blamed him. It was clear there were some unresolved feelings between us, and if I were in his shoes I'd be pretty pissed too if the person I liked was finally single and still wouldn't give me a chance.

It wasn't that I didn't want to be with him, although I wasn't sure if I wanted to either. With everything going on I hadn't had the opportunity to stop and think about if I wanted to be with Holden. After the way James shattered my heart and left me with the broken pieces, I wasn't sure if I'd ever want to be in a relationship again.

I was laying in my bed, cocooned in blankets, doing absolutely nothing. I had begged Mom to give me more work to do, but I guess she didn't think I could handle it given my current state, so she assigned me easy and boring tasks like triaging the emails in the inbox.

I had spent the last three days in my bed, not having showered, changed my clothes, or eaten anything more than the snacks I found inside my desk. I knew I'd have to get up and face the world eventually, but today did not feel like that day. But, as I was beginning to learn, the world often opted to do the opposite of what I wanted.

My self-pity day was rudely interrupted when someone rang the front doorbell. I assumed one of my brothers would have answered the door, but the ringing continued. After a few minutes of endless ringing, I yelled, "Somebody answer the damn door!"

The ringing immediately stopped.

This was followed by the sound of yelling downstairs, but I just tuned it out. Surprisingly, this was a common occurrence after Mom started dating Adam. Neighbours would come to our door and demand to know when Adam would be at our house. The people of Stone Creek didn't appear to love cops, and the idea of one frequenting our street quite often didn't sit well with many. Hell, I could barely digest the thought myself.

A gentle knock on my door interrupted my thoughts. My brothers knew better than to interact with me. I had a large sign taped to my door that said DO NOT ENTER in big, bold letters.

"Read the sign," I yelled, but the knocking continued.

"Can I come in?" a voice that did not belong to my brothers said.

When my doorknob turned, I wriggled out of my self-made cocoon, ready to give my lying, cheating ex a piece of my mind... and my fist. The Oscar-winning speech I had mentally prepared died in my throat when he entered my bedroom. I gasped, and it wasn't because I had forgotten just how handsome he was in person — unfortunately, that was something I could never forget. Instead, I gasped when I saw his bruised cheek and busted lip.