Beautiful Oblivion (Maddox Brothers #1)(55)
Author: Jamie McGuire

I could hear muffled voices right outside the door, and then it blew open, smacking against the wall.

Raegan’s cheeks were streaked with mascara, and she had on the most beautiful pink cocktail dress I’d ever seen.

“You don’t get it!” she yelled. “You can’t bring me to a date party and then leave me alone all night so you can drink with your frat brothers at the keg!”

Brazil slammed the door shut. “You could have been over there with me, but you were hell-bent on pouting all damn night!”

Trenton froze, his back to Raegan and Brazil. I was glad, because his head was obscuring their view of my chest.

Raegan and Brazil stared at us for a few seconds, and then Raegan began to cry and ran to her room. Brazil followed her down the hall, but patted Trenton on his bare shoulder first.

Trenton sighed, lowering me to my feet. He reached over the love seat to get my shirt while I put on my bra. Raegan and Brazil were still yelling while we both put on our shirts. I didn’t want this drama to be the backdrop to our first time together, and I could tell that Trenton didn’t, either.

“Sorry,” I said.

Trenton chuckled. “Baby, every second of what just happened was a good time. You have nothing to apologize for.”

Raegan’s bedroom door slammed, and as Raegan yelled, “Where are you going?” Brazil was stomping around the corner. She ran around him and stood between him and the door. “You’re not leaving!”

“I’m not listening to you bitch at me all night!”

“If you would just listen! Why don’t you hear what I’m trying to tell you? We can make this work if we just—”

“You don’t want me to listen! You want me to obey! There were other people at that party besides you, Ray! When will you get it through your head that you don’t f**king own me?”

“That’s not what I want, I—”

“Move away from the door!” he yelled.

I frowned. “Brazil, don’t yell at her like that. You guys have been drinking—”

Brazil flipped around, angrier than I’d ever seen him. “I don’t need you telling me what to do either, Cami!”

Trenton took a step forward, and I put my hand on his shoulder. “I’m not telling you what to do,” I said.

Brazil pointed all four fingers and a thumb at Raegan. “She’s f**king yelling at me. That’s okay, I guess? You women are all the f**king same! We’re always the bad guys!”

“No one said you were the bad guy, Jason, just calm down,” I said.

“I did! He’s the f**king bad guy!” Raegan snapped.

“Ray—” I warned.

“Oh, I’m the bad guy?” Brazil said, touching his chest with both hands. “I’m not the one who’s half naked with Trenton over here, when she was in your front yard kissing her ex last night!”

Raegan gasped, and I froze. Brazil seemed to be just as surprised that he had said it as the rest of us.

Trenton shifted nervously, and then he narrowed his eyes at Brazil. “That’s not f**kin’ funny, dude.”

Brazil blanched. His anger had vanished, replaced with regret.

Trenton looked to me. “He’s full of shit, right?”

“Christ, Cami, I’m sorry,” Brazil said. “I feel like such a prick right now.”

Raegan pushed him. “That’s because you are a prick!” She moved to the side. “My bad! Get the f**k out!”

Trenton didn’t take his eyes off of me. Raegan slammed the door, and then approached Trenton and me. Her anger was gone, but her bloodshot eyes and smeared mascara made her look like a psychotic prom queen.

“I heard you pull up, but you didn’t come in. So I looked out the window, and saw . . . what I saw. I mentioned it to Brazil,” she admitted, looking down at the floor. “I’m sorry.”

Trenton laughed once, his face screwing into disgust. “Damn, Raegan. You’re sorry I found out? That’s just great.”

Raegan tilted her head, determined to set things right. “Trent, what I saw was T.J. begging for Cami back. But she turned him down. So he . . . he kissed her good-bye. It wasn’t even a kiss kiss,” she said, shrugging as she shook her head. “It was kind of on her cheek.”

“I got this, Ray. I don’t need your help,” I said.

She touched my shoulder. Her face was blotchy, and her mascara was smeared all around her eyes and down her cheeks. She looked pitiful. “I’m so sorry. I’m . . .”

I glared at her, and her shoulders fell. She nodded, and then walked to her room.

Trenton was looking at me from the corner of his eyes, clearly trying to rein in his temper.

“Did you hear her?” I asked.

He turned his hat forward, and pulled it low over his eyes. “Yeah.” He was trembling.

“I wasn’t kissing my ex in Raegan’s yard. That’s not what it was, so you can just get that image out of your head.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, his voice strained.

I held my hands out to the side. “There was nothing to tell.”

“Someone else had their motherfucking lips on you. That’s pretty goddamn pertinent, Camille.”

I cringed. “Don’t call me Camille when you’re pissed. You sound like Colin. Or my father.”

Trenton’s eyes lit with anger. “Don’t compare me to them. That’s not fair.”

I crossed my arms.

“How did he know you were over there? Are you still talking to him?” he asked.

“I don’t know how he knew. I asked the same thing. He wouldn’t tell me.”

He began to pace back and forth, from the front door to the beginning of the hallway. He would readjust his hat, rub the back of his neck, and stop for a moment to put his hands on his hips, his jaws working under the skin, and then he’d start all over again.

“Trenton, stop.”

He held up one index finger. I wasn’t sure if he was working himself up or trying to stay calm. He stopped, and then took a few steps toward me. “Where does he live?”

I rolled my eyes. “In California, Trent. What are you going to do? Get on a plane?”

“Maybe!” he screamed. His whole body tensed and shook when he yelled. The veins in his neck and forehead rose to the surface.

I didn’t flinch, but Trenton stumbled back. The loss of his temper surprised him.

“Feel better?” I asked.