Our Broken Pieces

Chapter 8

Gage~

I wanted to beat Dillon Mills until an ambulance had to be called to carry his body out of the party. He dared to touch Mystic, and the tightrope that I'd been balancing for the past few years had snapped, and there was no stopping what I'd done.

I knew that there were plenty of guys at school that would love to date Mystic, but I hadn't ever witnessed someone actually hitting on her, or else I would have outed us sooner. My control where Mystic was concerned was limited to not attacking her in the hallways at school, but that was about it. Once I'd found out what it felt like to be inside her, I'd begun to stay away from her as much as I could in public. It was only when my psyche threatened to snap-or my mother was out of town-that I'd seek her out, so that I could use her body to exorcise my demons.

That's why Chance dating Margot had been a bad idea, and that's why coming to this party had been a very bad fucking idea. I'd known that there was a chance that some guy would want to dance or hang out with Mystic, and I had always known that I wasn't strong enough to withstand witnessing something like that.

Mystic was special.

Mystic was the only thing that kept me from killing someone-possibly my dad-and she made it possible for me to function somewhat normally. If it weren't for Mystic, I wouldn't be able to hold onto my façade, and the whole world would see just how fucked-up I really was. She reined in the madness, but Dillon Mills just unleashed it unknowingly.

"What?"

"Girlfriend?"

"What the fuck?

I ignored Margot's question of clarification and Chance's shocked utterance as I kept looking at Dillon. "I said don't ever touch my girlfriend again, Mills," I repeated.

Dillon looked over at Mystic, who was silently standing next to me, my hand still holding her wrist captive. "What the hell is he talking about, Mystic?"

"Yeah, Mys," Margot added. "What's he talking about?"

Chance kept his mouth shut but that was probably out of loyalty. Even though he was also shocked, he wasn't going to question me when I was obviously bumping dicks with Dillon in a bid for Mystic. Not that Dillon even had a horse in this race, but Chance was just being cautious.

Dillon straightened his back the second that he saw me pull up all my six-foot-two-inches. He knew that he couldn't beat me, but he didn't want to look like a pussy in front of Mystic, especially if he was trying to fuck her. Little did he know that guys like him didn't do it for her.

I also didn't let Mystic speak. A dickhead move? Yeah. Definitely a controlling one. Still, if I knew Mystic-and I did-her pussy was soaking wet right now because of it.

"How many times do I gotta fucking say it, Mills?" I snarled as I stepped in front of Mystic, my arm behind me with my hand still holding her wrist. "Mystic's my girlfriend."

He crossed his arms over his chest as he scoffed, "Since when? Five seconds ago?"

I knew that I was fucking shit up, and I knew that there was a lot of shit that I was going to have to explain to Chance, but that would have to wait. I also knew that Margot was going to demand an explanation from Mystic, but it couldn't be helped.

He shouldn't have fucking touched her.

I took a step forward until we were within a foot of each other. "Since we were fucking fourteen-years-old, Mills," I announced. "Since our freshman year."

I could hear a shocked gasp, and I knew that it belonged to Margot. I knew it belonged to her because I knew that Mystic was probably retreating into herself from what I'd just done. I had revealed our secret, and there was no going back now.

"Bullshit," he replied. "There's no fucking way you've been dating Mystic for four years."

"You don't think so?" I taunted.

Then Dillon made things worse when he said, "I noticed Mystic freshman year, and she never had you around her. I've also had a thing for her for a while, so believe me when I tell you that I've been watching her and taking notice of her, and I have never seen you with her."

He was right, of course. It was true that we'd never engaged in public. However, I was also right. Mystic Anderson was my girlfriend. In fact, she was a lot more than just my girlfriend.

She was my fucking everything.

I stepped aside, then let Mystic have the floor. By now, a few people had gathered around to witness the showdown and possible fight between me and Mills, but I didn't give a fuck. The cat was out of the bag, and I needed Mystic to confirm everything that I'd just said, or else I was going to lose my shit on Dillon and take the rest of my issues out on Mystic.

Now, if she didn't beg for it so much, I might feel bad about it. However, she did. She fucking loved it, and her depravity fed my depravity like a vicious unending cycle.

"Mystic," I said, letting her know this was her show now.

So, doing what she did best-calming the beast in me-she pulled her wrist from my hold, but then placed her hand in my hand, lacing her fingers through mine. She gave me a small squeeze before looking up at Dillon and saying, "Gage is my boyfriend, Dillon. We...we just...uh, cherish our privacy."

Dillon's eyes flew back and forth between me and Mystic. "Bullshit," he repeated his disbelief.

"Yeah, well, even if you don't believe us, it's my hand that she's holding now," I pointed out. His face turned red, and he knew the truth of that for what it was. "I don't have an issue with you now, Mills. However, if you don't stay away from Mystic, I will."

The crowd was growing, and so Dillon did the only thing that he could do; he tried to save face. "Whatever, dude. I didn't know." He shrugged his shoulder, acting nonchalantly. "There's plenty of other skirts here." With that, he walked off, leaving me and Mystic to face the music.

Once the crowd dispersed, Margot was the first to speak. "Are you fucking kidding me, Mystic?" She looked hurt and upset. "How could you not...not tell me that...I thought we were friends."

Mystic let go of my hand, then stepped towards Margot in an attempt for privacy. "I...I'm sorry, Margot," she sputtered. "It's not...I didn't mean..."

"You lied to me," Margot cried out, not letting up.

"What's going on, man?" Chance asked, finally saying something.

I looked over at my best friend. "It's just like Mystic said. We wanted to maintain our privacy."

Chance looked bewildered. "Privacy?" He ran his hand through his hair, looking flustered. "Privacy against what, for Christ's sakes?" Then his head reared back in astonishment. "Were...are you ashamed of her?"

The beast in me roared, but I was still conscious enough to realize that I was talking to my best friend. "I'm only going to say this once, Chance," I snapped. "When I look at Mystic, I see nothing but pure fucking perfection-"

"Gage-"

"I am not, nor have I ever been ashamed of her," I bit out, ignoring Mystic.

"Then why keep it a secret?" Margot challenged.

I was about to answer that we'd kept it a secret because we didn't need anyone getting all up in our business, trying to sabotage what we had. However, Mystic answered instead, and her answer was very different from the one that I'd had in my mind.

"Be...because Gage is the Washington High's quarterback," she replied. "He's the most popular guy in school. He's smart, funny, cool..." Mystic let out a pathetic little chuckle when she looked up at me. "He looks like that." She turned back to Margot. "Why would I want people knowing that he was dating me? They would have torn me to shreds."