Atonement

{Fifteen} Strange Coincidence

“Passion or coincidence/Once prompted you to say/"Pride will tear us both apart"/Well now pride's gone out the window/Cross the rooftops/Run away/Left me in the vacuum of my heart”

Ordinary World,

-Duran Duran

    I would never forgive Russ for interrupting whatever it was Cap had been about to say. That was my one and only shot; I was sure of it. Whatever he’d been about to say was lost forever. I could see it in his eyes. The second he heard Russ’s angry cry, he put me down in a resigned sort of way and kept his eyes only on my brother. But from his profile, I could see the light leave his eyes. We were done. Forever. Because of that reason I refused to be embarrassed or ashamed. No; I was pissed as hell.

  Russ’s hazel eyes switched from Cap to me and back again. He couldn’t decide who he was more furious with. After the initial shock of seeing his sister pressed between a wall and a man wore off, I would be willing to bet he’d be more pissed at me. Because I knew better.

  “I can’t believe you,” he ground out finally. I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or Cap.

  Just to make the entire night unbearably bizarre, Cap started, “Russell, I apologize. This went way farther than I ever meant for it to go.”

  I stared at Cap with my jaw hanging open.

  “You’re damn right it did!” Russ fumed. His fists were clenched so tightly they were white. “Damnit, I trusted you! I explained to you exactly why you had to leave her alone! You said you understood!”

  The muscle in Cap’s jaw clenched slightly. He would only apologize once. I could see he was just going to stand there and take everything Russ threw at him because for all that Cap was he still believed in not deflowering his friend’s sister. And I did believe they were friends in some way.

  I tried to keep that in mind—that guys and gals just weren’t the same in these times—and not get offended, but a part of me stung that Cap—Cap!—had listened to Russ’s insistence on staying away from me.

  Wait.

  Russ told him to stay away from me.

  What did that mean for me and Cap? Did that mean Cap wanted more from me than just my body and he’d only lied on behalf of Russ?

  My head hurt—from the alcohol and my racing thoughts. If it was true—and that was a serious if—that Cap hadn’t meant everything he’d said to me, then Russ had said something seriously convincing to him. Or Cap just hadn’t cared for me enough to ignore Russ.

  But wait….hadn’t he just a few minutes ago ignored Russ by, in fact, almost “going too far” with me?