Read Online Imprisoned Match [Ménage.com 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Peyton Elizabeth - Free Book Online Page A

wondered if she was afraid he would stop telling his story.
    “It was a Saturday night, but we’d been partying all day. I was taking a girl upstairs when we heard a bunch of commotion by the front door. Turned out to be a rival football team that had heard we were hosting an end-of-the-season bash. Obviously, things got out of hand quickly and a couple fights broke out. The campus police showed up and cleared everyone out.”
    Anna looked at him quizzically. He knew she was wondering how this could lead to a murder charge. His throat was dry and he realized he’d spoken more in the last ten minutes than he had in months. Unscrewing the cap to his water bottle, Mitch chugged half of it in one swallow. While putting the white cover back on, Mitch finished his story.
    “We noticed that our trophy from winning the playoffs was missing, so a few of us decided to go get it back. We shouldn’t have been driving that night, let alone that far. It was the worst decision of my life. A bunch of the players from the other college lived off campus in an apartment complex, so we rode by there first. They were always boasting about their digs, so we knew exactly where it was. Sure enough, the parking lot was full of their vehicles and they were still there, our trophy sitting on top of a car. We pulled in, told them we were taking it back. No one argued with us. We got the trophy and started back to the car when they jumped us.” Mitch stopped and looked over toward the bed. Her nonjudgmental stare prompted him to continue. “I had height as an advantage, and the player that attacked me was smaller and didn’t have the meat of a linebacker. I turned and rushed him, hitting him directly in the middle. Neither one of us realized how close we were to the sidewalk, not that it really would have mattered. He lost his balance and flew backward, hitting the back of his head on the curb.”
    Mitch stopped talking, letting that bit of the story sink in. He closed his eyes at the nausea that, to this day, hit his stomach every time he remembered the sound of that boy’s skull connecting with the cement. He recalled how everyone had seemed to stop what they were doing and stare in horror. His breathing had caught in his throat and his heart stopped beating, along with that boy’s—only his resumed to live a life of regret.
    “Life doesn’t deal everyone a fair hand,” Anna said, her voice closer than he remembered. Opening his eyes, Mitch found that she was on her knees in front of him. He was surprised he didn’t see pity written all over her face, which is what he’d become accustomed to. “You were a young man that a tragic event happened to, but that doesn’t make you a murderer.”
    “My choices back then made me a murderer.” Mitch knew his voice came out as a growl, needing her to understand why Elliott didn’t deserve Mitch just fucking her and ruining his brother’s chance at happiness. “If Elliott had been there, he would have made a different decision. He’s a better man than I’ll ever be.”
    “And what about the boy who died?” Anna asked, her blue eyes still clear of blame. How could she not see the truth laid out in front of her? “Was it not his choice to be a part of stealing an insignificant trophy? Was it not his choice to jump you from behind?”
    “Was it his choice to die that night?” Mitch roared, the anger and resentment for the events that occurred bubbling to the surface.
    “Mitch, we all make decisions, and some of them alter the course of our lives. But it’s our reactions to them that make us the people we are. Would Elliott have chosen not to go after them that night? Maybe. Does it really matter?”
    “He deserves to find love and not be held back by me.”
    “You’re holding yourself back,” Anna said, leaning her body into his. His anger started to slip away under her tender hands, which were sliding up his abdomen. When her fingers reached his face, she used her palms to cup his