Chapter 21.

**Kevin’s POV.**

I could not get Tessa’s and Gabriel’s conversation out of my head, I did not mean to eavesdrop on them but when Tessa said she had something to do after our breakfast, I knew something was wrong and I had heard every single word of it.

Gabriel was also after Tessa- now, Alex would’ve been an easy competition but Gabriel, Gabriel was perfect in everyone’s eyes and I would not be shocked if she was one of his victims. He was the perfect son, the perfect child, perfect business man, perfect heir and perfect person- it was not a surprise that our father valued him more than Alex and I.

All I could do was sit in my room while hoping and praying to whoever was up there that Tessa would not disappoint me like Gabriel had asked her to. I really liked her and somehow, she was the first ever girl that I could actually say I had feelings for, she breaking my heart could ruin me for good.

Shortly, a knock on my door brought me out of my thoughts and I didn’t have to be a wizard to know who it was. With my fingers crossed, I stood up from my bed and walked to the door, pulling it open slowly. Of course, I was in no shock that it was Tessa and even with the look on her face, I could tell that something was wrong. Her eyes were zoned out and her pink pouty lips were twisted up in a frown, “Tessa?”, I called to grab her attention- it was obvious that she wasn’t with me.

Her eyes suddenly snapped up to look at me, her blue eyes were glistened with an emotion I couldn’t decipher- I was a musician and business man, not a fucking psychologist, “Hey”, her voice came out small- like a whisper,

“Is anything the matter?”,

“No, I just came to tell you that I would have to take a raincheck for Saturday”, it felt as if a sword was pierced directly into my heart- was that what heartbreak felt like?

“Is that so?”, was all I could say, hoping she would give me a valid reason why she had decided to ditch me on Saturday- I thought that maybe, just maybe she would actually say the truth but as it turned out, Tessa was exactly like all the other girls, she was no different from the girls who ruined guys for the other girls,

“Yes, I am sorry but my mum…”,

“Would you cut the bullshit?”, I cut her off, “Do not even think about lying to me Tessa, I heard your conversation with Gabriel”, before I knew it, she burst into tears- as I said, she was just like all the other girls out there, crying to make me feel sorry for her and the irritating part of it all was that I was tempted to give her a hug and tell her that everything was going to be okay even though it clearly wasn’t.

“I am so sorry”, she cried, “I really do not want to hurt you but I do not think there would ever be anything genuine or real between us other than friendship”, I narrowed my eyes at her,

“What the fuck does that mean?”, my voice came out shrill and unmanly but I could not bother to care about that at the moment,

“You are my celebrity crush”, she let out a tearful laugh, “You are a fantasy to me, I love you- I always had and that is my problem; it seems so surreal and unimaginable”.

“Can you fucking hear yourself talking?”, I really wanted to know if she assumed that she was making any sense,

“I think so”, she muttered. To me, she sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince me, “I know so”, this time, she sounded sure of herself. “I know you do not understand what I am saying right now but I know you would someday when you find a girl and realize that you would’ve never been happy with me”,

“Why aren’t you giving me a choice in this?”, I took a step closer to her with the hope of convincing her to stay with me instead of ending a relationship that hadn’t even started,

“Because your choice will be different”, she reached her hand up and placed it on my cheek, “And I love you, I do not want to see you get hurt and I do not want you to hate me”, I grabbed her hand and pushed it away from my face as I took a step back,

“Well, it is already too late for that, I hate you Tessa, more than anything on earth”, I slammed the door in her face in anger when I realized that I did not mean any of those words I had said to her. I still loved her- a lot and nothing could ever change the way that I felt for her.

Anger pumped through my veins and before I could stop myself, my fist went through the wall, creating a large dent in it. Even though I was always regarded to as a goofy, playful and carefree person, I was also very prone to violence. Yes, I got angry easily and could fight my way through anything- it was a side that I had successfully managed to hide from Tessa but even with that, she still was not happy with me.

It made me question whether she thought that she could actually be happy with a know it all perfectionist like my step-brother, Gabriel O’Connell. He was an arrogant jerk face who didn’t deserve her or any sort of happiness, after all, he made it his life goal to make other people’s life a living hell. That would definitely turn Tessa off- she would not be able to bear his snarky, conceited and self-centered attitude, it was something everyone knew Gabriel could not hide- he was way too ahead of himself and would not even realize when he was doing it.

I gave Tessa a week, knowing for sure that she would come back to me when Gabriel eventually screws her over or pisses her off beyond her limits. He could never be a good boyfriend to Tessa and neither could Alex, I was the only one capable of treating her right out of the three of us. Alex had his head stuck deep in the clouds and chased every creature that had a hole while Gabriel was too full of himself to care about or care for anyone else- they were both dicks honestly.