Chapter 8
R en
This was nice. Just hanging out with Ivy and Chantry to catch up was definitely needed.
Not that I didn’t love spending time with Myles, but sitting in my fuzzy P-jays with my hair up in a messy bun, not worrying if I had something on my face or if I said something stupid was perfect after a long week.
“No wonder Vicky loves this corner room. It has way more space,” Ivy said before taking a bite of pizza.
I looked around the room that I wished had a wall down the center and a lockable door to keep the Queen Bee on her side.
For me, it felt like it would never be big enough.
Hell, the world wasn’t big enough. “And you have the better view. I hate how our windows look out toward the forest. It’s super creepy at night. ”
“It is a great view, but I’ll happily trade you rooms if you want?” Chantry laughed as Ivy shook her head, eyes wide with horror.
“I love your butt, but I don’t love you that much,” she said, making us all smile.
“How are things going with the Queen,” Ivy asked and then looked over her shoulder like Vicky was going to somehow appear from the shadows.
She dropped her voice. “Wait, before you answer, are you sure she doesn’t have a nanny cam?
” I glanced over at Vicky’s desk. She definitely didn’t over Christmas, but since the shoe debacle, anything was possible.
Holding up my finger, I switched the playlist to one that was more upbeat and turned up the volume. “There, problem solved,” I said and smiled. “Honestly, she’s been quiet and…nice is too strong of a word, but maybe less miserable.”
“Huh, that’s weird. I wouldn’t trust it,” Chantry said.
“Maybe it’s cause Nash is keeping her kitty clean,” Ivy said, and Chantry spit her drink back in the glass.
“Yuck, thanks for the visual,” Chantry said.
I smiled at the joke, but the image of walking in on them having sex crossed my mind, and it irked me. Why it irked me was the issue I was grappling with, and I still didn’t have an answer. “What about you,” Ivy asked.
“What about me? I have nothing going on with Nash,” I quickly defended myself. They looked at one another and then back at me. I swallowed the mouthful of pizza that felt like a giant lump of guilt. Dammit Nash.
“Well, I wasn’t talking about you and Nash, but now I’m curious. Do you have something going on with the King of Wayward?” Ivy and Chantry leaned in closer. “You said he defended you with Axel, but is there more you’re not spilling?”
The once comfortable P-jays now felt like they were burning against my skin. “No, of course not. Not how you mean anyway.”
“Oh, do tell,” Ivy squealed. “Anything that will piss off the Queen, I’m very invested in.” I laughed at the look on her face.
“I just mean, it’s weird. Nash is all, ‘I’m going to bully the shit out of you and cut out the crotch of your underwear,’ and then he’s defending me with Axel.
I just don’t get him, but whatever it is, I wish it would stop.
” A little voice whispered in my ear that I was lying to myself and of course the voice sounded like Nash.
“So, not a single part of you enjoys the King’s attention?”
I glanced at Vicky’s side of the room and smiled.
“Well, I’d be lying if I said that annoying Vicky isn’t fun.
” We all laughed. “It’s your turn, Chantry.
” I pointed to the small pile of dice, hoping to change the topic.
I’d never seen anything more than a six-sided dice before, so when they pulled out the twelve and twenty-sided, I knew I was in trouble.
It had been a really long time since I'd played any game, and this Dungeons and Dragons was like learning a game, a textbook, and immersing myself in a fantasy world all at the same time.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of the question.” Ivy crossed her arms and somehow managed to pull off a stern look despite the adorable grin.
“If you mean, have Myles and me…you know…then no, not yet.” I looked away from the girls and picked up my pizza to take a bite.
“Do you not want to?”
“Can we talk about anything other than this topic?” I would’ve settled on politics. I was that desperate not to talk about sex, and that said a lot. I hated politics.
“Okay, fine, but don’t you worry,” Ivy asked, her eyes filled with concern. I flicked my eyes from one girl to the next and didn’t know what she meant.
“Worried about what?”
Ivy shrugged. “It’s Friday night, and he’s out with the guys. You can’t leave and have no real idea what he’s doing. I admit that Myles seems different with you, but…this is still Myles McCoy, the manwhore. If he's not getting it from you, then where is he getting it from?”
My smile dropped as the happy little butterflies that had been soaring around in my chest since saying yes to Myles all fell to the ground.
Would he do that? I hadn’t even thought of it until Ivy said the words.
He insisted that he was fine waiting until I was ready, but was this why?
Was he out with someone else? No, I couldn’t think like that.
If I did, I’d end up down a rabbit hole and be as paranoid as Vicky.
Then again, Nash was messing around on Vicky.
Ivy reached out and grabbed my arm. “Hey, hey, I’m sorry. I never should’ve said anything. Myles has never given anyone attention like you before. He holds your hand in front of everyone, and the way he looks at you…shit girl, I’m so sorry. Forget it. I’m just the worrying type.”
“Yeah, don’t worry, I’m sure he’s just hanging with the guys like he said,” Chantry offered, but my meal was officially ruined.
I plastered a smile on my face and nodded that I was good, but the seed of doubt had been planted.
Shit, this relationship stuff was a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. Things were so much simpler alone.
B lake
This area looked like it could be the start of a horror movie at night.
The snow was still clinging to the trees, but it had warmed up just enough that a heavy fog had rolled in and made them look like ghostly shadows.
There was no moon or stars, and the headlights barely showed that we were still traveling on our side of the road.
I’d insisted on driving tonight, but now I was regretting that we hadn’t taken Myles’s truck instead. If a deer or bear or anything else stepped out, I wouldn’t see it, and in the best-case scenario, my car would be totaled. Worst case, we’d be dead.
“Fuck is it ever nasty,” Myles said. He looked over at me, and I could feel his eyes on the side of my head, but I wouldn’t look his way.
“Are ya okay, man?” I was really starting to hate that question.
It seemed that was all anyone had asked me lately.
Had I sprouted a sign over my head during Christmas that announced I was a fucked up mess? “Ya just seem off.”
Plastering a smile on my face, I scoffed. “Yeah, of course. The roads are crap, and I don’t want to kill us,” I said, but Myles wouldn’t stop staring, and I fidgeted in my seat.
“Alright.”
“How are you and Ren,” I asked, not sure why I bothered when I knew they were joined at the hip. Myles had said he wasn’t going to the party at Sacred Heart this weekend, and I had to check the sky for an eclipse. Myles never turned down a party.
“Great, she’s fuckin’ everythin’, ya know?
” A stupid, wistful smile pulled at his lips as his eyes glassed over.
What the fuck? I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything of the sort, and the spark of jealousy that had started the first day of school had grown a little larger and burned brighter whenever I watched their sickeningly sweet looks and kisses.
I’d never been jealous of Myles or any of his conquests. I really didn’t like this feeling.
We pulled off the road, and I knew that the other guys were here with the number of tracks in the long, twisty driveway.
The glow of the lights in the cottage’s windows was as spooky as the surrounding trees and set my teeth on edge.
Parking, I stepped out of the car and rolled out my shoulders as my eyes searched the darkness.
“Ya comin?” Myles was already standing on the top step.
Stuffing my hands in my jacket pocket, I followed behind him.
Every stride was like a weight tied to my leg.
It was hard to believe that, at one point, I wanted to grow up faster so that I could take a more prominent role in our family business.
Now, every night led to another day that would bring me closer to eighteen. “Are ya sure yer good?”
Lifting my head, I glared at Myles. “Yes, and stop fucking asking me,” I snapped and marched past him inside.
“Fuck, sorry.”
No one was on the main level, and I couldn’t believe that we had another shipment already, but that was the only time we ever went into the basement. Just wanting this done and over with, I stomped down the stairs and could hear the voices of the others talking.
Pulling off my jacket, I tossed it down as I walked into the room and flopped down in one of the chairs. Nash closed the door as soon as Myles stepped inside, and the room fell quiet. There was a tension in the air that made me edgy, and my skin crawled.
“What’s this about,” I asked while the room remained silent.
Nash leaned against the door and rubbed at his bottom lip with his thumb. “We have an issue,” he said. “Liam?”
Liam leaned forward on his arms, and as he looked around the room, my heart pounded a little harder. What the hell was this about? I wanted to stand up and yell, ‘Fucking say it already.’
“In the last six months, we have been short in sales. More specifically, we are short in product.” My pulse leaped into my throat, and I forced myself not to move or react.
“And you think someone is stealing from us,” Theo asked.