Chapter 25
twenty-five
Grayson Mercer
Clean up
It was pretty easy having Spencer keep Misti in his room for the night.
I lied and told him I had something planned with Rowyn and needed their room.
I even sweetened the deal with a favor if he ever needed one.
This shit—this cleaning up is like deja vu.
It feels like yesterday that we were doing something similar, except we don’t have untrustworthy eyes watching and listening while we do it.
“Do you think she killed Lucy?” Kade whispers from across the room as he continues to scrub the floors.
“From the looks of it, yes—but do I think she’s capable of it? No,” I say, and he doesn’t respond. After they left, we turned off the lights and used a black light to see where and how far the blood really stained this room. Thankfully, it’s not much, but still enough that it's a two-man job.
“There’s a lot going on lately. We still don’t know who or what actually happened on that cliff. Then we have Rodney with this shit. Now we don’t know if this girl killed Lucy. Like what the fuck?” Kade spits, and I laugh.
“Since when can’t you handle everything hitting us at once?
This is kind of normal for us. It’s just been a bit,” I answer, and he huffs.
I finish up cleaning around her bed and change the sheets.
Then I take off my gloves and throw them in the bag, along with everything else we need to burn.
I wipe my nose and instantly smell her. I’m not sure why I climbed into that bed with her and Elliot, but something told me to join.
That’s not something I do. Yes, we shared Zoe, but that was different.
This thing, whatever it is—is not that. We will never do that shit again.
We made a pact after she died. Zoe would be the only girl we will ever love—ever share—but here we are.
I don’t even like her, meanwhile, the scent she left on my fingers has my resolve damn near snapping.
I wanted to hear her moan, feel her quake against us.
I wanted to taste her cries, but I needed it to stop before we went any further.
The fact that she liked it is what made me realize this isn't the past. She is not Zoe, and I refuse to share a girl again with them. So I backed off. They don’t know I chose her this year.
Something is telling me they did too, or I’ve got it wrong and they actually like her.
I, on the other hand, cannot be bothered with that shit.
I don’t want a girlfriend or any attachment.
Just thinking about a nagging woman makes me want to throw up.
“Where do you want to burn all of this?” Kade asks, and I shrug.
“I haven’t thought that far yet. We just needed to get this shit cleaned before anyone steps foot in here,” I answer.
“We can take it to Elliot’s and come up with a plan. His room is the closest to the stairwell. Maybe we just take it to the basement and put it in the incinerator. You know they have that shit cranked because of how cold it is outside,” he says, and I nod.
“True. Plus, we need answers. Why doesn’t she know what happened? I wonder if Elliot got anything out of her,” I say, and he snickers.
“Doubtful. He’s probably getting his dick wet,” he growls, and I look at him with a raised brow.
“And you suddenly give a shit–why?”
“I don’t.”
“The growl that just left your mouth tells me otherwise. The two of you are keeping secrets, yet again. I guess we didn’t learn from the last time how that fucking ends,” I spit, and he rolls his eyes.
“No one is keeping secrets. I said I don’t care and I mean it,” he shouts, and I laugh.
“Getting mad is very telling, Kade,” I say, and shake my head.
“Whatever man. Are we done in here?” he asks, and I nod, tying the bag up.
“Kill the lights. Let’s make sure it’s all gone,” I tell him, and he hits the switch, immersing us into darkness. He clicks the black light on and shines it around the room while he walks.
“We got it all. Maybe we should go into business as a clean up crew because we are damn good at it,” he laughs, and I just shake my head.
“Pass,” I answer as he shuts off the black light and turns the regular one on.
“Alright, let’s get out of here,” he states, and I lift up my bag, throwing it over my shoulder. He does the same with his, and we exit the room and walk towards the elevator. It’s pretty quiet tonight, which is odd, but whatever. It makes the trip to our floor easier.
“Why is the past creeping up on us?” he asks as we wait for the elevator to open.
“I want to say it’s Karma but we both know it’s not. We should’ve shut certain people up years ago, and now it’s our punishment,” I answer truthfully as the doors slide open. We step inside, and it’s not until they shut that Kade speaks again.
“We should’ve never made that deal with Terrance. He’s using everything he knows and has seen against us. Now Rodney is involved. I don’t like it, and it all points back—”
“Don’t. Just don’t. It’s bad enough that Elliot constantly reminds us of her. I don’t need you doing it too. I’m well aware,” I spit, and he nods. The elevator dings, sliding open. We step out and head to Elliot’s room.
“Ever since he told us about the cliff, I can’t get it out of my mind. I loved her fiercely, and I fucking miss her. That shit will never go away,” he says, and I stop in my tracks to look at him.
“I did too, I just don’t talk about it. I don’t want to think about it either. Just drop it, Kade,” I scold, and he snarls.
“You’ve got a funny way of showing it. Just admit her death cuts deeper then anything else and you still, to this day, years later, can’t fucking handle what happened,” he states, and he’s right, but I won’t fucking admit it. Not now. Not ever.
“Whatever you say, Kade,” I answer and knock on Elliot’s door.
Zoe was my everything, and I hated that she couldn't choose between us. I tried my best to give her everything and more, yet I still wasn’t good enough. She needed the three of us, and as much as I loved her, it just made me hate my friends more.