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Val grabs the keys that are hanging on a hook, tossing them at me. “Found our ride!”
“Maybe I shouldn’t drive because of that drink? And King’s is only like a twenty-minute walk up the road?”
“The dirt road. We can’t walk on a dirt road in these heels.” She jogs to the passenger side and slips inside. “Come on.”
“Fine!” I call out, squeezing the keys in my hand. She’s right about the heels. I sink into the thick leather seat and push the key in, twisting it to start. The loud rumble vibrates beneath my seat and Val laughs hysterically.
“I’ve always loved older cars. God. This is so hot. Your grandparents were bad asses.”
Everything seems too new, too updated. Where are my grandparents anyway?
I flip down the visor and push the button to open the garage door.
“Saskia the bad bitch dragon!” Val chuckles, and I turn to face her, seeing her phone facing me again.
Wriggling my eyebrows, I blow her phone a kiss. “I forgot my smokes!”
Val brushes me off, running inside to grab them and coming back. She tosses them onto my lap. “Didn’t take you for a smoker.”
“I’m not usually.” I put the car in drive and tap the accelerator. “I use them as a coping mechanism and when I’m drinking.”
“Some would say that’s not healthy,” she jokes, flicking off the bottle of vodka.
We drive to King’s and I park out front. “Hey!” I reach for Val before she slides out of the car. “You didn’t tell me what was going on with you and Maya?”
Val rolls her eyes so hard I almost think they went to the back of her head. “She’s—well, she says that she was only having fun. That we’re only having fun.”
My face falls along with my shoulders. Val has a rough personality, and she’s not easy to be friends with, but I’ve come to learn that when she truly considers you a friend, her roughness softens. “Have you guys hooked up a lot?”
Val shakes her head, her straight platinum blonde hair falling over her shoulders. “God no. I was straight—completely straight until her. She’s the bisexual one. She’s had girlfriends before, two, to be exact, but never any boyfriends. We all knew it was because she was holding a torch for Kill.”
I nod, urging her to continue. I’m not worried about Maya, or even Callan. The truth is that if I walked into that house tonight and sat on Killian’s lap, I doubt he’d push me off. I pause my thought process. Maybe I shouldn’t have driven. It’s obvious that he’s livid about something.
“Anyway, so being with her, she was my first girl, and it felt right with her, you know?”
I didn’t. Not really. So maybe I did…
“Sure, and you told her how you felt?”
Val took a long swig from the vodka bottle she’s holding between her fingers. “Sure did, and she said ‘it was just fun, Val. Nothing serious.’”
“Bitch,” I mutter under my breath. “I don’t know her very well, but Perse loves her, you do, and Killian does. I don’t see it. Not right now.” It’s not that she’s strange—because she is. I love diversity in characters and prefer them over normality, but it’s how she silently sits there.
Judging.
Watching.
Or maybe it’s just me she’s like that with.
“You’ll get along with her. A lot. Once this whole Killian thing blows over.”
A bang on my window jolts us out of our small chat. Turning, I see Keaton peering in with his arm pressed against my window. I wind it down.
“Killian’s drinking.” His dark eyes press against mine.
“So?” I answer, grabbing my keys and phone. I slip out of the car and Keaton’s tattooed hand wraps around my arm.
He pulls me into his chest until I feel his warm breath falling over my lips. “Fix it, since it was the two of you who set him off.”
I shrug out of his grasp. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Keaton growls as I walk away. “The fucking Instagram photos and videos. Stop acting dense.” Shit. Shit. Shit.
I ignore Keaton, passing Kyrin who is leaning against the front door, a bottle of Scotch between his fingers. He’s wearing jeans, a black T and leather jacket. Kyrin is classically pretty. He’s a hefty combination of handsomeness and viciousness.
Val is hooking her arm in mine as we make our way toward the house when Kyrin glares at us as we pass. “Fucking waste.”
I pause for two seconds. I could turn around and press him on whatever it is that he’s talking about, or I could ignore it for now and be there for my friend who is obviously dealing with raging woman issues.
“Don’t let their cryptonyms get to you. Look at what it did to Perse.” Val gestures toward the living room “Let’s get fucked up.”
I need to be there for my friend. To be here for her. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t be here. I would have happily stayed home and soaked in a bath with candles and wine.
