Page 169 of Reckless Vengeance

“Is this becoming a regular thing? I’ll cut Ty off if the pair of you start going off the rails. It’s meant to be for when you’re partying,” he warned, and I pushed his hand away.

“I’m sleeping like shit, Skeet. I just wanted to be awake and present for today. It’s not like I do it all the time,” I argued, and he gave me a firm look.

“Keep it that way. If it becomes an issue, you’re done. Understand? I’m all for doing a line or popping a pill when you’re having fun, but if you start taking shit to make yourself get through the day, then that’s a problem.”

“It’s one time,” I scowled, making him nod.

“Good.”

Caden called him to check out one of the new games he’d gotten, and Skeeter gave me one more glance before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

I took the time to set up my laptop, not really understanding why I needed one when the other one she’d given me for school was still working fine, but it ran a little faster and looked sleeker.

I was halfway through installing everything I needed onto the laptop when the door opened and Diesel stepped inside, looking uncomfortable with his arms full of presents. Josie must have bombarded him at the door, I’d seen a few under the tree with his name on them.

“Hey,” I said as I pushed the laptop packaging off the bed so he could sit next to me.

“I’m sorry,” he said without moving from the doorway, not looking at me.

“Come sit. I shouldn’t have come and invaded your personal space like I did, so I should be the one who’s sorry.”

His gaze finally lifted to mine, and he scowled. “I’m not angry with you, you did nothing wrong. I liked you being in my house.”

“Then why have you been avoiding me?” I asked dryly, his eyes dropping again.

“Because I liked you being in my house. No one’s allowed there, but it was nice when it was you, and that can’t happen.”

“You were drunk, D. What happened⁠—”

“You’re barely eighteen. Whatever the fuck that was can’t happen again,” he said sharply, and I nodded.

“That’s okay. I don’t expect anything from you. Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” he parroted, glaring at me. “I should be asking if you’re okay. I shot at you, practically forced myself on you, held a gun to your head, threw you out, and then someone attacked you and put you in the hospital.”

“You didn’t force anything on me,” I bit out. “I’m the one that should have pulled away, knowing you were drunk. If anything, I took advantage of you. I kissed you back.”

“I can’t believe I fucking did that,” he growled, placing his unopened presents on my desk. “I need you to stay away from me until I get control of whatever is going on inside me. Please.”

“You don’t need to do that. You were upset, I know that. We can just⁠—”

“I didn’t kiss you because I was fucking sad. I kissed you because I wanted to, and now I’ve done it, it’s all I can think about,” he answered bitterly, raking a hand through his hair. “If I don’t put some distance between us, I’m going to want to do it again.”

“If that’s what you want, then I understand. I wasn’t exactly mad about it though,” I replied, some of the tension in his shoulders leaving.

“What?”

“It was a nice kiss. I only pushed you away because if that had gone further and you weren’t thinking clearly, you’d hate me for it. And I’m with the guys, so conversations need to be had first.”

He hesitated before moving to sit beside me, keeping plenty of space between us.

“We can’t, Donovan. I’m seven years older than you. I won’t ever let Sasha go. That’s not fair to you.”

“I’m an adult.”

“Barely,” he scoffed, shaking his head a little.

“I also don’t expect you to let Sasha go. It wasn’t a breakup where you went your separate ways, D. You lost her in a tragic way. She will always be a piece of you, I told you that,” I murmured. “Besides, who am I to judge? You know I’m dating five other guys and just lost Slash, right? You think I’m ever going to let him go?”