Page 309

“Glad to hear it.”

Glancing between us, Kota eventually asks, “Um, anyway, what about you guys? Where are you off to now?”

“Wine tour.”

I don’t know how but my dad manages to sound excited about it. The man I grew up with used to call wine grape spooge.

Right before ducking into the limo, Sera says, “We’ll be home Sunday morning. Oh, and Wesley’s in your room, waiting for you.”

Who the fuck is Wesley and why is he in my goddamn room?

My eyes fly to my dad’s. His slight headshake gives nothing—absolutely fucking nothing—away.

“Oh, crap. I totally forgot.” Kota takes off running toward the house like her ass just caught fire.

Wesley’s here for her?

Who the fuck is Wesley and why is he in my girlfriend’s room?

My dad silently climbs in after his wife, then I’m all alone out here, still wondering what the fuck just happened. First, we profess our love for each other, I don’t get a kiss—what the fuck kind of fuck-ass shit is that?—and now, my girl’s racing toward some guy named Wesley.

Getting my shit together real quick, I turn to follow her.

“Kota!” I bark as soon as I’m in the foyer, the door slamming shut so hard it rattles the vase of flowers.

She doesn’t even stop her sprint up the stairs as she calls over her shoulder, “I know, I know. I’ll catch up with you later.”

There goes my heart. I gave it to her and she left me first fucking chance she got. Is this what she’s scared of? Because…valid. Shit’s terrible. Nauseating in fact. I’m about to fucking puke.

If she thinks I’m okay letting her spend time with another dude, in her room, alone, she’s sorely fucking mistaken. I was that dude, in her room, alone with her, and now I’m her only dude.

This motherfucker Wesley will never get the chance to make that upgrade, and I’m gonna make fucking sure of it.

Stalking between the staircases, I head straight for the garage that’s full of tools sharp enough for the job.

“Have you seen Guy?”

With a groan, I fall backward onto my bed, making it squeak.

“That bad? Tell me everything.”

Rolling to my side, I prop my head in my palm to watch Wesley at my desk, powering on the iPad I told her I was gifted on the Heart and Hype Tour. The truth is I bought it specifically for her. We’ve been teammates since freshman year, and in all that time, she’s always taken notes in actual paper notebooks. Everyone has their own preference for notetaking. While most students just use their laptop, some use tablets, but few actually use paper notebooks. It’s just too many notes to keep track of like that. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal because I also prefer taking notes by hand—except on my iPad—but when she showed up to leadership seminar lugging around a notebook from last year, with papers that were more black ink than white paper falling out of it, I realized it might be something else.

Because Wesley’s so private, I don’t exactly know what her financial situation is, and I didn’t want to embarrass her by implying she couldn’t afford an iPad herself, so I offered her one like she was doing me a favor taking it off my hands.

Luckily, she went for it. I was so busy with my—failed—grand gesture for Khaos earlier, I completely forgot she said she’d swing by today to pick it up.

“It was beyond awkward. He just stared at me like he wanted to say something, but I don’t know, couldn’t?”

“Do you think Lisann banned him from talking to you?”

Her or G4.

“Maybe. He did block me.”

“You’re joking.”

I shake my head.