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Thirty-Three
Skye
We stumbled to bed, and I crashed between the guys, flat on my belly, groaning into the pillow as Leo chuckled by my side. Hunter took more time to fall into bed. I cracked my eyes, catching him by the window, peering out.
“Why are you over there?” I complained, patting the space beside me.
“Thought I saw something…” Hunter turned away, grinning when he returned at my hand raised to him. He took it and fell to his side of the bed while Leo bent to the night table, plugging in his phone. It lit up and played a soft song. I shut my eyes to it, enjoying the dreamy sound as it washed over the room, its touch light like feathers.
“We gotta start detoxing,” Leo murmured thoughtfully, shifting back to bed, resting his back down next to me. “We got two more days left—”
“Don’t remind me,” Hunter cut in, sounding sour. “Fuck, don’t remind me.”
“Yeah,” Leo agreed, sounding equally pained as he ran a hand down my spine. “Why aren’t we living out here, man? Why do we choose to go back to that?”
Hunter grumbled something incoherent, and I turned my head to Leo, watching him through foggy eyes. “What are you complaining about?” I asked. “You have everything.”
Leo’s lips turned down. “Is that what you think?”
“Hunter and me have to start from scratch.” My lips twisted. “You’re lucky, Leo. You grew up in a nice house, just moved into a nice apartment to yourself, and everyone bows at your feet because you’re the Prince of Brown Bay.”
Now Leo barked out a laugh. “I thought you knew me better than that, sweetness.”
“I know everyone cares about you because you’re wonderful,” I said, defensively. “It’s not just money with you, Leo. You’re the complete package.”
His blue eyes cut to mine, and at their depths, I caught the misery buried there. “You think they truly know me, Skye? You think I have let anyone besides you and Hunter in far enough to see the real me?”
“You should,” I murmur. “You’re amazing.”
“I won’t,” he replied tightly. “I don’t care about anyone. I don’t care what they think—I’d trade it all up for a different life. Away from Brown Bay, away from my old man…”
“At least he never beat you,” Hunter grumbled. “He didn’t beat you with a wire hanger, unbending it to prod you with its sharp tip.”
“No, you’re right,” Leo agreed, voice growing low. “Your old man prodded you with sharp ends, while my old man prodded me with the end of his gun barrel.”
The room fell silent.
I didn’t know that.
Why didn’t I know that?
Then Hunter turned his body to face us, another laugh bubbling out of his throat. “Why the fuck are we talking about this again?”
“Maybe we’re too drunk,” Leo suggests.
Hunter slipped out of bed. “Or not drunk enough.”
I sat up in bed as he turned on a lamp in the corner and left the room to fetch more alcohol. My knees pressed against my chest as I twisted my head to Leo, frowning.
“I didn’t know,” I said, quietly.
Leo simply grunted in response.
“Leo,” I pressed.
He rested his arm over his eyes, blocking me out. “Nothing to know, sweetness.”
I shook his shoulder. “Don’t do that.”
