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4
Three weeks earlier
“Spit it out, Asia. What’s the deal?” Pink asks me the second we’re safely inside her bedroom.
“Give her a second to calm down, Pink. Can’t you see she’s about to have a minor heart attack,” Kate exclaims, perching on the bed whilst I flop down next to her, groaning.
“Hell, no. She needs to spill. Right. This. Second,” Pink says, stabbing my arm with her finger.
She’s lucky I like her so much; anyone else would’ve got a punch in the face for the trouble. I peer at Pink from between slit eyelids. The girl won’t give up. Kate, on the other hand, would happily let me wallow a little longer before prying the truth from my lips. She’d at least give me a few minutes to get my head straight. But even though my head is spinning, and my heart is protesting at the sudden pounding, I’m grateful to them both for being… well, them. I’ve never had girlfriends before. I like it.
Blowing out a long breath, I ease myself up into a seated position. “Cigarette?” I ask, looking between them both. Kate shakes her head. She doesn’t smoke and vocalises her concern for my bad habit as often as she can. Pink, however, jumps up and pulls open her desk drawer, digging around for a moment until she finds what she’s looking for. She hands me one of those skinny cigarettes that will burn out with one toke. I give her a look, and she shrugs. They’re a complete waste of time in my opinion. If you’re going to have a cigarette, have a proper cigarette, not some pathetic skinny one like this.
“Do you want one or not?” she says, cocking a brow.
“I suppose…” I grumble.
Kate sighs.
“What? They’re good for you…” Pink lights up her cigarette, smiling around the smoke that she blows out of her mouth.
“Erm, in which universe areanycigarettes good for you?” Kate asks, giving us both a disappointed glare.
“Oh, shush. Live a little,” she retorts, chucking the lighter to me so I can join her in her bad habit.
“Actually, I’ll live a lotlongerby not filling my lungs with toxins, but sure, puff away on that cancer stick.”
Pink pokes her tongue out at Kate who rolls her eyes before turning her gaze onto me. “Well, do you want to tell us what the hell you’re going to do now?”
“Short of running away, no idea.”
I mean, I don’t think I’ve really thought this through. Of course there’s no way I would’ve let Eastern go back to prison. In the moment, it was theonlything I could do. I’m glad he’s safe. I’m glad Tracy and Braydon will be too, but in reality I’ve no idea how it’s all going to work out, and I don’t even mean my own feelings for the boys. Sonny and Ford hate Camden, and whilst Eastern respects him (at least I think he still does) he’s not exactly his best buddy. Plus, as soon as I tell Eastern about Monk and Camden’s role in all that bullshit, he’s going to hit the roof. Camden thinks he owns the damn place, including me it would seem, judging by his recent behaviour and his stupid attempt at getting my attention by spray painting my tag. Then there’s the tiny matter that soon I’ll be joining his gang after telling everyone that I’d never joinanyone’sgang, least of all his. Ford and Sonny aren’t going to take it well.
“Oh, god.” I groan inwardly.
“Man, I don’t envy you. I’m glad I’m gay because choosing between those hotties is about as difficult as it can get.”
“I hope you’re not including Camden in that group ofhotties,” Kate adds frowning.
I wince, finding a tiny piece of lint on my jeans very interesting all of a sudden.
“Please tell me you’re not considering Camden…are you?” she persists.
“That arsehole? No. No, I’m not,” I say adamantly.
“Good. He reminds me too much of someone else I know, and he’s just as infuriating.”
“Oh, yeah?” Pink says, glancing at me with wide eyes. “Want to elaborate?”
Kate waves her hand about. “This isn’t about me. This is about Asia. Seriously, what the fuck are you going to do? Even I could see that your best friend, Eastern, wants to be way more than friends given how he was with you just now. And we all know Sonny and Ford are into you…”
“We do, do we?”
Kate pulls a face. “Seriously? It’s pretty clear to the whole of Oceanside, actually. Those two have got it bad.”
“Yeah, they’re not the only ones,” Pink says, widening her eyes at me and pulling some weird face that looks as though she’s constipated.
“You don’t mean…” I ask, pointing at my chest.
