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“Oh God. It’s not what you think. I swear, it’s not—”
“Hey, hey, calm down.” She grabs my hand. “I’ll be honest, I don’t know what I think. After everything, I kind of thought you’d tell me something like that.”
“And risk it getting back to my brother?” I scoff.
Hurt flashes in River’s eyes but she doesn’t say anything.
“So it’s nothing?”
“Yup.” The lie tastes sour.
“Because if it was something, I’m sure D would—”
“D cannot find out about this, like ever, okay?”
“And Styx, does he know about it?”
“What’s your point?” I snap.
“You deserve to be happy, Kat. That’s all.”
“Yeah, well, we don’t all get everything we want.”
Another streak of hurt washes over her but then Zach bellows, “Babe, get over here. I miss you.”
River hesitates.
“Go,” I say. “He’ll only get louder.”
“But I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
It’s not like I’m not used to being abandoned.
“We’ll talk more later, okay. And I promise I won’t tell anyone. Neither will Zach. Just… be careful, Kat. Ryder is older and experienced, and from what I’ve heard, he doesn’t stay in one place for long often.”
“I think I can handle the likes of Ryder, Riv.” But as I say the words I realize how untrue they are. Because this whole time, Ryder has been handling me, not the other way around.
I watch out of the corner of my eye as River settles on Zach’s lap. He nuzzles her shoulder, kissing the skin there, while my brother leans into them and runs his hand down her hair before kissing her cheek.
So much love between three people. Four if you count Jax, who’s just as pussy-whipped, if not more, as these two put together.
My skin prickles as I imagine what it would be like to be at the mercy of Styx and Ryder. They both know their way around a woman’s body, I can only imagine what they’d be able to do together.
But Styx is possessive. Annoyingly so. It’s one of the reasons I taunted him about my mysterious new friend. Because I knew it would force his hand. And maybe it makes me a brat, but I don’t care. For once, I wanted him to feel out of control and unable to stop thinking about me, the way he’s under my skin and constantly on my mind.
Ugh. I’m a mess. A tight ball of tension.
Standing, I announce I’m heading to bed despite my family and friends’ protests.
“It’s still early, baby,” Mom says with a goofy smile. It’s nice to see her so relaxed, but I’m not sure I like the idea of her new medication doping her up.
“I’ve got school tomorrow, Mom. I need to get some sleep.”
“Such a good girl.” She smiles, pulling the blanket up around her body.
“Okay then, I guess I’ll see you all later.”
