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"Well, you could masturbate, but you wouldn't be able to hold your phone and watch porn while you do it," she deadpans.
Zeke spits his beer across the couch table, and Kiwi breaks out in hysterical laughter. Mack gapes at her, slack-jawed, and Kai… I've never seen him this serious. King holds his stare, and I glance back and forth between them. I have no fucking clue what to say to this.
Suddenly, Kai stands up, walks over to us, and drops to his knees. King juts her eyebrows, and my roommate folds his hands like he's praying. "You're my queen!"
"Wha—?"
"You know what these douche canoes said?" He slowly stands up. "You wouldn't be able to braid your hair." He throws a glare of contempt at our teammates and Kiwi. "I mean, what the actual fuck? You, however…" He points a finger at King, still holding his drink by the neck. "Youknow what's important."
He turns so fast that I take a step back, pulling King with me by the belt loop of her jeans. Kai addresses the other three while still pointing at King. "This, gentlemen, is a woman who knows what's important. Let this be said: if our boy here doesn't stake his claim on Miss Monroe, I will!"
"Oh, Jesus Christ!" I roll my eyes while two of the three grin, and Mack still looks mystified.
I can't even be pissed at my roommate for his comment, because her answer was genius, and he's a hundred-percent right that I need to stake my claim.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Still giggling,Wes drags me down the hall. This is not how I thought this night would end. I was hoping for some more making out, maybe an explanation of where he was last week. But then again, the night is not over yet.
At Kai's declaration, aka challenge, against Wes, I fought to suppress my eager grin. Kiwi did not hold back. He gave me his toothiest smirk, and I rolled my eyes at him.
Maybe Wes needs the challenge to—
My train of thought breaks off when I realize where we are. The door clicks behind me, and my breath hitches. It's just the two of us. The sound of the others' laughter is muted, and with my pulse thumping inside my ears, it's barely noticeable. The room is illuminated by light spilling out from the adjoining bathroom, and I scan my surroundings. The furniture is high end. I heard a rumor that Kai's family's interior designer furnished the whole place. The color scheme is dark. Besides a desk, dresser, and nightstand, there is one more piece of furniture. I take in the massive king-size bed with its rumpled gray sheets and—I start counting—eight pillows? As if reading my mind, he elaborates, "A move-in present."
His arms wind around my midsection, and I lean my back against his front, resting my head against his collarbone. Placing my hands over his, he tightens his hold further. He bends down until his lips graze the shell of my ear. "Do you have any idea how many times I've envisioned having you here since last week?"
A shiver of pleasure runs down my spine, and I swallow over the saliva pooling in my mouth. I can feel him everywhere, even where our bodies are not connected—yet.
Then, a sobering thought strikes my brain. "Why did you disappear then?" I hate the vulnerability I'm allowing him to see.
His grip loosens, and I curse myself for ruining the mood. I shift to scan his face, expecting him to look angry, but instead, his gaze is toward the opposite wall, and I follow his line of sight. On his dresser is a framed picture that I hadn't noticed in the dimness before.
Wes steps away from me and reaches for my hand, leading me across the room. He picks the photo up with his other hand, holding it in front of us. I recognize the pictured individuals instantly. The picture was taken somewhere sunny and warm, judging by the palm trees in the background and the lack of clothes. The four are on a patio, scattered across various lounge chairs. Lilly and Denielle are in shorts and bikini tops. Lilly sits sideways on top of Rhys, his arms wrapped around her slender waist and her leaning into him. He is shirtless, only wearing green-camo cargo shorts. Denielle is on a chaise next to them with (what looks like) a cocktail in hand, ginormous glasses covering her eyes, and Wes sits with his elbows on his knees, leaning forward at the foot of Denielle's chair. They're all laughing.
Wes places the frame back on the dresser but doesn't move away. "This was taken a week before…you know what I'm talking about, right?" His head turns toward me, and I nod.
Of course I know. I've seen every single recording—numerous times.
"That day, everything was finally settled. All the paperwork was signed and filed—for Lilly." Wes adds the last two words when he sees my frown, and I understand. "We had one week to forget. Lilly had seven more days before they went public with the whole story, and for that limited time, we all pretended to be normal."
My stomach is in knots as he speaks about his friends.
"I haven't looked at this picture in years. I thought I threw it away. D brought it last week and must've set it on the dresser when I pulled the car around. I haven't been able to take it down, no matter how much I want to."
He pauses, and I'm not sure if he's done speaking.
"What happened?" I whisper, wanting him to keep talking, wanting so desperately to understand what happened to the funny, charming boy I saw in the media before arriving in Stonebriar.
"I saw Lilly last week."
I hold my breath, not sure what to say without revealing anything I know about him—or her, for that matter.
"It was the first time since I left LA two years ago. Rhys showed up at my place a few weeks earlier. They're getting married next spring."
Oh, wow.
"I refused to talk to Rhys, kicked him out of the house. But then Den asked me to take her to the airport. She has a complicated relationship with Lilly's bodyguard; that's all I can say. Lilly and I… We got into it. She asked—fuck, it's not important. Then, I found the picture on the dresser...and everythingcame crashing back. The betrayal and anger. I felt like I was being choked. I thought I was past it, had moved on, but…I'm not."
