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“You didn’t even say hi to each other,” Owen points out.
I roll my eyes and nod toward Cam. “’Sup, bro.”
“Bro,” he mocks. “That’s a bit incestual, don’t you think? Taking a page out of Owen’s book?”
Ouch.“Better that than not going after what I want when it’s right in front of me.”
Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the smartest thing to say, but I’m not the type to bite my tongue. I never have been. This is why I tried telling Laiken that coming here is a bad idea.
His brows raise in surprise. “Well, fuck me for having some loyalty. But I don’t expect you to know anything about that.”
“Oh, fuck all the way off with that shit,” I throw back. “If anyone has been loyal to your ass, it’s me. If this cancels all that out in your mind, then that’s on you.”
“Hayes,” Laiken whisper-shouts.
I know she’s right. I really should shut my damn mouth, but I’m not going to sit here and watch him act like I’m some piece of shit friend. And trust me, he’s had his fair share of those. I’m sure as fuck not one of them.
He laughs dryly, looking down at the ground in disgust, but says nothing. Silence falls around the entire group. Everyone now feels the same tension I did since I first walked up. We couldn’t even go three minutes without getting into it.
But if he had answered his phone, or any one of my fifty goddamn texts, we would have had this out in private instead of putting on a show for all our closest friends.
As my anger fades, regret starts to take its place. Laiken may have been trying to help make us better, but coming here may have only made it worse. The truth of my words doesn’t make the way I said them okay. He has every right to be pissed at me. I just also have the right to defend myself when he oversteps.
And it’s Cam.
Overstepping is his specialty.
“What the fuck,” Aiden mutters.
Lucas minds his own business while Owen looks like he’s still trying to figure it all out, but Cam and I don’t even attempt to explain it. We can’t even look at each other.
Laiken is clearly struggling between keeping her distance for Cam’s sake and comforting me anyway. Her pinky carefully moves over my own, then more of her fingers slide until half her hand rests on mine. But she’s moving so painstakingly slow that when she hesitantly puts her head on my shoulder for only a second before she picks it back up, it doesn’t surprise me when Mali groans.
“My God! Stop acting like you haven’t tasted each other’s cum before!”
The sound of Lucas choking on his beer mixes with Cam’s whine. “Mali! What the fuck?”
Her words make all the pieces fall together for everyone else and Owen gestures between Laiken and me. “Wait, you two…?”
Lai looks over at me and scrunches her nose, feigning disgust. “Psht. I’m a total saint. A future nun. He’s just trying to steal my virtue.”
Just like that, all my problems disappear as I laugh and she smiles. “Is that right?”
Taking her bottom lip between her teeth, she nods.
“So, if I were to mention when you—”
I don’t even have a chance to finish that sentence because her eyes widen and she rushes to kiss me, effectively shutting me up. It’s obviously not the first time I’ve kissed her, but it’s the first time we’re kissing in front of everyone else. Hell, it’s the first time I’ve kissedanyonein front of them when I wasn’t actively trying to get laid. The setting is different. The reason is different. And as my hand comes to rest on her cheek, the weight of the moment only makes me even more confident in my decision.
She breaks the kiss, and I give her a smug grin. “Now who’s the one stealing virtues?”
Her shoulder shoves me away as she chuckles.
“This is bullshit!” Lucas yells, standing up and throwing his empty beer can to the ground.
Everyone else finds it funny, but Cam looks like he’d rather be anywhere else. “Sit down, Drama Queen.”
He grumbles to himself as he does what he’s told, but Owen’s attention is solely on Cam.
