Wreck Me - Page 208

“Guys, this is not how toasts go,” I tell them.

Hunter lifts his glass. I don’t have to be a genius to know he will go in for the next attack.

“I’ll drink to mousey, kitteny, lamb-like girls… They look cute, but are so defenseless, yet they still taunt the wolf. One night he might even come to get a taste.”

What the fuck is happening here?

A light goes on in the hallway. We turn our heads, and Abigail rubs her eyes, coming inside. “Partying without me?”

She moves to take the other seat next to me, but I pull her into my lap, sighing contentedly. “It’s awkward as fuck,” I whisper in her ear.

We’re not like these idiots who don’t know what to do with their feelings.

Bailey lifts her glass and says, “To the ones who are halfway blind, they couldn’t find the way to themselves with a hundred flashlights. We all know them. It’s the look that says, ‘Look at me, how strong I am. I don’t need anyone because I’m so tough and gravelly and shit.’”

She gulps it down, and Abigail’s mouth drops while Mia chuckles.

I’m partially inclined to side with Hunter as Mia enjoys her brother being teased.

“Say that to my face,” he snaps.

“I just did.”

One thing is for sure: they challenge each other, which I think is a good thing. She was this mouse back then. Now, she holds herself stronger.

I grab Abigail’s hand, pull her away, and drag her upstairs. She closes the door behind her. I crash onto the bed, and she helps me peel off my jeans.

“All that sexual tension got to you?”

“Even drunk, you think of sex.”

I chuckle and say, “It was my dirty mouth that got to you.”

“Actually, your bad boy vibe.”

“Really?”

“It was the ‘ah, look at me, here I am, bow and fall at my feet’ kind of attitude.”

“You did fall.”

“Right after you.”

***

When Celine is discharged from the hospital, our group prepares a welcome home party in the living room.

Relief infuses the heavy air with her return home, but there is a big fissure in our group. Blake props his side against the wall, and Hunter leans against the opposite one. Mia and Bailey are on the other side of them.

Abigail holds a confetti cannon in her hand, her eyes flickering with excitement, while blue balloons hang all around.

Confetti explodes in Celine’s face as she and Kaden walk through the front door.

Hunter puts on some music, starts the party, and ignores that not everything is fine. While my eyes lock on Abigail’s, a barrel of thoughts assaults my brain.

You abandoned her.

You should have stayed and fought for her.