Page 36 of Pumped

“I—” The mess of emotions rises up inside me again, choking off my words. I blink rapidly, trying to fight back the tears.

“Is she okay?” Donnie asks.

I nod. “Yeah,” I croak. “She’s fine. Mostly.”

A waiter stops by to take my drink order, and when he leaves, Donnie picks up the thread. “What happened?”

I jump at the chance to unload all the shit that’s been taking up too much space in my head. “Some asshole kid made fun of her because her parents died. And then the kid and his mom show up at our house. Like, what the fuck? We don’t want you here. Go away. The kid gives some half-assed apology and Owen’s all like, ‘Thank you so much. You’re so amazing. We accept your apology. Let’s hang out.’”

Around the table, the guys exchange slightly worried, but mostly confused looks.

“And then!” I cut myself off before continuing.And then we made out and he called me a baby and now my feelings are hurt.Yeah, I’m not saying that out loud. “And then I left. I needed some fresh air.”

I plant my elbows on the table and bow my head to stab my fingers into my hair. A heavy sighwhooshesout of me, almost strong enough to make me drop to the floor.

Christian puts his hand on my shoulder. It’s big and beefy, and the weight of it is so comforting, I can’t help but lean into it. The waiter comes back with my beer and I take a healthy swig before setting it down heavily on the table. All three guys are watching me warily, like I’m about to fall apart on them. I can’t blame them, I feel like I might too.

Even now, I can feel the lingering kiss. The way Owen bit my bottom lip and his tongue invading my mouth. I can still feel thepress of his body against mine, the hardness of his erection on my hip. He wanted me. He wanted me, then he pushed me away.

Why did he do that? What does it mean?

Why does he have to be such an asshat all the damn time? No one else in his family is like that. Jeremy wasnice, goddamn it. He wasn’t stuck up or arrogant or any of that shit.

Maybe Owen got picked on when he was a kid and it permanently damaged his personality. He probably got dropped on his head. Or I know, he was switched at birth and he’s not actually Jeremy’s brother at all. Because I have a hard time believing the two of them share any of the same genes. They couldn’t be more different.

God, I miss Jeremy. I miss Eden. I miss having my big sister around to tell me what to do. Especially during times like these when everything feels awful and nothing makes sense. She always knew what to say, always knew how to make me feel better.

“Hey!” The cheerful greeting draws me out of my self-imposed pity party.

Wooden chairs scrape across the floor and I look up to find Sawyer and Logan sitting down at the table.

“I thought you went home,” Sawyer says, giving me a friendly punch on the arm.

“Yeah, I did. And then I came back,” I mumble mostly into my beer.

Sawyer’s eyebrows lift, and across the table, Gavin jumps in with a quick, “Owen.”

That’s all the explanation my best friends need. Both Sawyer and Logan nod in understanding.

“Hey, why don’t we go out dancing tonight?” Logan suggests, bouncing in his seat.

I gaze skeptically at him. “Don’t you have a hot FBI agent waiting for you at home?”

He waves away my question. “He’s out on a top-secret mission, so I’ve got nothing else to do.”

Sawyer taps on his phone a few times. “Preston’s going to be at the lab late tonight, so I’m good.”

Logan looks toward the older guys. “You all want to come too?”

The three of them all grimace in distaste.

“Connor would say that I’ve outgrown my clubbing era,” Donnie says.

Christian shakes his head. “Sorry, I only go out when Sebastian makes me.”

“I’m…” Gavin gives us a tight smile. “A no. Thanks for the invite though.”

“Fine. Then it’ll just be the three of us.” Logan claps his hands together excitedly. “We’re going to have so much fun!”

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