Page 93 of Poison Aches

Angel needs to face the truth. As for me, the shit organ slowly straining in my chest is my reminder that no stone should be left unturned.

“What did you even say to her?” Kimberly suddenly demands, her tone harsh and intolerant.

I turn around to face the room, only to realize they’re all staring daggers at me.

Looks like Angel's militia wants to kill me for hurting her little feelings. I sigh.

Kimberly and Astraea glare at me with murderous expressions. Noah has a huge smile on his fucking mug, while King retains his resting asshole persona all season with no bench time.

“Why are you mad at me when you didn’t even hear what I said, Kimberly?” I ask politely.

“For Christ’s sake, she just fled like her ass was on fire!” Kim huffs.

I don’t want to think about Ivy’s ass right now, so I quickly mutter the first thing that comes to mind.

“For the bathroom,” I mutter, feeling weird.

“What?”

“She ran for the bathroom! Who knows, maybe she needed to go that bad.” I shrug at that, and Noah hoots with laughter. I ignore him. “Besides, I didn’t say anything false.”

“Yeah but no one asked you to say anything at all, asshat,” Kimberly snarls. “If you have nothing good to say, you can just shut the hell up.”

“He usually does,” Noah chortles. “Just not after hearing that kind of rejection.”

I shoot Noah a look, but an echo of Angel's stupid speech comes back to me like she shouted the words from the top of a mountain.

If Emmett was the last man on earth, I’d never feel a damn thing for him, let alone be anything to him…

Well, I support what she said, but why the fuck is there tension in my fucking body?

Why did I feel like tearing the room apart when she said all that crap?

Noah returns my glare with a knowing smirk but he doesn’t know anything.

I ignore him and stare at the person that insisted I come tonight when I warned her that it would be a bad idea on so many levels.

In fact, for the past two years, Angel has been staying away from me like the plague and I’ve made it easy for her. I’ve been busy lately and have no time to feed her delusions.

“Well… do you still think it was a good idea to invite me tonight?” I ask softly.

Counting out the occasions where I have no choice, Ivy and I subconsciously avoid being in the same room now. It’s been like that since about two Christmases ago, or whenever. I’m not counting.

I think she finally got the message.

Her speech tonight was just an acknowledgement of that…right?

“I didn’t invite a jerk.” Astraea stares me down, with disappointment flashing in her eyes. “You really could’ve just been a decent human being.”

King snorts. “That’s like thinking you can domesticate a monster, baby.” The fucker turns to look at me. “Just becausethey’ve managed to act like they’re harmless and likable for so many years doesn’t mean they’re actually good.”

I hold his gaze, letting him see everything.

If there’s anyone who can guess and maybe face the side of me that the world is blind to, it’s this bastard.

“That’s why it’s important not to be curious,” I say simply.

And Ivy is one curious firecracker.

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