Page 131 of Did They Break You

We walked down here to get further from Maya, who is two cabins down from ours, just like she said she’d be. This one was a mile away, and I drove the truck because walking two miles in the dark might’ve been fun… if Chase wasn’t with us. But he’s drunk as fuck, and annoying as hell, and having him in my truck for two minutes is all I want to see of him the rest of the night.

“Yeah,” Brinklin says beside me, observing everything, “we should go.”

I know what he’s thinking about. His precious future as a U.S. senator, going up in flames.

I glance at the residue of coke on the wooden table, some dude licking his finger and dabbing it up, placing it in his mouth.

I don’t do coke. I don’t smoke pot. Ever since that night, I stick to beer and the occasional cigarette. I wonder what my dad would say if he could see me here. There’re drugs in West Virginia, where he grew up, but things are just different. There’s not…this.Then again,I guess I’ve done worse.

I close my eyes a second, exhaustion heavy in my head, and I think about Remi’s last text to me and I want to wrap my fucking hand around her throat, just like I said. But at least she isn’there.

Chase approaches the girl who looks like she’s high on E orsomething, but when she picks her head up, her long red hair falling in front of her eyes, she wraps her arms around Chase’s neck and presses herself to his body.

I run my tongue over my teeth, wondering if I should warn her about him. He glances over at us, grinning, and my skin crawls, seeing his baby face flush pink, matching his pink and black flannel shirt.

I imagine his forearm against Remi’s throat.

My stomach twists into knots.

I tear my eyes away from him and run my hand through my hair, not seeing anyone I know here—thankfully—and bump my shoulder against Brinklin’s. His green eyes meet mine, but I see him glancing at that guy bumping another line.

Brinklin’s jaw is tight, and I look down to notice his fists are clenched.

Interesting.

“I just gotta piss, then we’ll go,” I tell him.

Storm laughs behind me. “It’s a campsite, Cort. Piss outside.”

Yeah. The last time I got naked outside, Chase took out his phone and started taking pictures before I busted it against a tree, shattering his screen. He thanked me for that later.As if I did it for him.

“No, thanks,” I tell Storm with a tight smile. “Be right back.” I turn away from him, shoving my way through the bodies congregated in the living room, the smell of musk and sweat and booze permeating the air.

“El Diablo”by Machine Gun Kelly is playing too loudly, giving me a headache, and all I can think about is Remi. Grateful she’s far away from this mess, but pissed she’s still ignoring me. Kind of.

I need to tell Maya to fuck off, and maybe that would appease Rems. Mom would be mad, and it might complicate things for me, but I don’t think I care anymore.

If Remi was with someone else, I’d?—

I stop short, halfway down the narrow hallway of the cabin, marijuana smoke thick back here, but with less people.

There’s a door ajar to my left, and I see something very fucking familiar.

Orange and blonde braids.

Sitting on the edge of a bed.

Two people on either side of her.

One I recognize. That white guy she’s always with, tattoos down his arms, and on her other side, an Asian girl with her hand on Remi’s face and her mouth…on her neck.

The guy has his hand on her thigh.Her bare thigh.

Because she’s wearing a dress—the first time I’ve ever seen her in one, unless you count her cheer uniform, which I don’t.

She’s in boots that go past her knees, a flannel shirt tied around her narrow waist, and as this guy’s hand travels up her thigh, she parts her knees, one hand on the lap of either of herfriends.

The girl’s mouth trails kisses up Remi’s throat. To her lips.

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