Page 13 of Tag

She made it harder.

Sanjana Marino wasn’t just the exception; she was the consequence. A goddamn drug with a taste too dangerous to forget. And now that I’d had the smallest sample… I couldn’tun-craveit. Every time she looked at me like I wasn’t a monster and touched me with nothing but love, I felt the leash slip just a little more. I was too fucking restless right now, and since I couldn’t fuck or fight it out, I had to force myself to compartmentalize. I recited distractions like scripture. Game plays. Schedules. Homework. Nick’s party. I ran through all of it like military drills. I kept going until I felt marginally better, and then my shower.

After drying off and throwing on a fresh change of clothes, I decided to go and scrounge up some more food. I was positive the others had devoured most of what was ordered after I grabbed a plate earlier, but I was ready to demolish whatever was left. I hit the last step and heard voices coming from the living room. I gravitated toward them. Xander looked up from where he was sitting on the couch. I wasn’t surprised to see he and Rook hadn’t left. We had our extra bedrooms set up for that specific reason, giving them their own space here for whenever they needed it.

“Saved you a few slices, some wings, and the last of the garlic knots before these uncivilized animals took everything else. It’s in the kitchen.”

I dropped into the armchair with a low laugh. “Didn’t think you had it in you to fend them off.”

He leaned back, sipping a bottle of water. “Figured you’d need it. You barely ate earlier.”

“Actually,” Nick cut in from the other end of the couch, “I’m the one who saved the wings. Let’s not rewrite history with the wrong version of events.”

I smirked, about to fire back, but paused when I noticed the faint bruise blooming along his cheekbone. How the fuck had I missed that earlier? “Rough practice?”

He shrugged, cracking his knuckles with a grin that never meant anything good. “You should see the other guy.”

Cade barked a laugh, tossing Nick a mock salute. “Hero of the hour.”

I shook my head. If people thought football could be brutal, they’d never watched Nick tear through the ice during a hockey game. Or in this case, practice. The rink was his battleground, and he played like he had something to prove even when he didn’t.

“How’s the party prep going?” I had meant to ask him about this earlier, but the day got away from me.

“Better than I expected, honestly. You guys are going to help me set up still, right?”

Cade snorted, barely looking up from whatever had distracted him on his phone. Since Xander was at our house, knowing my brother, it was a girl begging for late-night dick. Also, knowing my brother, he would be going to deliver. “No shit. Think we would let you screw it up?”

“I’m close to the most competent person in this room,” Nick argued.

That set off a whole round of affectionate insults and ribbing. I laughed along for a minute, then stood and stretched. “Alright, I’m going to heat up some food. You pull up everything you’ve got so far.”

He hopped up, grabbed his MacBook, and handed it over to Rook, who’d been mostly silent as usual up until then aside from a few well-aimed jabs. He was never one for many words, but he’d come a long way from how he was in the past, and that was more than we could ever ask. By the time I fixed myself a plate and made it back, he had synced Nick’s monitor to the big screen in the living room. It showed everything in different tabs. The layout, lighting ideas, and playlist options. Rook flicked through the screens, nodding in approval.

“Nice setup so far,” Xander commented.

We went over the details while Nick threw in more of his ideas, and we shared some of our own, making sure this party would be everything it was meant to be. I checked my phone, catching the time—12:30. I instinctively shot a quick text to Sassy before setting it aside to focus. The conversation kept flowing around me, a mess of jokes and arguments about whether to add scare actors or animatronics. I let their noise smooth out the static in my head. Being around them, my brothers always had a way of settling the part of me that never seemed to stop pacing. Tonight, I needed that more than I wanted to admit.

I wasn’t sure how much longer it would be enough.

CHAPTER THREE

SANJANA

I had eaten way too much. I was minutes away from a food coma. We had grabbed dinner and then headed straight to Ashton’s single dorm, which felt more like a small apartment complete with a kitchenette and private bathroom, thank God. I’d seen one of the communal toilets people shared and nearly passed out. He even had a cute little balcony. As he should really, considering this place cost him a pretty penny.

H-H, in general, wasn’t the most affordable town to live in, but the price of living on campus or near the university was diabolical. The house I rented with the girls had my jaw dropping when we got the total for the year, and it was a steal. None of us were up for dorm splitting or living apart, so we had no choice.

I caught Ashton side-eyeing me and fought back a laugh. We were onto our second movie, and he didn’t seem to be a fan of this film either. Sadly, for him,Art the Clownhad stolen my gory, horror-loving heart since he popped up inThe 9th Circle. I was stretched out, comfortably settled into the soft cushions of his couch. My legs lay across his lap, and he was absentmindedly rubbing from my knee to my calf. I had changed into my dad’s old Crowsfell tee and a pair of terry shorts. He was down to sweats and nothing else.

My mind drifted for a second, thinking about how much Ryder loved this movie.

Horror nights had always been our thing. Sometimes we would go all in with a home concession stand to rival the one we had back at my parents. Then we would hunt down the mostridiculous, low-budget movies just to laugh. His latest gem had been a recommendation for an off-the-wallWinnie the Poohhorror adaptation. I ended up watching that one with the girls. It was fun, but it hadn’t been the same without Ryder there to trade jokes with.

Ashton’s hand kept up a lazy rhythm, pulling me back to the moment just in time to see him grimace, his brows pinching asArtdid something else over-the-top grotesque with a grin. “I can’t believe you talked me into watching this.”

I chuckled. “Would you rather watch something more, I don’t know, wholesome? A rom com, maybe?”

He gave me a playfully horrified look, then laughed. “Not a chance, but honestly, this… this movie is intense.” His eyes drifted to the screen, where yet another disturbing scene played out, and I couldn’t help the laughter bubbling up again.

---