Page 22 of Pretty Lethal
The fucking idiot begins jumping on the spot like a two-year-old hyped up on sugar, and I’m already regretting agreeing to this as I mumble under my breath and grab a pair of discarded jeans from the floor.
“Oh, you won’t need that,” Wilder says, yanking the top from my hand before I can put it on. Before I can argue, he shoves something into my hand, and I stare down at the shirt with a frown. “Put it on,” Wilder encourages, and I oblige in my still half-asleep state.
It’s only when it’s on and I stare down at the writing that I realize what he’s handed me. “Oh, fuck no,” I argue, immediately starting to pull it off.
“No!” Wilder gasps, tackling me with such force that we both fall onto the bed. He pouts down at me. “Don’t take it off. Look, we match.” He unzips his jacket, and I realize he’s wearing the exact same top. A top he handed me four years ago that I promptly threw in the trash… and yet it’s magically found its way back to me.
How wonderful.
“I’m not wearing this, Wilder.”
“But, the pussy brothers are back together again. I even got one for Kai. I was going to invite him tonight, but he’s such a boy scout, you know? He’ll only put his foot down and forbid us from going. Such a mother hen.”
Despite Wilder’s obvious excitement, I already know Kai will want to wear a t-shirt that has ‘pussy brothers’ printed across the chest about as much as I do.
AKA, not at all. Not even a little bit.
In fact, if I’d known about its existence—again—I’d have made sure to burn it along with the stuff we found in Mel’s apartment.
The outright fucker continues to pout down at me, fluttering his eyelashes like he thinks he’s the most attractive woman I’ve ever seen. Newsflash, he’s not. Seriously? I don’t understand how that shit works for girls—except Emilia, who simply has to look at me and I’d do whatever she wanted—never mind on Wilder’s ugly mug.
“You’re the absolute worst,” I groan, my head falling back against the bedspread. I recognize a pointless argument against Wilder when I see one.
“But you love me anyway.” He climbs off me before holding out his hand to pull me up. His face has an oddly serious expression, and in a rare moment of vulnerability, his guard is down. “I really am sorry.” He blows out a breath. “You have no idea how much I wish I could take it back. I felt awful doing it. I hated betraying you, it ate me up inside, and I thought I had a good reason, but now I don’t know if I did.”
For the first time since he confessed everything he’s been up to this semester, I actually look at him. I take in his bloodshot eyes and the dark rings around them. The deep lines of regret marring his brow. Closing my eyes, I sigh. We’ve been at odds pretty much since Emilia came back, and now that they’ve finally resolved things, it seems petty to hold onto this grudge. I know how put out he was by her unexpected appearance, and that, combined with the shit he’s been going through with his family and this society, I can understand his feeling hurt and on the fringes that he would have questioned his place with us.
“You know you’re family, right? Hadley would never let you go.” Wilder arches his brows, staring me down until I roll my eyes and reluctantly confess, “And neither would I.”
The wind is knocked out of me when he launches himself at me, wrapping his arms and legs around me until my knees threaten to buckle and I’m convinced he’s damaged my ribs.
“I knew you loved me.”
“I thought there was some asshole on campus you wanted to go teach a lesson to?” I remind him.
“Oh, yeah.” He smacks me across the chest with the back of his hand. “Come on, let’s go teach that dickhead what happens when you mess with our girl.”
* * *
“A party? Really?”I question when we’re standing outside Alpha Zeta Phi’s fraternity house.
“This is where he said he was going tonight.” Wilder shrugs before climbing the steps, and I reluctantly follow him into the raging party.
Students are everywhere, drinking from red plastic cups and laughing and dancing. A typical college party, just like the ones I grew bored of very quickly after arriving at Ridgeway.
We push our way through the throng. Wilder filled me in on the way over. Apparently, Jacob is the college’s quarterback, not that that helps as I scan the room. I still have no idea what the hell this guy looks like. Although, being on the football team will earn him a certain notoriety which should make him stand out easily enough.
We clear the front room and kitchen before heading out the back, where people are screaming and splashing about in the pool and milling around a bonfire.
Wilder’s elbow jams into my ribs, and I toss him a deadly glare which he ignores. He jerks his head toward the far side of the garden, and I follow his line of sight, finding a bunch of guys crowded around the fire. All of them are wearing letterman jackets, and nearly all of them have a girl in their lap with their tongues halfway down their throats.
“The blond feeling up the girl in the pink dress,” Wilder points out, and my eyes zero in on the sleazy asshole.
“What’s the plan now?” I ask, leaning in closer to him.
Wilder shrugs. “Didn’t exactly think this far ahead. Figured since I did the legwork to get us this far, it was time for you to pull your weight and take over.”
I roll my eyes and mentally curse him out as I look around the party. “It’s not like we can touch him here. We’ll have to wait until he leaves.”
