Page 87 of Dirty Roulette
“Prick...” I whisper. He’s poisonous, wrapping me in barbed wire, and thorns dig into my skin.
I crank my head and glare as Brody turns his back to me and pulls something out of his jean pocket. It happens too quickly. Right as a blink, I swear I saw the crackle of a clear capsule and white powder sprinkling into one of the cups.
I shake my head, and a group of people buzz past us, stepping on my toes and pushing against his shoulders. My body feels off. Everything is moving too fast. I’m swarmed around hundreds of clinking bottles and bodies.
Brody turns to me. He spins the ice with an index finger. I’m trapped in a movie on fast-forward. Dizzy and nauseous. I’m not sure if I’m dreaming or if Brody’s exact moves were real and recorded in my brain like a surveillance tape.
His neutral expression mushrooms into someone dark and scary. I’m legit standing in front of the Night Stalker himself. The thought of a suitcase and my body shoved in a rusty deep freezer sinks back in. The heaviness of my arms and legs melt into the floor.
I use every ounce of strength to storm up to him and shove him as hard as I can. “What did you put into that drink?” I ask.
Brody turns around, holding up his palms and the drink. “Whoa.”
“What did you put in the drink?”
“Umm...Grape juice and vodka?” He narrows his brows at me, looking around at gaping people turning with confused expressions.
“What else?”
Brody licks his index finger and uses the same finger to swirl and mix the drink. “Sugar.” He flashes two empty white packets. He cocks his brows with a devious smile. “Do you want one or something?”
Charlie parades over before my mouth can budge. She takes the drink into her hands and downs half of it. My heart falls to the pit of my stomach, watching the muscles in her throat swallow several large gulps.
“Thanks.” She pats Brody on the cheeks lightly with her fingers and sashays her shoulders back and forth. “This is really good!” She dips the cup to her lips, taking another large swig.
“Charlie, can we talk?” I swallow the brick cemented into my throat.
Brody wraps an arm around Charlie, glaring at me. His eyes are dark and cold, reading into my emotions as if they were written in neon on my forehead. He takes the red cup from Charlie’s hands and tilts it against his lips with his eyes locked onto mine.
Before he takes a sip, he mouths the words again. “It’s just sugar.”
I tell myself to tread carefully. “Please...” I say.
“What? Do you want to lie to me some more, then go sit on my brother’s lap? No, thanks.”
“I think she needs a stronger drink.” Brody laughs, handing Charlie the cup.
“I dunno why you are even here. Her boyfriend is going on stage.”
Charlie taps on the red cup, agitated. “Noah and I aren’t dating anymore...” Her eyes turn glossy as she sips on her drink and looks elsewhere.Wait, rewind. Did I hear her correctly, and is there pain written in her expression as she frowns? “Brody and I are friends again, maybe we’ll see where it goes.” The way she looks me dead in the eyes tells me something is wrong. It’s that twin sister sensation, like she is trying to scream at me through her brain waves.
“He cheated on you!” I argue, and Brody is winning all over again. This is how summer was. Every other week she was dumping Brody, blocking him, then running back to him. She’s not the same person I grew up with.
“And you lied to her about Roulette?” Brody cocks his brows and smirks at me. “Some friend you are.” He circles around me. I swallowhard, his shadow making me feel extremely small like a cat surrounded by a pack of wolves closing in.
“You said Ryder broke it up, not that you landed on him.” Charlie’s lips press in a fine line, sipping on the drink. “I gave you a million chances to tell me.”
“I didn’t know how to... he kissed me and I didn’t realize I had feelings for him.”
“Oh, now you admit to it. You’ve had feelings for him since eighth grade and lied to yourself for years.” Charlie chuckles, her eyes rolling as she takes another swig of her drink. “But you’re good at that, lying. Out of all people it was him, and you dumped him.”
“I called that.” Brody slaps the bottom of my cup, knocking around the contents. I yelp and almost drop it. My entire body shudders.
“Don’t touch me!” I stare at him hard, my blood pumping, ready to claw the skin right off his face.
“I’m just fucking with you.” He holds up his hands like I’m overreacting. “Chill.” The chuckle coming out of his mouth sounds like the devil himself.
“My brother’s heart isn’t a game.”
