Page 57 of Unforgettable
“What? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Lucas said.
He knew me well. “I’m cool.”
Lucas’s face twisted. “Bullshit. It’s Haven. As soon as her name comes up, you react. It’s subtle, but I know you. It’s okay to like her.”
I didn’t like how well he could read me. “Have you met her old man?”
Chuckling, Lucas gripped my shoulder. “Ryker James brooding over a chick.”
“Dude, I’m not brooding. Give me a few minutes. I’ll come find you guys.” I left Lucas before he tried to get me to open up. The day was ending on a good note, and I wanted to leave it like that.
I wound my way through the house, dodging people, with a whiskey bottle in one hand and checking my pockets for my phone with the other. But I came up empty on my phone. I must’ve left it in my room.
Instead of going down into the basement, I headed upstairs until my gaze drifted like a lazy breeze on a hot summer day to a couple in the living room. The redhead had her back to me, and on first impulse, I ambled in that direction.
I was curious why Haven had agreed to be part of the charity auction all of a sudden. She’d been adamant about not doing the fucking event. But when a tall, lanky dude leaned down and kissed the redhead on the lips, my gut twisted in a weird way.
I froze in my tracks, my brain searching for reasons why a guy kissing Haven would bother me. But analysis went by the wayside when some short and bulky guy bumped into me, causing me to lose my train of thought.
“Sorry, Ryker.”
I held up my hand. “No worries.” I wasn’t about to start a brawl, although I had the urge to punch the dude kissing Haven until the redhead turned around.
It wasn’t Haven, but man, the girl could’ve passed for the senator’s daughter. Maybe Haven had a sister I didn’t know about. The chick’s long red hair matched Haven’s in color, as did her curves. But what didn’t match were her small tits. Haven’s were far from small.
The booze was creeping up on me for sure.
Nevertheless, I continued to my bedroom, dodging people who were sitting on the stairs. As I wound my way down the hall, I found that my door was ajar.
What the fuck?
I always locked my door during a party. Lucas locked his too. I hoofed it down the hall and barreled in as though I were a bouncer ready to throw someone out the window, not caring if a naked girl was waiting for me.
A blonde sat on my bed, fully dressed and searching through…
Motherfucker!
I closed the distance between Tabitha Sims, Beverly’s sister, and me. Then I grabbed her by the arm and hauled her up. “What are you doing in my room?” I ripped the picture she was holding out of her hand.
She squealed. “Let me go. You’re hurting me.”
I eased up on my grip as I deposited her at my door. “I’ll ask you again. What are you doing in here?”
She squinted her beady blue eyes. “I came to congratulate you on a great game. So much for that.”
I placed the picture of my family back in Leigh’s box. I hadn’t even opened it, and this stupid woman had the fucking nerve to go through my things. Fury, hot as an out-of-control inferno, blazed through my veins. “You’re trespassing. Do you normally go into people’s rooms and go through their personal items before you congratulate them?”
She hiked a bare shoulder. She was wearing one of those blouses that slipped down her arm on one side. “I saw the box on your dresser and peeked into it.”
This chick shopped at a different mall. Either that, or she was a penny away from crazy town.
I was tired of Tab and Beverly trying to get their claws into me. Granted, the last time Beverly had tried was when I’d woken up after a drunken fest and found her in my bed, although she’d left a few messages on my phone that I hadn’t returned. I wasn’t going to either.
Tabitha was just like her sister. Both were out to find a husband before they graduated college. Well, I wasn’t that guy.
“The next time you decide to go through someone’s things when you’re not supposed to, I would think twice. The next person might not be so nice.” Then I slammed the door in her face and locked the fucker.
I took a swig of whiskey and then another before I set the bottle down on my nightstand. I went to put the lid back on the box but hesitated. Maybe it was a good time to go through Leigh’s things. I dropped down on the bed and pulled out more pictures of Leigh and her friends, the one of our family, bookmarks, and her art supplies. But underneath all that, I found an envelope with my name on it.
