Page 146 of The Chaos She Brings
Nate and Carina enter with a grumpy looking Cupcake, who wanders around the house like it’s offended him.
“What are you guys doing here?” I ask, looking down at the way I’m wearing Kai’s top, some shorts, and a fluffy blanket like a cape.
Carina grins at me, throwing a bag of snacks at me. “We’re having a sleepover.”
The laugh that leaves my lips is somewhere between a snort and a chuckle: a chortle, if you will. “All of us?”
Kai wraps his arms around my shoulders from behind, resting his chin on my head. “Yep, we’re embracing our inner teenager.”
“But,” I sputter, “you hate having people here?”
Kai spins me to face him. “I do,” he tells me, “but you need this, Hurricane.”
I throw my arms around his neck, holding him tightly against me.
“Thank you,” I whisper, inhaling his soapy scent.
“I love you.” He kisses my lips softly, then pulls back and heads in the direction Nate and Carina must have gone in, because when I turn around, they’re no longer behind me.
In the living room, the sofas have already been pushed out the way and Nate comes staggering in carrying the mattress from the spare room.
“What are you doing?”
Nate drops the mattress to the floor, wiping his forehead with his arm. “We’re having a proper sleepover, Killer.” He beams as he starts arranging blankets around the place like this is all very normal behaviour for a group of thirty-year-olds.
The living room gets transformed into a teenage girl's sleepover dream, with throw cushions and blankets scattered over two mattresses, fairy lights illuminating the space, and a pile of snacks in the centre.
My phone starts ringing.
Enzo’s name flashes on the screen.
I click accept and his face fills my phone.
“Hope you guys didn’t start without me,” he says, grinning uncharacteristically.
“Start what?”
“The sleepover,sorella.7” He rolls his eyes. “You didn’t think you guys could have one without me?”
I stare at him, black faced. “What year is it? Are we suddenly twelve again? What the hell is going on?”
“Well, hello toyou too. Should I go?”
My eyes narrow on Kai.
“How have you pulled this off?”
His smile is breathtakingly beautiful in the way it lights up his whole face. He just shrugs at me. “We have good friends.”
I shake my head at him, but I settle onto the mattresses, stockpiling chocolate with one hand while I set my phone with Enzo up next to me.
Nate starts loading up Netflix, tossing out stupid film suggestions.
It’s chaotic, and loud, and exactly what I needed at this moment to calm the storm inside my mind.
Carina’s hand in mine is the only thing keeping me from bolting out of the waiting room. We both know it. It’s why she’s squeezing it too tightly.
Her leg bounces up and down as if she’s nervous, but I’m not sure why she’d be the one worrying. She’s not the one here to discuss being raped—to bare her soul to some stranger. No, that’s me.
