Page 28 of A Little Bit Reckless
Sloane:You’re welcome to stay back at the house though. Bru, Thatcher, and Wells should be there.
I nevereverthought I’d intentionally put myself in a position to run into my brother. He hadn’t been happy after what I did at that party but even dealing with him was better than accidentally running into Bru.
Or Wells.
I liked to say I didn’t know why I’d decided to go to some random party and get drunk, but that’d be a lie.
You see how toxic he is…
Ignoring the voice in my head, I texted Sloane back.
Me:Thanks.
Sloane:No problem. I’ll text Bru and let him know you’re coming. You got your key, right?
I did have a key to their house and slid a hoodie on before venturing out of my dorm and into the darkness of Pembroke University’s campus. I knew how to travel in a way that kept me from attracting attention. I stayed off the main paths.
I kept my head down.
I knew how to blend in, which was the exact opposite of what I’d been intending to do through my study sessions with Wells. For those, I needed to be in high traffic areas. We neededto be seenby everyone.
I supposed that was all over now.
I screwed up that plan too, and I thought I’d be sick by the time I got to Sloane’s house. I’d be as sick as I was the night I decided to get drunk because of the way Wells looked at me. I thought I could use his hate for me to my advantage, but all my plan did was make me feel like crap. It made me feel guilty, and that message on my phone was wrong.
Wells wasn’t the toxic one.
I was.
I was, because I was the reason Wells got distracted that day at the pool one summer. I was the reasona girl died, and it was also me who used Wells after the fact for our tutoring sessions because I didn’t know what to do. I was scared and desperate.
“I need you to come down from there.”
Wells saved me again when he didn’t have to. He once again thought I was drowning. He was Archer again,myArcher, and I spent so much time that night throwing up. I’d been drinking, yeah, but it honestly wasn’t that much. I was just a lightweight, so any alcohol made me not act like myself.
But it was seeing Wells as my friend again as he tried to save me on the balcony that made me sick.
I was the reason I lost his friendship, me.
Bru also being there the night I screwed up only made things worse. He had rejected me, and he shouldn’t have been there. I used him, too, in a way. I used his comfort on the regular. My best friend’s brother was always nice to me. He was such a genuine person, and I’d mistaken that kindness for something else.
The first thing I did after sleeping off my drunken state was leave before anyone could see me in the morning. The moment I got back to my dorm, I locked myself inside it.
Not nearly enough time had passed before coming back to my brother’s house tonight. The multilevel home known as Legacy House sat up on a hill in a wooded area of campus. Itoverlooked pretty much everything; my brother and his friends like gods among men. They had parties here all the time, but, thankfully, things were quiet tonight.
Using my key, I snuck inside. I didn’t have to worry about security alarms since others were probably home, but I checked them anyway. I checked the security alarm panel and saw it wasn’t armed, so that meant someone was here.
I made myself be brave. The house was big and I could easily sneak into a guest room without being detected.
“Seriously, man. What the fuck?”
I froze. I gripped my bag at the front door. It’d been Bru who’d spoken.
Taking a few steps from the entryway, I eased a look into the living room. That was the direction his voice had come from, and it was dim in there, the TV on.
I froze again once I saw Bru. He was sitting on one of the couches with his denimed legs crossed, but he wasn’t alone. Wells was in there with him. Wells had his leather jacket on like he’d just gotten home and the television remote was in his hand.
“Dude, what the fuck? I’m watching TV,” Bru ground out. He was usually so calm, so seeing him grit his teeth at someone was different. His strong jaw clenched as he reached for the remote in Wells’s hand, but Wells was standing. Wells also had an extended reach, so he easily got it away since Bru was sitting.
