Page 44 of Awakened
Despite the excellent company, I tortured myself, wondering where he ran off to. No amount of goofball antics could keep my mind from trying to figure out how Seth and I would fixthis—fix us? We’d never been this out of sync with each other. Our conversations had always been easy, but now we couldn’t be in the same room without fighting. So, while I hated not knowing where he was, I dreaded his return.
Inviting Zach over was obviously a mistake, but he had a way of making everything seem okay, and I needed that. Even if it was for just a few hours. Of course, his mere presence would set Seth off. Fucking male, jealous, possessive shit.
It may have taken some time, but I was finally realizing what Seth wanted from me. The problem was, I wasn’t in the place to be in love with him, and that’s what he deserved. Even when Zach touched me, my mind eventually circled back to Aiden, and I couldn’t bring myself to do that to Seth.
Hell, I shouldn’t do that to Zach, but somehow, I knew he understood. Deep down, I knew he was using me too, and I was fine with that, at least for the time being.
The truth was, Seth could eventually be my everything, but at that moment, I would only hurt him. He would see that I was still in love with Aiden, and I couldn’t do that to him.
“Well, game master, what are we starting with?” Michael asked me, clearly excited about reliving his college days.
“Circle of death?”
Emily and Sarah nodded, and we all sat around the coffee table. I was the question master for our second round of the game.
“What does the queen mean again?” I sweetly asked Zach.
“It means—oh fuck.”
“Ha! Drink, motherfucker!”
Everyone was laughing, and I jumped up to grab another beer from the kitchen. As I was coming back to the living room, Seth came through the front door. The smell of whiskey and cigarettes hung heavy around him, as well as a hint of perfume.
Un-fucking-believable.
He finally noticed me in the kitchen doorway and stalkedtoward me.
“Hey, where?—”
He crowded me into the kitchen and pinned me against the countertop without ever touching me. “I need to talk to you. I’ll wait until everyone leaves and goes to bed, but if Zach stays the night, I swear I’ll tear him apart. Got it?”
As he spoke, his face got closer. His mouth was less than an inch from mine, and his warm breath fanned my lips as he roughly exhaled. My heart beat wildly at his closeness. Bending my elbow, I brushed my forearm against his, and he shut his eyes.
His jaw ticked, and he husked, “Do you understand?”
When he pinned me with his dark stare, I couldn’t make my mouth form words, so I nodded. His severe expression softened, and he kissed my forehead. “Thank you.”
Pushing off the counter, he turned and left me alone, pressed against the hard countertop.
What just happened?
I held my heated cheeks in my hands and took a deep breath to calm the fuck down so I could get back to the game. My gaze fell to the doorway, and I fought the part of me that wanted to run up to my room, lock the door, and avoid the Seth and me conversation.
Fuck.
Standing over the sink, I splashed my face with some water. It did little to cool me down, so I held a cold beer to my forehead. I shook out my limbs before going back to the living room of doom.
Seth had taken my seat at the coffee table next to Zach, so I shoved in between Emily and Brandon. Brandon looked annoyed, and Emily blushed. Those two were being so bizarre, but I couldn’t fall down the gross “my brother and best friend are banging” rabbit hole because Zach had popped the tab on the beer, and everyone chanted, “Chug, chug, chug.”
He finished the beer at an impressive speed.
“Since you’re the loser, again, why don’t you pick a new game?” Michael was all smiles until Zach punched his arm.
“Ow!” Michael pouted, rubbing the spot. “No need to harm the goods.”
“Don’t be a dick,” Zach said as he shrugged. He stroked his chin as if he were in deep contemplation, making eye contact with each one of us before asking, “Fuck the dealer?”
Brandon slapped his hands together and nodded. For some reason, he loved this game. On the other hand, I tended to be the one who got fucked, so I wasn’t a huge fan.
