Page 22 of Petals of Blue: Part Two
Felix is scaring me just enough for my body to react with anxious sweat. Frozen to the bone after traipsing through gardens all day, the sticky sweat on my neck and chest makes me itch.
A pillow is thrown past my damn face and smashes into an empty glass on the counter. It shatters as it hits the floor beside Jared, making me cringe and rethink how I should go about taming the beast.
Jared beats me to it. His reaction is a bit more volatile, obviously. "Calm down, you jackass! I'm of no use if you slice my fucking feet off!"
I swallow the groan climbing up my throat and turn to Roman who's tapping away on his phone like there aren't two grown men throwing a tantrum mere feet away from him.
Said grown men continue bickering, and I'm just glad Felix is finally using words. Sidestepping another pillow, I duck and move to Roman. "Hey," I say like a dumbass.
He barely glances at me before he's back to staring at his phone. "Hey."
"What are you doing?" Bouncing on my toes, I anxiously watch the other two flinging shit through our house.I miss being in Blue's space.
"Checking in on Violet. Derrick gave her one of his old phones."
"Great," I mutter and cross my arms. "But can you make them stop, please? I'd hate for them to break anything in your kitchen."
At that, my big brother finally takes in the escalating situation. Grumbling, he shoves his phone in his back pocket. Relief floods me when he puts two fingers into his mouth and whistles the same way Jared's dad used to when dinner was ready. "Shut the fuck up!"
I'm prepared for one of them to sass back, but somebody else does. "Thank god. I was about to start chucking shit at them if they didn't stop."
Whirling around, I suck in a shocked breath at the sight of Bethany in her blue silk pajamas and ratted blonde curls. Big bunny slippers tie in the fluffy robe wrapped around to cover some of her bare skin.
With a hand on her hip, Beth scowls at Felix and Jared. Then the most confusing thing happens: she narrows her eyes atme."What?" I ask, confused and a little taken aback.How did she get in here?
"What do you mean,what?" Bethany huffs. "It's onea.m. I was sleeping, and you idiots shattered something literally right on the other side of my headboard."
"Shit. I'm so sorry, Bethany!" Felix trips over himself to apologize, which draws my attention. He glances at me, and the guilty look I see in his eyes makes my heart thud painfully.
Leave it to the tiny blonde pixie to bring my lover back to his senses. "It's fine. I was having a bad dream anyway."
The way her voice trails off and her fading annoyed look worries me. "What was it about?" I ask, stepping towards her.
"Nothing," she whispers, then pushes her wild hair out of her face. "What are you guys doing here? Haven't you been staying at B-Blue's?"
"Police are searching her place," Roman explains softly, like he's trying to shield her from all the bullshit. I don't blame him. There's something fragile about Bethany that I can't quite pinpoint. "Do you want some water, or we might have apple juice?"
She perks up at that. "Oh, apple juice, please."
As Roman walks to the fridge, Felix opens his mouth and makes the poor woman tense up again. "Bethany, when's the last time you had a full night's rest?"
"Um," she hesitates and wrings her hands in front of her. "Gosh, probably when I was a kid. Who knows? I've never slept well."
Well, fuck.
"Here you go, hun," Roman announces, holding her cup and gesturing to the couch. "Come sit, drink thejuice, and nap if you want to. We'll probably be up for a bit since we need to plan our next steps."
Blinking, Bethany takes the cup once she's snuggled beneath a blanket on the couch.How tired is she?
I watch with concern as she frowns and takes a sip of her drink. I think we all wait to see what happens. Her facial expression makes me think she has something to say.
We don't have to wait long. After a few sips, Beth leans forward and stares at her lap. "I was thinking..." She sniffles and goes silent.
Glancing at the others, I follow my brother's lead and sit on the couch a few cushions away from Bethany. "Take your time," I murmur, and implore Felix to sit the fuck down with a pointed look.He's going to scare her away.
Felix raises a brow but struts toward me and takes a seat pressed against my side. Jared sits on the floor and leans against the wall opposite us. My brother has the other side of the large sectional. We're ready to wait, because as much as we might hate to admit it, Bethany knows more about Blue than we do.
Erica is gone.
