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“You asked me why he hates you…” Brantley says, his hand coming to mine.
“Yeah?”
“It’s because he can’t hate you.”
“You make it sound so simple. So relatable.”
“Because I do relate to the feeling. Well.”
I don’t ask. “One day, I’m going to want to know what you mean by that…”
Brantley chuckles. “I bet.”
I pick up my heels and slip them onto my feet, piling my wet hair onto the top of my head to fall into a long ponytail. We enter back into the main room to see everyone there, Nate included.
“Nate called it in. We need to leave so everything can get handled,” Bishop murmurs, his eyes on mine. A thousand questions lay in those eyes, questions I won’t answer.
Madison is sitting alone on a chair, her eyes on the floor. Nate is talking with her, but I can see everything is going in one ear and out the other.
“Do we have to talk about the fact that y’all were about to have sex in a bathroom where a dead body was, right after our little queen off-ed him?” Eli asks, his eyes going around the place. “Or are we just putting that in the bucket of things we don’t talk about?”
I ignore him, heading straight for Madison.
Nate glares at me, standing back to his feet defensively. I don’t care about his feelings right now. I just want to make sure my friend is okay.
My hand comes to her knee and her eyes flutter to it. “Do you want me to take you home?”
I catch something flash over her eyes. At first, I’m not fast enough to decipher it, but then I study her closely. How her eyes flick to mine, and then to Bishop, and then back to me. I know what that something is now—fear, and she’s going to do the thing that Madison always does.
Run.
And no one can stop her.
“Hey,” I coax, taking her hand in mine. “I’ll take you home.”
I stand with her behind me as Nate removes his jacket to wrap it around her body.
I grit my teeth, fighting my irrational thoughts. This is Nate. He cares. He gives a fuck about the very few people in his life. I know this, so I can’t be mad.
“We’ll have to take the back exit. No doubt they’ll wipe footage, but just to minimize the job and keep it clean,” Bishop adds, running his hands over his face.
“Then shouldn’t we reduce their work by just going the way we came so they don’t have to wipe two sets of cameras?” I question Bishop.
Nate shakes his head. “No, because then there are other things we have to take into consideration, like the two of you wearing jackets, and witnesses. It doesn’t matter, they’ll wipe the whole lot.”
Nate’s eyes meet mine.
I look away. New plan. Don’t look him in the eye ever again.
We all make our way out as Bishop orders Cash and Eli to wait for the clean-up crew as we all slowly make our way outside via the fire exit. There are already two large black limos waiting. Bishop opens the door, gesturing for us to get in first. Madison goes straight to the far corner of the seat on the opposite side that we climbed in on and I sit right beside her.
Nate sits beside me, and Bishop, Brantley, and Hunter sit opposite us.
Hunter is watching her carefully, worry etched into his features.
Nate’s thigh presses against mine, but I flinch away from him.
He laughs. “Bit late for that considering I’ve had my dick in you tonight.”
Everyone goes about their business, well acquainted with Nate’s and my toxicity on display for everyone.
I ignore him, not taking the bait. I’m tired. I want Daemon to tell me everything is going to be okay. I miss his presence and his touch. Why am I attracted to the depraved? It’s like my soul attaches itself to darkness, lurking on the wicked because the disenchantment in mundane-like souls isn’t enough to spark fire in mine. All the men in my life have one thing in common—evil.
Nate seems to shuffle around a lot beside me. Going from his thigh jiggling to his hand grabbing at his hair, back to his thigh jiggling.
He’s frustrated, like a ticking time bomb about three seconds away from exploding.
This carries on the whole way to Brantley’s house.
My eyes go to Madison when we pull up. “Are you coming in?”
She shakes her head. “No. I’m going home. Alone.”
“Fuck that!” Bishop finally yells. “You’re going to explain this shit once and for all!”
“I don’t have to explain shit to you, Bishop! Get out!”
My eyes fly between the two of them.
“If I get out of this car, Madison, it will be forever,” he growls softly.
Goddamnit, Madison! Fucking tell him. For the life of me. She’s about to lose this man forever if she doesn’t open her trap.