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The way he said that made me think there was something else to that. “It’s why you and Luna are still friends? What does that mean?”
His head cocked to the side. “Luna and I were friends with benefits for a while. Neither one of us wanted to date anyone. We just wanted sex. I thought you knew that—I’m sorry.”
My eyes widened. “Nope! No one said anything.”
He shrugged. “Luna might have thought I told you, or maybe she just didn’t think it was important. At any rate, Luna and I were best friends before we fucked, and we’re still friends now. If she and I can do it, you and I can stay friends after much less. It was just a kiss.”
Areallyfucking amazing one.
“Does it bother you? About Luna and me?”
I shook my head. “No. There’s no reason it should. It happened before we ever met, and even if it werestillhappening, it’s none of my business. I adore you both, and I certainly understand the need for sex, so who am I to judge? After all, I’ve been whining to you both about my Damian and Asher issues, and you saw how I just acted with you. Why the hell would I think badly of you and Luna for enjoying more from your friendship?”
“And this is why I like you. You’re open-minded, and you see the world in a bigger way. Everything will work out just fine. Whether you choose Damian, Asher, you fuck them both, or you refuse to have either, everything will work out.”
“You’re not throwing yourself in there, huh?” I asked.
He laughed. “I took myself out of the picture even before the kiss. The moment you told me that you were confused and needed one uncomplicated guy in your life.”
I smiled, but it wasn’t because I was happy. Actually, that hurt far worse than finding out he and Luna had once had a sexual relationship. That truly hadn’t affected me at all but hearing him say he was out of the picture broke me a little bit.
Which wasstupidconsidering that was exactly what I’d told him I wanted.
Jesus hell. Get to the fucking psychologist. You’re a fucking mess, Temperance Anne!
Yeah, I definitely was.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
DAMIAN
Walking into Crestview Monday morning had me a little more on edge than I would have liked to admit. While I wasn’t one to run away from problems, I also knew when to hang back and wait. The party on Friday was more than I’d bargained for, and I still had no idea what the ramifications of that night would be or if there would be any at all. Would Eric, Brody, and Zane get the police involved? Would they get myfatherinvolved?
Surely to God, Eric wasn’tthatstupid.
Reporting Asher, Justin, and me to the cops would be dumb as hell considering what he tried to do to Wilder. They could have fuckingkilledher. Not to mention, after any trace of evidence outside the bar mysteriouslycleaneditself, I had a feeling Justin was hiding something—something big. So, fucking with Blackwell would be areallybad idea on Eric’s part. I had no doubt after that that he was every bit the type to make people disappear without a trace. I just didn’t know how he of all people was the type. It made no sense.
That interesting little secret, however, was a problem for another day. I had enough lies and conspiracies to deal with without adding another from Blackwell. Asher had never liked him, and now I understood why. There was more to him than meets the eye.
I’d replayed that night over in my head a hundred times at least. When I saw her lying on the ground like that, I found myself inexplicably grateful I’d made it to Miley’s. I hadn’t realized Wilder had even gone to the game until I got a text from Kevin Price just before we hit the field. She didn’t strike me as the sports-loving type. She was sporty and obviously worked out a lot, but she just didn’t seem like the type to join in for school spirit.
She also didn’t seem like the type to slip a jersey on and scream at a TV on Sunday nights, either. Still, once I realized she was there, watching me play, I felt… exhilarated.
What was she thinking?
Who did she watch? Asher or me?
Did she even give a damn we were playing?
Could she even see us from wherever she sat?
Why the fuck did I even care?
I had eyes and ears all over the school, and since it was public information at that point that Wilder was my little pet, I usually knew exactly where she was at all times.
Kevin Price texted me again later that he overheard her talking with Grey and Blackwell about the afterparty. I hadn’t even wanted to go, especially since it was Harper who had invited me. After everything that had happened with Wilder, Harper had been clingy as fuck. Even though she had no feelings for me, she still felt ownership, and Wilder was honing in on what Harper believed to be hers.
She and I had never had any sort of relationship, and neither one of us ever wanted one. I sure as shit didn’t. It was more of a match made of convenience. It wasn’t like Rick and Sebastian had pushed us together or anything. Rick would never dream of such. Dick or not, no one fucked with his daughter. I may have hated the guy, but I at least respected that about him. He was a better dad than Sebastian ever thought of being.