Page 48 of Pack Plus One

A laugh punches out of me. Then another. Then I’m crying—ugly, hiccuping sobs that make Fernando’s bubbles pop in sympathy.

What is wrong with me?

I should block their numbers. Change my name. Move to another country.

Instead, I reply to them all:

I’m keeping the shirt.

Three dots appear immediately on Jude’s end. Then Liam’s. Then?—

My phone rings. Caleb’s name flashes across the screen.

I stare at it until the call goes to voicemail. Then, with trembling fingers, I text the group:

I need a day.

The responses come fast:

Jude

Take ten. We’re not going anywhere.

Liam

Understood.

Mason

Sent a thumbs-up emoji

Caleb

Tomorrow. 8 AM. I’m bringing coffee.

I throw my phone onto the couch like it’s on fire.

A shower. That’s what I need. A long, hot shower to wash away the evidence of the past forty-eight hours and help me think straight.

But as I stand under the steaming water, as I scrub away their physical scents, I know I’m kidding myself.

Because while I might be physically back in my apartment, my thoughts—and perhaps my heart—are still in that house with the pack that’s turned my world upside down in just two days.

And the most terrifying part?

I’m not sure I want it right-side up again.

12

LEAH

Iwake up Monday morning with a pounding headache and a vague sense of impending doom.

Fourtimes.

Jude’s stupid, smug voice echoes in my skull. “That’s what happens when you come that hard, doll.”

I groan into my pillow, trying to suffocate myself with memory foam. The wedding. The almost-mark. The pack. Thesex. My thighs clench at the reminder, sore in the best possible way.