Page 56

Story: Roan

“You’re a dumbass,” she says to him, shaking her head.
“Ophelia?” Roan calls, his tone sharp but I can hear the smirk in his tone. I don’t need to turn around to see it.
I stop, but I don’t answer him, my entire body tensing, like I’ve turned to stone before him. Slowly, against my better judgment, I twist to face him.
He stares at me, his reflection one of a man who has nothing left to lose. “All’s fair in love and war.”
Sighing, the tenderness leaves my eyes and I’m left with disappointment. “I don’t see any victories in this war.”
“Youhaveto do something.”
I grunt and down another shot. “No, I don’t have to do anything if I don’t want to.”
“Roan! Stop it. Do something!”
I groan and toss my head back. I think about slamming it against the counter. “Why do you care?”
Scarlet gazes over at me, pouring herself a shot. She’s impatient, annoyed… pretty much everything I am, but for reasons I don’t understand. “I care because I love you and you’re making a huge mistake letting her marry Aladdin.” She waves her hand around and knocks the bottle off the counter, sending it sailing toward the floor. “We can’t let this happen. If you don’t tell her how you feel, I’m going to.”
I catch it before it hits the floor. “I have told her. She knows.”
Look at the way she’s staring at me. Scarlet knows I’m lying. “You told her you’re madly in love with her and she can’t marry him?”
“Well, not in those particular words.” Setting the bottle back on the counter, I take Scarlet’s shot glass from her. “You’ve had enough. You’re annoying when you’re drunk.”
“And you’re annoying when you’re sober.”
“Ain’t that the truth!” a voice yells. I roll my eyes. Awesome. As you can imagine, it’s Tiller making his way into the kitchen. His cheeks are red and he’s limping. He says absolutely nothing to us, takes a handful of ice cubes from the freezer and dumps them down the front of his shorts.
Scarlet giggles, braiding her hair over her shoulder. “Wild night?”
Leaning into the counter with his hands splayed across the stone, he frowns. “Never pop a nut.”
“Maybe you should have waited longer like the doctors said before fucking,” Scarlet notes, as if that would have made a difference.
Tiller scowls at Scarlet and reaches for a bottle of water in the fridge, ice cubes dropping on the floor in the process. “Fuck that shit. That doctor doesn’t know anything.”
“I bet he’s not icing his balls right now though,” she points out, trying to steal the bottle back from me.
“Oh, probably not.” He turns and tips his head back regarding her with curiosity. “Where’s Shade?”
Finally letting go of the bottle in my hand, Scarlet shrugs and adjusts herself on the stool having nearly fallen onto me. “He left with Ricky like four hours ago and I haven’t seen them since. Apparently he had to make an appearance at some bar. Anyways, they didn’t want me driving and left without me. They probably went to that Thai place I love just to piss me off.” She peeks down at her phone and then gives me a death glare. “I’d kill for spring rolls.”
“Then go get some.”
“It’s eleven at night, jackass. They’re not open.”
“Right.”
I think about heading upstairs when the back sliding doors open and in walks Camden with a hoodie pulled over his head. All three of us turn to look at him.
He says absolutely nothing, takes a seat beside me, high-fives Tiller and attempts to reach for the vodka bottle in my hand.
“I don’t think so, Cam-man.” I rip the bottle from him. “What are you doing up this late?”
Grunting, he pushes his hood off. “Don’t ask.”
I glance down at my phone and tap the screen. “Bud, it’s nearly midnight. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”