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“How? Because fighting over Emily sure as hell isn’t the way to get Damon to talk. You can’t tell me you don’t know how he feels about her-“
“Of course I fucking know!” I yell, my voice so loud it echoes through the garage.
Not at first.
Not back in high school.
I’ll admit I was blind for a long time not to see it, but the past few weeks have opened my eyes.
After Emily insisting I not to say a word to him about the promise she broke to me, and the care she’s been taking lately to stay both physically and emotionally distant from us, I’ve figured out why she walked away all those years ago.
And I’ve been meaning to talk to her about it, but I haven’t moved past my own shit to have that discussion.
She deserves to talk about it, though.
What kind of dick does it make me to hold what she did against her if she did it to protect us?
“Son of a bitch, ladies. Save the drama for a soap opera,” Priest grumbles. “I swear, both of you are stinking up the place with your whacked out female bullshit. Do you get your periods now, too? I can run out to the store and grab some chocolate and ugly cry movies if you’re feeling hormonal and need to work your shit out.”
“Fuck off,” Shane and I say in unison.
It only makes Priest chuckle.
Apparently coming here was a mistake. Shane is just as pissed off at me as Damon and Emily. I can’t fucking win.
“I’ll take care of William,” I growl.
“Great,” Shane barks, obviously not convinced. “Just let me know how you plan to do that without screwing up everything Tanner and Gabe have going on.”
I groan to think about that bullshit on top of everything else. In a little over a week, we’re supposed to run a gauntlet on Clayton Hughes right after Tanner is done fucking up his world.
Meanwhile, Gabe is pacing like a tiger caged while waiting to hunt down Ivy and drag her back from her extended vacation.
All the guys have been busy executing both games so that we might finally get closer to the servers.
Okay, well, Clayton is just for fun, and I can’t lie and claim I’m not looking forward to running that piece of shit through the woods. I’ve always hated him.
Shane calms down enough to unclench his jaw, the muscles in his shoulders relaxing.
“You can’t go after William. It’ll only tip our families off to the fact that we’re not playing by the rules anymore. At least wait until Tanner and Gabe have what they need to bring our fathers down.”
Stabbing a hand through my hair, I relax back in my seat.
“So what do I do in the meantime?”
“Talk to Damon,” he answers. “Stop fucking around with this Emily shit. Cut her loose.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why the hell not?” Priest interjects. “She’s just a chick. You should be more like Shane and me and see that shit for what it is. A good time until you pull your clothes back on and get the hell out of there.”
So caught up with Shane, I’d almost forgotten Priest was still in the room. My stare dances between Shane and him.
“One of these days, both of you are going to fall for some woman that will drive you mad, and when that day comes, you can bet your asses I’ll be sitting there with popcorn watching that shit and laughing about it.”
“Not going to happen,” Priest snorts.
Shane grins. “You’ll be waiting a long time for that.”