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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

GARY

“That bitch.” Easton must have been reading over my shoulder, because he snatched my phone away with a growl.

“What? What happened?” Angel demanded, craning his neck and leaning over me to see what was on my phone. The position squashed me between him and Easton, but I didn’t mind it so much. I felt cold after that message from Brienna.

“She’s threatening him. Says she’ll steal me away. She’s fucking delusional,” Easton snapped.

“Yeah, well, maybe if you hadn’t been so convincing when you pretended she had a chance, she wouldn’t have latched on to the idea,” Angel accused with a scowl.

He settled back in his seat, putting his arm around my shoulders.

“You convinced all of us right along with her. What the hell even was that?”

Uh oh. If there was one thing guaranteed to piss Easton off, it was when it looked like anyone was going to get between me and him.

The caveman thing was alive and well. He snatched me from Angel’s grasp, pulling me straight off the couch and onto his lap.

I went willingly, but I didn't take part in the conversation.

I was starting to feel a little numb. No matter what I did, she kept taking away everything that made me happy.

Maybe Coach was right. Fleeing the state and changing my name was starting to sound like a great idea.

I heard Mexico was nice this time of year.

Easton and Angel continued to bicker, Easton arguing that he had to make it look like she had a shot so it’d hit harder when he proposed, and Angel saying he could’ve skipped that part and it still would’ve pissed her off and made her jealous to see her brother in a happy relationship with a well off guy.

Coach tried interrupting them, always the mediator, but they ignored him.

My gaze flicked to Chuckles and Smiley. They must have been used to things like this, because they didn’t bat an eye.

They passed a joint between each other, watching the drama unfold like a movie.

When Chuckles noticed me watching them, he beckoned me with a wave of his hand.

Easton was more possessive when I was around Angel than anyone else, so he didn’t fight me when I left the circle of his arms. Chuckles patted the floor beside him where he was lounging, and when I sat cross-legged next to him, he handed me the joint.

“Try it. It helps.”

Pursing my lips, I considered refusing. They’d offered before, and I always said ‘no.’ But after that message from Brienna, plus the knowledge that I’d be accidentally ignoring her for weeks, I felt exposed and anxious.

Maybe a little help to calm down wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Smiley was glued to the drama, and didn’t notice, but I didn't think he would care either way. He was the one who offered most often.

“How do I do it?”

“Inhale, hold it in your lungs for a second, then exhale,” he instructed. Then he showed me by taking a hit himself. It was just breathing. How hard could it be?

Harder than I thought, apparently. I coughed and choked, my eyes burned, and I seriously regretted my life choices for a minute. What was I thinking?

“Idiot,” Smiley grumbled, and I heard Chuckles yelp when he got smacked upside the head.

Sliding off his seat and onto the floor in front of me, he rested his hands on my knees, waiting patiently for me to stop hacking up a lung before he took over instructions.

“Not so deep. Small inhale, hold it for a while, longer than you probably think necessary. It works just the same as one big hit. And don’t take instructions from Chuckles. ”

I felt a little queasy from the first time, so I almost backed out, but Angel and Easton were getting louder, and I just wanted a minute to relax.

I followed Smiley’s instructions, inhaling when he did and holding it.

My lungs burned with the effort not to cough, and I released the breath quicker than he did, but it wasn’t as bad as the first time.

He took the joint from me and took his own hit before passing it to Chuckles.

For a little while, as we passed the joint between each other, I thought it wasn’t going to work on me, I didn’t really feel anything other than uncomfortable from all the coughing. But then my head started to swim.

“Woah.”

Chuckles snorted, his shoulders shaking as he took way too much enjoyment out of my reaction.

I’d be annoyed, but it was kind of funny.

I snickered, which only set Chuckles off more.

When Smiley joined in, we all laughed like a bunch of idiots.

A bunch of really relaxed idiots. The tension from before disappeared, and my mind went pleasantly spacey.

When I almost toppled to the side from laughing so hard, warm hands settled on my shoulders to pull me back upright. I tipped my head back, grinning at my fake boyfriend.

“Hi.”

He looked like he was fighting back a laugh as he loomed over me. “Yeah, Gary. You fucking are. Who thought it’d be a good idea to get you high?”

I scrunched my nose at him. “Why can’t I? I’m an adult. I may be short, but I’m an adult. And I’m taller than Angel.” I wasn’t sure why that was important, but it felt like it needed saying.

“Oh, come on. Seriously? You’re high off your ass and still pointing that out?” Angel griped. He didn’t look mad, though. He looked like Easton. Like he thought something was funny.

“What’s funny?” I liked jokes. Jokes were fun.

“You,” Easton answered with a smirk. Sitting on the coffee table, he boxed me in with his legs on either side of me so I wouldn’t fall, his forearms resting on my shoulders.

It was kind of nice being surrounded by him like that, and I settled into the hold with a happy sigh, resting my head against his knee.

“You idiots realize you can’t leave tonight, right? You aren’t leaving Gary here alone during his first high, and I’ve got shit to do.”

Smiley shrugged. “That’s cool. But we’re gonna need food.” He turned to Coach with puppy eyes. “Snacks before you go?”

Leaning back to look at Easton, I whispered loudly. “You cleaned the kitchen, right? You fucked me on the counter earlier.”

Easton’s shoulders shook as he bit back his laughter. “Yeah, sweetheart. I cleaned the kitchen. Just relax and enjoy the high.”

I hummed, melting against him. “I like when you call me that. You’re the best fake boyfriend ever.”

“You’re engaged now,” Chuckles pointed out.

That made me snort. “Never thought that would happen to me in my lifetime. Who wants to marry sad little bookworm Gary? No one, that’s who. They’d take one look at Brienna and ditch me the first chance they got. I should become a crazy cat lady. It’s better than ending up all alone.”

The room went quiet for a minute, but I wasn’t sure why. My eyelids felt heavy, and I was too lazy to force them open to figure out what had happened. They’d explain it to me if it was important, right?

After a few minutes, Easton picked me up and settled me on the couch, boxed in between Smiley and Chuckles. He turned on the TV to an old cartoon I loved as a kid and snacks magically appeared on the table and in my lap. Weed was nice. I didn’t realize there was magic involved.

“You’re staying?” Easton grumbled somewhere behind me. I couldn’t see him. He’d shut off the living room light, so only the light from the TV lit up the room. My eyes were only half open to enjoy the show, and I didn’t feel like looking around for him.

“Yeah. Just in case he gets paranoid when he comes down. Doesn’t look like he will. I think he’ll just pass out.”

Easton grunted in agreement. “Let him sleep. I’ll put him to bed when I get back.”

“You do realize he’s smitten with you, right?” Angel said, his words hushed like he’d hoped I wouldn’t overhear him. But weed magic was strong and made my hearing awesome. Or they were speaking loud enough for me to hear them. Either way, I was totally in the loop. What were we talking about again?

“Smiley, pass the Cheetos,” Chuckles demanded, wriggling his fingers in front of my face.

“Mmm, Cheetos,” I interjected, momentarily distracted. Who didn’t like Cheetos?

“Just don’t wreck him with your stupid ass plan. He deserves better than to be strung along.”

A bowl of Cheetos passed in front of me, distracting me from trying to figure out what they were talking about.

I snagged a handful, snickering when Chuckles gasped indignantly.

We stayed that way, squished together on the couch, watching TV, singing along with the song about secret tunnels and laughing our asses off, until I fell asleep.

I never figured out what Angel and Easton were talking about.

The conversation slipped out of my mind like water through a sieve, and eventually, I forgot all about it.

And when I woke up the next morning, I was back in Easton’s bed, staring up at the ceiling with a frown while I tried to figure out how I got there.

I fell asleep on the couch. Did weed make me sleep walk?

Rolling onto my side, I smirked to myself when I took in Easton.

He slept on his stomach, drooled on his pillow, and still looked adorable.

He had some new bruises on his back and knuckles, but he rarely came home with bruises on his face.

He said he didn’t want his family to know what he did to earn money.

Which, fair. Who wanted to admit to their uber rich father that they did illegal fighting for a living?

The reminder that I’d have to meet his family still made me nervous, but it wasn’t as overwhelming as yesterday.

Right now, I was in bed with my favorite person, who smelled like soap and Easton, and I wanted to just be here.

Who knew how long I’d get to have mornings like this before we went back to being just friends?