Page 28 of The Boy I Loved

He hesitated for a moment, glancing at a few girls walking toward their vehicles before returning his attention to me. “I don’t know, man. Why don’t you enlighten me.”

“Wasps are natural predators. They hunt caterpillars and butterflies. Why would I befriend my prey?”

A stitch formed between his brows as he contemplated that. After a few long moments, he nodded. “That actually makes sense.”

Vincent and Nicholas strolled up, their gazes assessing us before turning on the multitude of students idling by their vehicles. The sun illuminated Nicholas’s olive complexion and made Vince appear paler in contrast.

Their footsteps crunched against the asphalt, kicking up small pebbles with every step. They walked with an air of confidence—like they were untouchable. Hell…they were.Wewere as long as we did as we were told.

“I’m starving.” Vincent announced.

Nicholas rolled his eyes. “When aren’t you hungry?”

Vincent turned to him, his eyebrow ring glistening beneath the luminosity of the sun. “I have to keep up my energy somehow,” he retorted.

“We can go grab something,” Mason offered. “We still have an hour before we need to be at the shop for work.”

The less time I had to spend with them, the better. “You guys can go. I need a shower and maybe a power nap.”

Lies.

I just needed a moment to breathe and think without them looming over me. It was odd. We used to be inseparable—best friends even. But once Clay got his hooks in all of us, it all changed. Mason and Vincent enjoyed the pain they inflicted. Sometimes I did too. Nicholas was harder to read, but he seemed to be just as stuck as I was.

“Dom,” a girl called out, causing my muscles to lock up.

We all turned to face the intruder as she strode up, tucking a piece of caramel-colored hair behind her pierced ear.

Lauren DeMello.

“Can I help you?” I asked dryly, turning so that my back was to the vehicle instead.

Her dark blue eyes flicked between me and the guys for a moment, nervous energy rolling off of her in waves. “Have you heard from Stacy by any chance?”

“Why would I have heard from Stacy?” I retorted. “I haven’t spoken to her since?—”

“I know she was at your welcome-home party,” she interjected. “I also know that she fucked Mason.” Her gaze drifted to the guy in question.

My throat tightened and my heart started pounding furiously. She couldn’t suspect we had anything to do with her disappearance—not that it had even been announced yet. However, it was only a matter of time before she was.

Mason moved to stand at my side, his eyes hardening. “Yeah. I fucked her. What’s your point?”

Lauren licked her lips, her chest stuttering with a ragged inhale. “She also mentioned that she was going out with you the other night…” she hedged. “That’s the last time I’d heard from her.”

Motherfucker.

My teeth scraped against the inside of my cheek, copper flooding my mouth from the sharp pierce. This was bad. This was very fucking bad.

Keeping my cool was probably even more difficult. There were cameras everywhere, so snatching her wasn’t an option. Telling her to get in the car to go look for her wasn’t an option. We needed to be smart about this.

Blowing out a breath, I glanced over at Mason, hoping to God that he could pull something out of his ass. I thought we’d have a few more days before any alarms were raised.

“That’s the last time we saw her,” Mason replied, folding his arms over his chest. His expression was calm and disinterested—a stark contrast from the emotions warring inside me.

A frown tugged at Lauren’s mouth. “Where did you take her? Did you ever bring her home?”

“We went to a bar right outside of town,” Vincent answered, drawing her gaze to him. “She and Dom got into an argument, and she refused to let us take her home. She said she’d call a cab, or have you pick her up. That’s the last we heard.” The lie rolled off his tongue like butter, and even I couldn’t help but be a little impressed.

My relationship with Stacy had never been black and white. One moment, we were hanging out in the same social group, and the next, I was insulting her.