Page 137 of Wicked Little Darling

I’m fucking coming.

He didn’t respond again.

I flew out the back entrance and ran down the path that led to the main road and sprinted as fast as I could to the frats.

It was obvious which house he was at because none of the other frats were throwing a party tonight. When I spotted the house lit up and crawling with people, I ran faster, anxiety growing, and when I got to the front yard, my stomach sank.

It was so fucking crowded, I thought I might never find him.

Why the hell had he come here? How had he even known about this? This wasn’t like him at all. I wasn’t sure what had happened in the few days I’d been gone, but something obviously had, if the state of our room was any indicator.

Fuck, I felt so guilty leaving him, but how was I supposed to know this would happen? Maybe it had nothing to do with me and something else had happened. I wasn’t sure which was worse.

I scanned the porch and front yard for Reese then stalked inside when I didn’t see him.

It was dark, but there were green and blue mood lights flashing through the open layout. I pushed through all the students, hunting for Reese.

The sharp, sour stench of alcohol mingled with the sweet, musky scent of weed, and I wasn’t hopeful that I’d find him in his right mind.

The front room had a few couches that were crammed with people, some sitting on others’ laps, a few looking like they’d passed out. None was Reese. I headed deeper into the house, out of the room with the crazy lights, and into some kind of brightly lit dining room.

When I finally spotted him, my dread slowly faded into an anxious confusion that shifted to a burning anger.

What the fuck?

What the actualfuck?

He was sitting at a table with a bunch of other people, drinks and playing cards scattered everywhere.

He was shirtless.

And his hair was completely butchered.

What in the fuck had he done to his hair?

He was laughing and very, very, drunk.

God-fucking-dammit.

It was a wonder I could even recognize him, that this wasmyReese, because he looked like a complete stranger right now.

If it weren’t for that mark on his face—for the other marks on his body in clear view because he was practically naked—I wasn’t sure I would’ve been able to recognize him at all.

My feet felt glued to the floor as I watched him laugh and wave his cards animatedly. It was the strangest thing, seeing him like this.

When he reached for a cup and started to bring it to his lips, I snapped out of my shock and rushed over to him, snatching the drink out of his hands.

He didn’t need a single drop more.

“Hey, what—” His glassy eyes went from half-hooded to blown wide when they landed on me, sparking to life as the widest smile stretched across his face.

And fuck if my heart didn’t skip three beats in a row, even as it felt like I was being burned alive by this immense anger.

“’Kota!” He threw his arms out, as if to welcome me into them.

I stepped closer, sidling around people who were loitering at the fringes of the table, just as drunk as he was. “What are you doing, Reese?”

He looked at the table, then pointed to his cards. “Playing poker.Strippoker. You should play with us, you’d be good at it since you already do it every day in our room.”