Page 45 of Wild Like Us

A full.

Not even a fucking queen mattress could come out and save this situation.

Banks and I sweep the room quickly for recording devices in the lamps and drawers, while Sulli drops her Patagonia backpack on the ground.

Coming out of the bathroom, I see her tear down the blankets and inspect the state of the sheets and mattress. “Um…fuck, what is that?” She inspects a stain with a cringe, then catches my gaze. “Hey, if you don’t mind, Kits, I think I’ll take the floor.”

“That bad?” I ask.

“It’s beyond fucking gross.” She assesses the room. “There’s enough space for all of us to crash on the ground, I think. I can grab the sleeping pads from the Jeep.”

“I’ll do it,” Banks says. “You said you wanted to shower.”

She must have told him that when I was grabbing the key.

She smiles, her cheeks and neck reddening. Absentmindedly, she runs her fingers through her hair but tugs on a tangle. “Yeah, thanks…I need to shampoo this mess.”

“Looks pretty to me.”

“Pretty dirty.”

“Nothing wrong with that, mermaid,” Banks says before he leaves.

She stares faraway at the closed motel door, at his shadow. And as soon as she turns to me, her smile falters. “What…?”

What expression am I even making? Horror? Concern? Jealousy? Some unknown emotion that keeps ravaging my insides? My stomach has coiled into a tight fist.

All I can say is, “You like him.”

It slams into me now more than ever before.

She really likes Banks Moretti. My friend.

That’s a good thing, Nine.

Sulli bends down to her duffel, resting near a dusty nightstand with a broken digital clock. “Yeah, I thought that was fucking clear when I told him it’d be cool if he took my virginity.”

What is air?

I’m barely breathing.

But I walk closer to Sulli. “I meant that you like him as more than just a friend.”

Her brows pinch, staring at the discolored carpet. Then she takes out a toiletry bag. Standing up, she faces me and steals her hat back, taking it off my head. “So what if I do?” She fits on the baseball cap. “It’s not like he likesmeas more than a friend.”

I frown.

She doesn’t think Banks likes her?

Really?

I shift my weight. Sulli hasn’t realized he’sblatantlyflirting with her. How? How is that fucking possible? It’s so obvious, it smacks me in the face on a daily basis.

She tries to read my screwed-up expression. “What?”

I should tell her the truth.

Tell her Banks finds her hot, attractive, the sun that sets the earth on fire. But I can’t make my lips form those words.