Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
I nod, tensing my fist in my hand while bringing my cigarette to my lips. “Yep. I made us all go down anyway. Short story—Shiloh could see just fine. We all couldn’t. Jenna was stubborn and told Shiloh she wanted to get the anchors, even though they were no longer visible on the finders, tried to go under and went too low too fast and caught an air bubble.”
“I don’t give a fuck about the dumb bitch. I need to know why you didn’t know right then and there that she was the key to this whole thing. Why you went along with your own idea—no”—Malyk holds up his hands—“correction, created the idea of The Game to get people to find the anchors for us, and then drop a molly in their drink after so they had blurred memories, if you knew there was something up with Shiloh. What the fuck, D?”
I take a long pull of my cigarette, flicking the ash onto an old book.
Malyk’s knee jiggles, his fist on his lap tensing. “So what happened? After all that?”
I glare at him. “Are you asking me how Shiloh took me being responsible for Jenny’s death?”
He leans back in his chair, flashing me a smile. “Well, I’m curious.”
Sparrow shakes his head, sinking the rest of his drink. “We need to meet with the Deuces right now if we want any of this to not cross into the path of us being questioned.”
“They’re going to want her,” I add, careful to watch all their reactions. It was inevitable that this was going to happen, but I wanted to remind them anyway.
Sparrow makes his way to the door, pulling it open. “That was the plan anyway. Makes no difference.” The door slams, and I swear both Malyk and I are thinking the same thing.
It does matter.
And everything has changed. Whether we want it to or not.
I was floating. I was sure of it. Floating higher and higher to the ceiling. I needed to come back down. To feel what it was like to feel anything other than pain.
Shiloh
Blaire wraps her arm around my back, pulling me into her embrace. “Tell me one thing. Just one thing, and I won’t ask you again because you know me—”
She turns inward, and I look up at her, swiping the water dripping from my head away from my eyes. I see it then. The worry lines. The ones I know I’ve helped put there.
“Is she okay?”
I hold my breath, blowing out slowly while watching the waves roll over each other. She holds my stare, and before I can answer, she flashes me a wide grin. “God, I’ve missed looking into those lilac peepers.”
“You have them too!” I widen mine at her, smiling.
“Psshhh.” She brushes me off. “Hardly. They’re more like a deep blue.”
They are the same shade as mine, only not so bright. I love Blaire’s eyes. They are the color you don’t realize—a soft lavender shade—until close up. From a distance, they look a baby blue.
I pull myself away from her again, peering over my shoulder. “I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I obviously knew this day was coming. I mean—” I wave between her and me. “We both did. Even the third.”
Blaire raises her brows, shrugging. “Speaking of. She is supposed to be coming tonight. I thought I’d give you a heads-up so you’re not caught off guard.” My stomach twists into knots. Blaire is different. She and I have been best friends—again—all of our lives. Literally thanks to our mothers, but the girl she’s talking about right now hasn’t always been with us.
“Thanks. I need a warning before her.”
Blaire and I both laugh. “I agree.”
“What’s funny?” Cooper comes down carrying four margarita glasses with Dani trailing behind him.
“I just told her that Raidne is coming.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Cooper lowers himself down onto the sand near us, handing me a glass.
I take it happily. Getting out in the water was exactly how I wanted to start my birthday. These are what Cooper calls pre-birthday days. He likes to be wild the day before to party into every birthday. It’s his thing.
“She’s coming? I fucking love that bitch.”
“Who is Raidne?” Dani asks, sipping on her margarita.
I watch as she tries to brush off Cooper’s excitement.
“She’s a friend of ours.” I smile at Dani.
She blushes, and I’m about to shake my head at her when Cooper barks out a laugh, leaning back on the sand on his elbow. He can be such a blind asshole sometimes. I’ve noticed the shift between both him and Dani a lot lately. She’s touching him more, looking at him a little differently.
“Are you kidding? You three were more than friends.”
“Shut up, Cooper.” I kick sand onto his lap, and he taps his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose.
“What! Where is the lie?” Cooper grabs Dani by her waist and shuffles her between his legs. “But just saying, girl. Ruin is this close to slapping a label on whatever you have, so I suggest you figure out what’s happening with your other three playthings.”