Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
They were just as lost trying to decipher what the hell his intentions had been. Well, besides screwing with my head—we all agreed on that one.
Daniella was quiet for a second. “If need be, I’ll handle him.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “The last thing we need is you going to war with Wilder.”
She smirked, leaning back. “Just saying. You know I’ve got your back.”
“And I appreciate that,” I replied, meaning it.
Cherish snorted. “Let’s be real, okay? You’d have to take on his gang of rich assholes too.”
Daniella’s brows shot up and she leaned forward with a sly grin. “Take them on how? I have multiple holes, babe.”
I laughed as my sister’s face screwed up. “You’re disgusting.”
“Well, I’ll say this much, Wilder’s friends might be complete assholes, but damn, they’re fine as hell.”
Cherish shook her head. “Of course, you’d think that.”
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re not,” I admitted with a grin.
I may have wanted to blow them all to hell, Wilder included, preferably inside their fancy-ass penthouse, but that didn’t take away from the infuriating reality: their entire friend group was unfairly attractive.
Thorne could have been the depiction of an angel, with his white, blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, tall and athletically built. Lucian, on the other hand, was every bit the tall, dark, and broody type. Romeo had the elegance of an actual refined aristocrat—if you ignored the ink snaking across his skin and the blunt, razor-edged insanity that lurked just beneath his polished exterior.
Hunter looked like he’d stepped straight out of a Greek myth, all pretty-faced charm with green eyes that gleamed with mischief and curly brown hair that gave him a deceptively boyish look. Atlas, meanwhile, had the kind of classic, old-world style that could land him a leading role in Peaky Blinders.
It was almost as if they’d been handpicked by some cosmic joke to be the most aesthetically pleasing group of assholes imaginable. I couldn’t help but wonder if that correlated to them all being disgusting pigs. Beauty and bullshit seemed to go hand in hand with them.
“And don’t even get me started on Romeo. That man is crazy in all the best ways. Like, someone you don’t make eye contact with unless you want to end up in a trunk. You just know he’s packing,” Daniella continued.
I wrinkled my nose. “Can you stop?”
“What?” she said, throwing her hands up innocently.
“He’s insane, sure, but that only makes it hotter. I mean, come on, you’ve seen him.”
“Yeah, we’ve met him too,” Cherish muttered, making a face. “And I think we prefer to stay alive.”
“Ella, you’d have to survive being in the same room with him for more than five minutes first.”
“Oh, I’d survive,” she said confidently. “I’d probably walk funny for a week, but I’d survive.”
We both shot her a look, but she just grinned wider, clearly pleased with herself. Thankfully, the conversation shifted after that, and it had nothing to do with Wilder or his friends. Their voices blended into a comforting hum as I leaned my head against the window, staring at the endless stretch of road ahead.
Why the hell was heartbreak this hard? I shouldn’t have had to force myself to be in this moment with them. It felt wrong, like I was trying to play a part I wasn’t ready for.
I loved these two all the more for the simple fact they weren’t pressuring me to be okay; they were just doing what they could to keep me distracted. I had a few hours yet to pull myself together and convince myself that I could survive this weekend and fucking enjoy it like I longed to do.
I was going to get drunk with my girls, eat all the food that was bad for me, sleep late, and pretend I wasn’t missing a vital piece of myself, like the absence of him hadn’t carved out something essential inside me.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The drive had been quiet for a while, the steady hum of the engine and the occasional burst of chatter from Daniella and my sister filling the car. I was zoning out with little cat naps when her phone buzzed in the cupholder.
Cherish tapped the button on the steering wheel, answering it on speaker. “What’s up?”
“Need to stop for gas,” Liza’s voice crackled through the car. “I’m running low. Let’s pull off at the next exit.”
Cherish glanced at me, raising a brow as if to ask if we were good with that. I nodded, and she responded, “Got it. We passed a sign about fifteen minutes ago. There’s a station two miles up. Meet us there.”
“I’ll just follow you, speed demon,” Liza teased before ending the call.
“I should have mentioned this way earlier, but what do we think of Liza bringing stray dicks on our trip?” Cherish asked.
After processing her stray dick comment, I shrugged, pretending to be unbothered. “I mean, if we’re stuck with them, we’re stuck with them.”