He points in the direction of the group. “She’s making this impossible. We’ve been close to kissing each other three times tonight, and she pulls away every time. I can’t fucking take it.” I try, I do, but I can’t help the snort that slips out. “Stevie, you set me up with her. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Clutching my stomach, I hold on to the bar and practically howl. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” I wipe the small tears that have collected under my eyes and take a deep breath. “Tell her the truth, Brad.” I grab his shoulder. “Take her outside and talk to her. Luna is more of a no-bullshit kind of person. Tell her everything you’re feeling, even if it sounds crazy.Which it does.” I emphasize the last three words.
He nods. “Okay, no more bullshit. I’m going to take her outside and demand that she be with me.”
“No, no, that’s not…” And he’s gone. Blowing out a breath and sending a prayer to my friend who is most definitely going to get slapped tonight, I grab the yellow fizzy drink that’s in front of Em and Jenn. We walk back to our seats, and I’ve downed a quarter of the drink by the time we get to the table. It’s the best mocktail I’ve had since I’ve gotten here.
“Like it?” Kami asks, taking a break from dancing with Cameron.
Bringing the drink to my lips, I nod while sipping. “It tastes incredible. What’s in it?”
She waves a hand around. “The older bartender who works here in the day, Abe, makes all of his syrups for the bar. That one has passionfruit and something else he won’t tell me about.”
Feeling an odd taste in my mouth after the next sip, I examine the drink. “It’s a bit bitter.”
Kami’s eyebrows draw together. “Really? It shouldn’t be.”
Jenn halts her conversation with Em. “You okay, S?”
The bitter taste lingers, and I turn my panicked eyes to Jenn. “Did they put any alcohol in this?”
Emma sobers up completely. “No, none.”
“I made your condition crystal clear,” Jenn adds.
Nodding, I feel the bitter taste subside and let out a breath, feeling relieved. “Sorry, I worried for no—” A wave of nausea hits me, and the room spins. Hands steady me, and my heart rate picks up.
No. No, no, no. Not again. Not after so long.
My legs turn into jelly, and I land in someone’s arms. They treat me so gently, but it doesn’t matter if they’re gentle or not, what’s about to happen isn’t gentle at all. And then the tingling sensation starts.
There’s yelling around me. Some voices are deep, while others are light. I hear the mention of 911.
It’ll take the ambulance minutes to arrive, and I know I only have a couple of seconds.
My eyes are still open, my voice as paralyzed as it was last time. My legs begin to shake, the movement making its way up, and Levi’s panicked face looms over me. He hurries to turn me onto my side. The static in my body, the one that I’ve only ever felt once before, makes its way up to my hand and arm, before reaching my neck.
“I’m right here, Stevie,” I hear Levi say into my hair. The feeling reaches my head, and everything fades to black.
Chapter Thirty-Six
STEVIE
Beep. Beep. Beep.
What is that sound? Maybe the start of a song? I must’ve drifted off at the pizza parlor on Levi’s shoulder. That means I won’t have enough energy to go to King’s Wolf.
Crap, I wanted to have some fun.
Moving my head to adjust my neck, I feel the soft material beneath me. Did someone bring me home and lay me down? Levi’s done that a handful of times whenever I don’t feel well, but I felt fine while we were eating.
A loud pitch hits my ears, making me wince.
Someone’s yelling. Someone is yelling, and I’m having trouble opening my lids. It feels as if they weigh a million pounds. Then a familiar smell invades my nostrils. A disinfectant. A very specific kind of disinfectant. The pillow beneath me doesn’t smell like lavender, but like…like a hospital.
The yelling intensifies, and I fight to open my eyes as I try to listen.
“You have to let me in! Her family is still thirty minutes away, and she needs to see someone she knows when she wakes up.”
