“I’ll help you upstairs, babe,” Brodie said, which fucking annoyed me for reasons I wasn’t about to delve into.
Forcing myself to keep playing the game, I knocked Haze’s character out again, and he threw his controller down, apparently too distracted to give a fuck. “I feel absolutely terrible about what happened,” Lacey said, her perfume growing stronger as she moved in behind me and rested her hand on my shoulder. I glanced up into her familiar, comforting features while she stared at Eve—who I still refused to acknowledge, since she’d insisted on heading out without me to begin with. “Keep me updated with how you’re feeling. Ithink I’ll head into town to grab some groceries for you guys and maybe look around the shops.”
Haze glanced my way like he thought I would object, but I just shrugged. “Yeah, sounds good. Let me know when you’re back on campus.”
Lacey leaned down and pressed a warm kiss to my cheek, and I breathed her in, wishing that there’d be even the smallest stirring inside for my oldest friend. I couldn’t lose her, but I also didn’t want to marry her like was expected. We needed to have that chat soon.
“I’ll call you later, Connie.”
Hated the name, but from her, I tolerated it. “Okay, Lace. Stay safe out there.”
Her laugh was light and sweet. “You know I can take care of myself.”
Turning back to the game, I heard Eve shuffle away and head for the stairs with Brodie. It took every fucking ounce of control not to follow her and make sure she wasn’t more injured than she’d let on, but she’d already told me to fuck off once.
When Haze settled back into the chair beside me, I felt his probing gaze once more. “What?” I snapped with a huff. “You’ve clearly got something on your mind.”
He ran his hand over his mouth, brows furrowing. “You seriously don’t mind if Lacey heads into town on her own?”
Was he for real? “Why would I mind? She’s a grown fucking woman. I don’t control her.”
I didn’t even want to control her. Our relationship worked because we didn’t live in each other’s pockets. She’d just gotten back from all the dangers of Africa, and I never cared.
Haze was silent for a few seconds, and I decided it was time to switch up the game. I was done with this old-school shit. As I leaned over to grab my controller, he finally said, “I wouldn’t letmy girlfriend out in the world without me. We know what’s out there, Con.”
I shrugged. “Lace can handle herself. Now, are you ready to play? Or are we booking that therapy session?”
Thankfully the pitbull motherfucker finally gave up on questioning me to within an inch of my life, and we got back to trying to destroy each other via a video game. A few hours later, when my bladder screamed at me, I took a piss and leaned against the stair railing, wondering if anyone had checked on Eve. Maybe she needed a snack or a drink?
It was just being a good roommate to make sure she hadn’t died from her injuries, and as I placed my foot on the first step, Haze careened around the corner of the house, his phone in his hand. “Bro, get the fuck up there and make sure Eve’s in her room.”
Knowing his stalking ways had picked up on an issue, I tore up the stairs three at a time, slamming my shoulder against Eve’s door, but it was one of those old, reinforced frames, and I bounced right off. “Brat!” I shouted as I banged my hand against the door. “Why is your door locked? Are you okay in there?”
Haze hadn’t followed me, but he appeared a few seconds later with a key in hand. When it slipped right into Eve’s lock, I side-eyed the crazy bastard. “You’ve had a key to her room the entire time?”
Brodie popped his head out of his room a few seconds later, looking ruffled like he’d been taking a nap. “Eve with you?” I barked, and he immediately shook his head, concern marring his pretty-boy features.
“No, she said she wanted to rest. Is she not in her room?”
Haze clicked the lock over, and we all pushed inside to find it completely empty. Bed nicely made. “What did you notice?” I snarled, getting right in Haze’s face. “Why did you think we needed to check on her?”
He flipped his phone up, and there was a red dot beeping in the middle of the screen. A screen which was showing up in the middle of downtown Meadowridge. “I put a tracker on her phone ages ago, but I don’t fucking check it every second, especially not when she’s supposed to be sleeping in her room. I thought it had malfunctioned or something.”
Utter rage darkened my vision, and I reached out and grasped his shirt. There was no way I could throw around Haze easily, but he didn’t appear to be thinking clearly as he let me jerk him close. “Are you telling me Eve is in fucking town? Without one of us?”
Haze’s eyes narrowed as he slapped my hands away. “You didn’t care when it was Lacey.”
Fuck. Fucking fuck FUCK. “This is Eve. It’s completely different. Or have you forgotten that someone shot and killed over twenty people at her last school while aiming for her?”
He looked like he was gearing up to probe into my psyche, and I’d have to shoot him if that happened, so I turned to Brodie. “We need a car, Brodes, and we need it now.”
With a nod, Brodie took off down the stairs, his face wreathed in panic. I’d never seen him look so pale, and it was clear that what he felt for our Eve was much more than just infatuation. Her fucking witchy ways were taking all of us out.
Haze was trying to call Eve, so I quickly dialed Lacey. She didn’t answer on the first call, but I immediately hit her number again. “She knows she’s not supposed to be out without us,” I snapped. “Which makes it likely that both of them will avoid our calls until they’re ready to come home.”
Lacey because she didn’t know about the danger, and Eve because she was my little brat and needed a firm hand on her ass.
“Why the fuck did she go out without us?” Haze rumbled, and I was surprised by the tinge of true worry in his voice. Ittook a fucking lot to rattle him, and I did not like that he was. “It’s not like her to be so risky.”
