“I—” I cut myself off, not sure exactly what he is asking me. “What do you mean?”
“Are you choosing him?” He thrusts a finger toward Dex’s chest as my heart plummets.
Is that what I’ve done?Did declaring Dex as my boyfriend signal to everyone else that I had chosen him over them? I glance up at Sly, Pete, and Jagger, who have all turned to watch me. Their faces are unreadable, but now I have five sets of eyes on me, begging me to answer, and no matter what I say, I know someone is going to get hurt.
My head starts to spin, my throat grows dry, and the pit of dread in my stomach tightens.
“I… I have to go to the bathroom!” I practically yell as I turn and run to the bedroom behind me, knowing there must be an attached bathroom. I find it and close myself in, quickly turning on the taps to hide the noise of me hyperventilating.
I press my hands to the edge of the vanity and drop my head between my arms, trying to take deep breaths. It doesn’t help as light-headedness creeps in and my whole body starts to feel weak.
Chyort poberi! What’s happening to me?!
I lean over the sink and splash some water on my face, which helps for a few seconds, but then the dizziness returns.Dios mio! I’m going to pass out!
I know I should open the door or call for help, but the thought of facing all their expectant faces has me groaning in pain. It can’t be normal to have this sort of reaction to a mere question. But as their faces all flash in my mind, waiting with bated breath for me to answer, I know that this must be some extreme panic attack.
The dizziness becomes so severe that I have to lean against the wall for support. That’s the last thing I remember before everything goes black.
CHAPTER FOUR
JAGGER
As soon as we hear the bathroom door shut, Pete flies for Elias, who just manages to duck out of the way of his right hook.
“What the fuck, Pete?” Elias asks, shoving him away instead of trying to hit him back.
“Can’t you see you upset her?” He jumps on Elias, tackling him to the ground as Sly rolls his eyes. Dex cracks his knuckles and steps closer, looking like he’s waiting to be tagged in, and I just stand back and watch the mess unfold in front of me.
“Me? I just asked her a question! Ow!” He growls when Pete lands a punch to his shoulder. “Fuck off!” He manages to push Pete off him, just in time for Dex to jump in, trying to roll Elias to his stomach. “Get off me!”
“You don’t get it yet, do you?” Sly asks, watching them wrestle around as if it’s totally normal.
“Get—Omph!” He takes a hit to the kidneys before reaching around to Dex, hooking his leg underneath and doing some crazy fighter moves that have them switchingplaces, Dex lying on his side, with Elias holding his head to the ground. “Get what?”
Sly answers calmly, as if he wants to make sure Elias doesn’t miss a single word. “Dex isn’t her only boyfriend. She’s with all four of us.”
Elias immediately stops, and Dex takes advantage of his shock to shove him off and stand up, moving beside the other two as they all stare down at where Elias is seated on the ground. He stares up at them with a flood of emotions tearing through his face.
Finally, he licks his lips and swallows the lump in his throat as he asks, “All of you?” I can hear the pain in his voice, but I couldn’t care less. He was her best friend, not her boyfriend, and even that relationship ended years ago. He has no right to look hurt right now.
Sly nods, and Elias’s brows scrunch, like someone shoved a dagger in him. I don’t want to feel bad for him, but I have a feeling he’s been pining for Wren since he was old enough to start liking girls. I only had letters from her, and I was addicted. Imagine knowing her in real life, and then only being able to watch her through a camera for years.
Finally, I think I understand him.He’s grown attached to her.He’s convinced himself that he’d get her out of there and she’d throw her arms around his neck and they’d run off into the sunset together, living happily ever after.
But that was before we fell into her orbit. That shining star had sucked all five of us in with her magnetic pull. There’s no Elias and Wren anymore. The four of us have grown very attached to her, and the sooner he realizes that, the better.
I hear a faint thump from Wren’s direction and immediately turn and jog to the bathroom she went into. The doorisn’t locked, but I’m only able to open it a foot before it hits something. I peek my head in and see her lying on the floor, unconscious, her feet blocking the door from opening.
“What’s going on?” Dex asks when he sees me trying to get in. I whip around and start signing as fast as I can.
“Wren, on the floor. Unconscious.”I know Elias understands as he repeats it out loud, and I crouch down and reach around the door, lifting her feet out of the way so I can open the door fully.
“Wren!” Dex gasps.
“Fuck, what happened?” Elias asks as I kneel at her side, pushing her hair behind her ear so I can see her face. Her eyes are closed, and her breathing is steady. That’s good at least. I look over her quickly but see no sign of apparent injury, so I carefully pick her up and carry her into the bedroom. Sly steps in to switch off the tap as I lay her down in the middle of the bed, climbing in beside her.
Pete jumps in on her other side, and we both move her hair back away from her face. Pete hisses the exact moment I see the red on the side of her temple. She must have hit it when she fell.
