“So, last night… was any of it real? Or were you just trying to get me to stick around? Afraid me leaving would affect the group decision you all made and paint you in a bad light?”
“No, Mik I swear, I—” Kade chokes, unable to produce the words he needs to explain. His mouth just hangs there, opening and closing, as his brain works overtime trying to fix the mess he’s in.
“I-I need to go,” Bear stammers, jumping to her feet and rushing to the front door.
“Mik!” Ryder calls, at the same time I do. “Bear!”
I’m on my feet in mere seconds, but it’s still not fast enough to catch her before she’s out of the room and around the corner. The thunderous slam of the front door lets us know she’s gone outside for some fresh air and space.
“Fuck!” I curse, turning towards the window with my hands on my hips.
There’s no doubt in my mind that we could have addressed that in a better way. Like, I don’t know,notimmediately following Max screaming at her. But after thinking she had left, and then finding her with Kade…
Ryder told her it was up to her, he left the ball in her court, but I’m guessing the influx of knowledge still managed to spook her. Although, she seemed more hurt that we had the conversation without her, rather than the fact we just declared we wanted to share. I hope once she calms down a little, clears her head, she’ll be willing to come back and we can talk through it some more.
In the meantime however, I want—no Ineed—to know what the hell happened last night. And if the glares Kade is getting from Max and Ryder are an indication, I’m not the only one.
“What?!” He shrugs, shoving it off as if it’s something menial like getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“I thought we agreed to not initiate anything physical!?” Max bellows, his tone as cold as an arctic blast. I get that he’s hurt, or feels betrayed, but if he doesn’t lose the hostility towards Mik, we could end up losing her before we even actually get her.
“Start from the beginning and spill,” Ry demands, taking Bear's empty spot on the couch.
“There’s not much to tell really. I couldn’t sleep last night after getting woken up from a nightmare, so, I came down around two this morning for a glass of water. When I hit the bottom of the stairs, I saw her bags by the door and thinkingwe had forgotten them when we got home, I grabbed her backpack to bring upstairs. That’s when I caught her walking out of the kitchen and clued in that she was trying to bolt again without saying anything to us.”
“And? How did the night go from that to her being half naked in your bed this morning?” I press, knowing there has to be more.
“I called her out,” he says nonchalantly. “It ended up sparking an argument between us, in which I may or may not have snapped at her. I could tell I was losing the battle and in my head, all I could think about was how if I was never going to see her again, I at least wanted to have one kiss from her. So, I did. Then to my utter surprise, she kissed me back. Things escalated from there, and I told her how I’ve felt about her all these years and begged her to stay and well… you saw where it ended up.”
Kade finishes, and his eyes gloss over, like he’s reliving the memory of them together once again. A smile alights his face, spreading wide from ear to ear and honestly, I’m a little jealous of the fucker now.
“Well, now what the fuck do we do?” asks Max in a brassy tone that immediately makes me want to throttle him. Ryder must feel the same way as he gets up to move around the couch.
“Well, for one. We don’t fucking yell at her about secrets she’s been keeping for twelve years, Asshole!” Piercing Max with a frigid glare before rolling my eyes. “As for what to actually do, I have no idea. She’s clearly got some feelings somewhere for us, or she wouldn’t have reciprocated Kade’s advance. Not only that but she didn’t seem agitated about the idea, more so that—”
“Uhh guys?” Ryder murmurs from where he’s been pacing.
“Just a sec, Ry.” I quickly answer before continuing. “As I was saying she seemed more—”
“Guys!” he tries again, on the brink of shouting this time.
“What?!” Kade and I call back in unison. It’s only as I look over to him, back straight as a board, facing out of the room towards the front entrance, that I realize he’s stopped pacing.
“Her stuff is gone.”
All three of us are up and out of our seats to join him at the door. Where only thirty minutes ago her two bags still sat, water bottle lying on top and keys on the table, now just an empty floor that elicits panic within each of us.
She’s running again. But this time it’s from her past, her emotions, andus.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mikayla
They all want to be with me… that’s what they just said. I didn't miss-hear them…right? There’s no way the fantasies of my past are coming true, that I could indeed have the four men I’ve been swooning over since middle school. Or is there?
I’m so confused. Like someone has thrown a hurricane and a tornado into the middle of my thoughts and said “good luck!” I’ve been hiding the feelings I’ve had for them for so long. Locked them away in a dark and dusty box, deep in the pits of my soul. Every lustful thought I had clung to while captured, I promisedto never let out. Each memory of a smile that brightened my days, covered in a curtain and stored in the corner.
I used them, their memory, to survive. To continue to live through a situation that was determined to see me broken and hopeless. When I got free, I pushed everything about the guys away. To keep myself from actively searching for them, to keep them away from me.To keep them safe.
