Page 119 of Burning Embers
“Stop it,” I plead, wanting the floor to swallow me whole.
Maybe I could just live underground. Become the Queen of the Worm People.
Career. Goals.
“I mean, I don’t understand what you see in Tweedledum and Tweedledumber…” Desiree scratches at her wrist absently as her nose wrinkles.
“So you never pictured being with the two of them?” I don’t know why I ask that. I don’t want to know the answer.
Desiree is…beautiful. Funny. Smart. Popular. I’m not sure I’ll stand a chance if she decides she wants to date the twins.
Wait…
DoIwant to date the twins?
When the hell did that happen?
Desiree’s appalled look pulls me out of my shocked spiral. “Me? And Ethan and Emery?” She pantomimes gagging. “Fuck no. I would honestly rather eat my own hair than touch one of them.” She waves a flippant hand in the air. “Besides, even ifI did like them like that—which I most definitely don’t—they’re not meant for me.”
I stare at her in confusion. “Meant for you?”
“You know, like soulmates and all that shit.”
“You believe in soulmates?” I wouldn’t expect that from Desiree. She doesn’t seem like the “hopeless romantic” type of girl.
Then again, I don’t really know her that well. This is the first time we ever hung out outside of school.
“Don’t you?” Desiree cocks an eyebrow imperiously at me, but before I can respond, my phone buzzes for the millionth time that night.
Desiree grabs it before I can.
“Who’s Grayson?” She wiggles her brows suggestively.
I bark out a harsh, humorless laugh. “How much time do you have?”
“Do I need to sneak you some alcohol?” she asks.
“Probably. That might be the only way I can talk about him.”
Honestly, I’m not sure I evenwantto talk about Grayson Grey, the one wound that has never healed properly. What could I possibly say?
Oh, I know. How about… I’m in love with my childhood best friend who has a girlfriend. He kissed me and confessed his love to me, but I snapped at him for leading me on. Now, he’s calling and texting me incessantly, demanding that we speak, but I’m not sure my heart can handle another moment in his presence.
“I already have a feeling I’ll need to grab some garden shears after this conversation is over,” Desiree says, her eyes narrowing. “Does this man deserve to have his balls still attached?”
“Debatable.”
“IZZY!” Jake’s enigmatic voice precedes the man himself running into the room, his hair damp from his shower. He wearsa pair ofSpongeBob SquarePantssleep pants and a T-shirt so holey it would fit in at church. “What the fuck happened at the theater? No one would tell me anything and?—”
Jake cuts off abruptly when he catches sight of Desiree sitting beside me on the couch.
His cheeks turn bright crimson.
I hide my smirk behind my hand as I make the introductions. “Desiree, you know my foster brother Jake, correct? Jake, of course you know Desiree.”
He flashes me a murderous stare, but I simply wink at him. Payback’s a bitch.
“Desiree. Hi. You’re here. In my house. Here. In my house. On my couch. Here.” Jake runs a hand through his tousled blond hair…and then abruptly drops it when he realizes that the movement displays the holes beneath his armpits.