Page 47 of Wrecked By You
“Fuck.” I downed my second whiskey, setting the glass in the sink.
“We really are sorry,” Gia said. “I feel awful.”
I glowered at her. “That’s a first for you.”
Her dazzling smile almost blinded me. “And there he is.” She skipped over to me, kissing me on the cheek. “For a second, I thought you’d cloned yourself, and the other you was almost human.”
“Oh, fuck off, Gia.”
She grinned, unperturbed by my rudeness. Her ability to brush off my bad moods was one of many reasons I adored her. Fucking annoying woman.
I strode across the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. “What are you doing here, anyway?” I said to Penn. “You hate LA. I can count on one finger the number of times you’ve visited since I moved here three years ago.”
Penn glanced at Gia, who gave the smallest shake of her head. “Yeah, well, maybe things have changed. Is it a crime to want to see my brother?”
“It is when you freak me the fuck out by breaking into my house.”
“Ah, ah. It’s not breaking in when I have a key.”
“I’m changing the locks tomorrow.”
“Oh, hush,” Gia interjected. “Do you want us to leave?”
I stared at her sullenly. “I suppose you can stay the night, since it’s so late.”
“Gee, thanks. You’re all heart.”
“I’m going to bed. Keep the fucking noise down.”
I stomped upstairs. As I reached the top, I glanced over the balustrade to the hallway below. Penn had Gia pinned against the wall, kissing the ever-loving fuck out of her.
Envy curled in my gut, my ribs squeezing tight. If Sadie hadn’t fucked me over, maybe I’d have been open to finding the kind of relationship Penn had with Gia.
Maybe with Ella.
Nope. Not gonna happen.
Who’d want a man like me? One who couldn’t bear to show his scars, both internal and external. I had so much emotional baggage that it’d take me a lifetime to unpack it all. And I probably wouldn’t manage it even if I lived for a century.
I left them to their passion-fest and went to bed. For once, I had a dreamless night.
Chapter17
Johannes
Fuck, are they still here?
The soundsof tinkling laughter and the smell of bacon roused me from sleep, reminding me I wasn’t alone in the house. Penn and Gia hadn’t left, then? Shame. I threw off the covers and jumped in the shower. Thirty minutes later, I tramped downstairs, scuffing a hand over my still-damp hair as I entered the kitchen.
“What’s all the fucking noise?”
“Morning,” Gia trilled. “Glad to see you’re just as much of an asshole first thing in the morning. Although”—she pointed at the clock hanging on the wall—“it’s almost noon.”
Oh, shit.I rarely slept in this late. Still, I should cut myself a break, especially after last night’s triumph. I snagged a slice of toast off a stack piled on a plate in the middle of my kitchen table and reached for my keys. “I’m late. I have to go. Let yourselves out.”
“Wait a goddamn minute,” Penn said. “Sit your butt down.” He kicked out a chair, then reached for Gia’s hand, tugging her onto his lap. “We have something to ask you.”
I huffed, lowering myself into the chair. “Make it quick. I have things to do. Some of us work for a living.”