Page 28 of The Wallflower
All I can do is shake my head. “If you want to get out of here, you need to go left. It's only about a half mile back to the cars."
"Fuck you," she yells back at me, her fire making my smile widen. Perhaps I’ve found something worthy of my attention.
Letting Bel return to her dorm alone takes substantial effort, but I manage it. I was tempted to drag her back here kicking and screaming, but thought better of it. Instead, I took the rest of the evening to brush up on everything I knew about her. After a couple of hours of sleep, I rolled out of bed, showered, and changed.
Now I’m in the kitchen, getting ready to discuss the events of last night. It’s just me, the boys, and a truly glorious stack of pancakes.
Lee stands in only his pajama pants, scratching up his chest and over his shoulders. Sebastian’s in a button-down and slacks but sporting a truly glorious black eye that makes me smirkevery time I see it. Aries sits at the counter with his bare feet propped up, his shoulder-length curly hair wet and dripping onto his T-shirt.
I shove them off. “Get your ugly-ass feet off the counter. We’re about to eat.”
When I take the seat next to Aries, I glance over at Sebastian. “Call it.”
He stretches his head to the side, back and forth, like he’s amping himself up for something. Then he snags an open bottle of 151 off the counter, takes a long pull, and passes it around.
“I call this Mill meeting to order.”
There are very few things we do officially or publicly. Most of them happen during the season, so we have the rest of the year to plan. But we still try to keep some of the old traditions alive. We’re the four senior members of the group, and then we have several junior members. It takes a family name and a lot of money to get invited, and of course, everyone wants in beforeThe Hunt.
I open my mouth to ask about how the night went when a woman comes walking into the room, completely naked. We all glance at Lee, who seems unconcerned as he pours some of the 151 into his espresso.
“Charity, I told you to stay in bed.”
Her full pink lips form into a pout, and I eye the mascara lines on her cheeks before assessing the rest of her. Hell, there is mud caked around her ankles. “I smelled pancakes, and since I’m hungry, I thought you might share?”
Lee’s mouth folds into a flat line, and I grin. He rarely gets annoyed, but when he does, it’s usually a good show. With all the athletic skill he’s built in the ten years of his life, he snags a pancake off the stack and throws it at her. She barely catches it in her hands, a folded soggy mess. She glares icy daggers at him. If she thinks she’s mad now…
Grabbing the bottle of hot syrup from the counter, I pour some onto the top of the pancake, smirking as it drips off the pancake and onto the floor.
I point her back in the direction she just came. “Get out. You’ve got your pancake.”
Her eyes skip around the room, and finally, she realizes she interrupted something. “I’ll just...”
“Yeah,” I prompt, staring her down as she goes.
When I flick my eyes back to Lee, I find him unfazed.
“Before we continue, did any of you other assholes have a sleepover with some unfortunate woman or man who will inevitably be tossed out?”
The two of them shrug and shake their heads. Lee’s smug mouth twists up into a smile, and I watch as he looks up at the ceiling.
“What?” I bark out.
“There might be another one up there, but I think he’s still sleeping.”
All I can do is shake my head. “Of course.”
I focus my attention on Seb and Aries, tuning out Lee completely. “Report? How did everything go with the event?”
Seb narrows his eyes and leans forward, bracing his elbows on the counter. “Everything went as expected.”
I swirl my finger in the air near my eyes. “And this? Was that expected too?”
His jaw clenches and narrows his gaze. “Some of us were focused on the event and not on chasing down some little library nerd all night.”
I shrug, unbothered by the mention of Maybel. These guys are like brothers to me. I have nothing to hide. They knew about my interest in her, and they know I claimed a piece of her soul last night. That’s all they’re going to know too. I grab a plate and layer some pancakes with butter and syrup onto it.
“Fine, anything we should be concerned about from attendants, staff, police? Anyone actually make it to the cabin?”