Page 145 of Wreck Me

It couldn’t happen again.

I couldn’t allow anything close to play out that way.

So I’d made a decision then to go to what Cal and Cas would consider extreme methods, when in fact they were merely necessary with all the crazy shit going on right now, and all the crazier shit that was about to go down all too quickly.

That was what I was doing now, ensuring I took the necessary measures.

Just until I could get a handle on things, hopefully until they calmed down, or until I found a way to walk the line between the good and the bad.

“Bastian, you coming?”

Shit.

I jolted, the vial of meds almost slipping from my hand in the process, as Caleb’s yell sounded right outside the bathroom door. I’d been so caught up that I hadn’t even heard him approaching from down the hall.

“Be there in a second!” I called back.

It sounded like he was pressed right up against the door when he spoke again. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I just ate too much at dinner, a little nauseated. I just needed a few minutes. It’s passed now.”

“You want me to get something to settle your stomach?”

“No, thanks. I’m all good now.”

I could almost feel him hesitating outside the door. Or maybe getting suspicious? Had I been acting different the last little while?

Nah, I was just being paranoid. Probably just that nagging bitch of guilt fueling it too. That voice inside my head that had been so powerful keeping me from all of this. It didn’t get it. It only saw the dangers, not the positive aspect of it.

“All right,” he finally said. “Just hurry, Skylar’s kicking my ass in Halo.”

Of course she was. She was a damn good player, for one thing. And another, Caleb really wasn’t. I was pretty sure he didn’t even realize, because often I’d just have my fingers hovering over the controller for several minutes to give him a leg up, so I didn’t totally destroy him. He wasn’t really into playing. Coding sure. Coding anything. But he still made an effort to play with me, so it was the least I could do.

I would have to let Sky in on the whole deal there.

“Where’s Cas?” He wasn’t the best either, but that was because he rarely ever played. Only to humor me once in a while. But he was still better than Cal.

“On the phone with Luke.”

“All right. Give me five and I’ll back you up.”

“Thanks, B.”

I heard him moving away then, heading down the corridor toward the game room. Or the den as we called it.

That’s right, in King Manor, there was a big-ass room entirely devoted to gaming.

Just another example of Cas going out of his way for us. Me, in this particular case.

I grimaced as I thought about my suspicions of him manipulating Sky and me, then accusing him of still planning to use her. I’d been so wrong about it. He’d only had our best interests at heart as usual. He hadn’t let his rivalry and need to deal Bane a blow take precedence. And he’d also been amazing with Sky since she’d been here. Actually, since he’d pulled her out of that ring at the fight club. He’d been patient, he’d held back for her a hell of lot sexually, he’d been understanding and even sweet, he’d ensured she was taken care of in every possible way.

Guilt gripped me again as I stared at the bottle of heavy-duty pain meds that I was now clutching in a white-knuckle grip. First his flask, now this. These were meds he kept on hand in case he or Cal sustained any injuries during our Jackals exploits. I played it a lot more careful than them when we were out in the field. Part of that was me being Rein and the other was that me getting injured was a lot harder for them to stomach because I couldn’t take painkillers and had to basically suffer through it. When I’d lived here before, Cas had locked all this stuff up way out of my reach. Things were different now, though.

And I was also different.

I would be fine.

This was just to take the edge off so I didn’t fuck up everything.

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