Page 26 of Van

“Drunk? You’ve seen me drunk,” I slur.

“Not like this. What’s this shit about? Cher was afraid to cut your ass off,” he says, making me smirk. She was afraid of me? Seems everyone is these days.

“Maybe she had good reason,” I tell him.

“You wouldn’t hurt Cher.”

“Maybe not. Maybe I would. You don’t know, Free.”

“Let’s just get the fuck outta here,” Pike chimes in.

“I’m not ready to go,” I tell them. I think I’ll stick around and have a few more drinks and wallow in my self-pity.

“I think you are,” Mask says, shoving Chy into my arms. I catch her and pull her against me, holding her as tightly as I can without hurting her.

“Why are you here?” I ask her.

“They asked me to come help with you. They’ve never seen you like this,” she tells me.

“Not good enough,” I say as I shove her back away from me. She takes a step back when Mask steps up. He grabs the front of my cut and jerks me into his face.

“You’re my fuckin’ VP, Van. You need to act like it.”

“Because I decided to drink?”

“No, because you decided to act all fuckin’ stupid over a pussy. She don’t want you, brother, deal with it!” He growls before shoving me back a step. I turn my head and look at Chy as she hovers near the bar, her arms crossed over her chest.

“He right? You don’t want me?”

“Don’t do this, Van,” Pike warns me.

“Is that what this is, Chyanne?” I ask once more. She shakes her head before stepping closer to me and my heart leaps in my throat.

“I didn’t say that. I just need to deal with this is all. I’ve learned a lot the past few days, Van and it’s a little much for me.”

“So you do want me?”

“Let’s go home,” she says, not answering my question. Instead, she holds out her hand and waits for me to take it. I slowly slide my hand into hers and let her lead me out of the bar.

Once we’re outside, I spin her around and shove her gently against the side of the truck before crashing my lips to hers. She lets me kiss her, even in my drunken, sloppy state.

When I finally pull away, she smiles at me and everything else feels right. She feels right.

“Let’s go home,” she repeats. I nod my head and help her into the truck before I climb in behind her.

“I was singin’ baby. You should have seen it,” I tell her as my head swims.

“I’m sure it was great.”

“It wasn’t. I heard it,” Mask chimes in. I laugh now.

“You know it was good, brother. As good as the shit with Reggie. We burned that shit to the ground, didn’t we, Mask?”

“Shut up, Van.”

“Why? We did,” I tell him.

“She don’t wanna hear about it, Van.” I turn to look at Chy as she looks out the window. He’s right. She doesn’t want to hear about this shit, so instead of talking about it, I rest my head on her shoulder and press my lips to her neck. I run my tongue up the side of her neck to her ear before biting the lobe between my teeth.

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