Page 41 of Riverside Reverie

“Can I ask what he did to earn The Ex title?” Talia asked, loud enough to garner the attention of Rhiannon and Zoey. Maybe it was the amount of alcohol in my system—we’d been drinking since our dip in the river—or the fact that I felt comfortable enough with this group to reveal a little more, but I found myself answering.

“He slept with my little sister,” I replied curtly, taking another sip of my drink. “She sent me a Snap of them together in bed.”

“Holy shit,” Talia leaned forward, her eyes so wide they were comical. “What a bastard. The both of them, really.”

“It’s okay, I’m over him. I eventually would have broken up with him anyway. He didn’t have any aspirations or goals and seemed annoyed by mine.” I shrugged.

“Yeah, but…your sister? That’s next-level shitty,” Talia shook her head. “I mean, I’ve had some pretty bad breakups over the years, but that takes the cake.”

“Yeah, that’s exponentially worse than having a boyfriend cheat on you,” Rhiannon said sympathetically. “What an asshole.”

“The biggest, floppiest of assholes,” Zoey chimed in, looking enraged on my behalf. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

Now I was beginning to get uncomfortable, especially because the guys had looked over to see what we were bonding over.

“It’s okay, I’m fine. Totally fine,” I said, smiling to show how fine I was. “Honestly, the only thing that sucks is the knowledge that my sister will always do shit like this to me, and that I’ll have to keep her at a distance to keep that harm away.”

Zoey’s expression softened, like she knew or could really sympathize with that. “I’m sorry, that’s really rough. Not all family deserves the title. Blood isn’t always thicker than water. Sometimes, that blood is poisoned.”

The way she spoke and the heavy knowingness in her eyes had me thinking she’d been through something with her own family, but I wasn’t about to ask. I nodded in agreement.

“Sometimes, your real family is the one you choose for yourself,” Talia added, taking a shot before holding out her whiskey bottle to me with an encouraging smile. I took it from her, thinking what the hell, and took a shot directly from the bottle before passing it to Jasmine.

“Hear! Hear!” Jasmine said, taking a shot herself before passing it to Rhiannon. Rhiannon took a shot and passed it on to Zoey, who tilted the bottle back for her own shot.

“What, we’re already getting into the hard stuff?” Kai asked, his voice full of amusement as he stepped over to Zoey’s side. She offered him the bottle and he took it with a grin. “I’m not one to miss out on a good time!” he took a double shot before passing it to Theo.

13

METEORS IN HER EYES

Theo

The whiskey bottle was passed around the fire again, but Lux held up her hand and shook her head. “Oh no, I’m already feeling no pain. I don’t want to end up puking in the bush,” she giggled.

When it came back around to me, I refused it too. I wasn’t looking to get drunk off my face. Instead, I continued nursing the beer I’d been working on since dinner. It was warm now, but that didn’t matter. It was still something to drink and keep my hands busy.

The restless energy was building in me. The need to fix what was broken; to repair the damage done to this woman was overwhelming. I was afraid if I drank anymore, I wouldn’t be able to prevent myself from showing her all the reasons why she should forget her bastard of an ex.

I knew the girls had been talking about him earlier—I’d overheard his name a few times, which is why Talia started passing the whiskey around. I was glad that Lux was finally feeling comfortable enough to open up to the others. I got the sense she didn’t do that often: didn’t trust people enough to let them in on what was going on in her life.

I still couldn’t believe how dumb her ex was, but his careless loss could be my gain—if I played my cards right. I hoped like hell Jasmine would sell her on moving to Sudbury, and I figured bonding with the others would help make that move a reality for us both.

I’d only known Lux for a matter of days, and yet I wanted to rearrange things so I could see more of her. If she moved to Sudbury, it’d be easier to do that.

I’d never felt that way before. I couldn’t explain it, but I didn’t mind it. It felt…right. Kissing her and touching her had only solidified that for me, that what we had between us was something special—something to hold on to. She’d risen to every challenge and experience with determination and openness. She might have been from a different world than mine, but she somehow fit here.

But I knew she’d just come out of a relationship, and had suffered a deeply painful betrayal. While she’d said she was over him, I knew the scars of that experience were still fresh. I was afraid to push her too much or too quickly, so I played it cool, keeping my distance across the fire. Letting her get to know the others when all I wanted to do was get to know her more myself.

Around eleven, Kai got the idea in his head that he could beat Talia at arm wrestling. Desmond tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t hear it. “No, I’ve got this, man! Watch me!”

Kai and Talia positioned themselves in front of the cooking stump and locked arms, the group gathering around them to watch. I found myself standing next to Lux, Jasmine beside her, and Desmond on my left.

Desmond let out a sigh, like a tired parent dealing with a bunch of wayward toddlers.

“You sure about this, pretty boy?” Talia asked, giving him another out. But Kai was too drunk to listen.

“Damn right! Let’s do this!” Kai grinned. Zoey shook her head, standing off to the side behind Kai.

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