Page 92 of Vicious Sentiments

“Anyways.” Denny turns, and Marney reaches up on her tippy toes to hug him goodbye. I notice Dillon scowl but he smooths his face out before anyone else can see.

The front door is extra wide and Denny still has to side step to shimmy out. Margo gives his body an appreciative glance, and I have to resist the urge to snicker. She likes thembuff buffthen.

Dillon is staring at Margo with a frown that she doesn’t notice, and I wonder if I’m making a mistake by not telling Cape and Julian about Dillon’s episode.

* * *

Later that night I’m finally back in my room with Julian and Cape. I’m wedged between the two of them in the bed feeling the most content I have in, well, ever.

I tried to tell Julian that he needs his own bed to heal, but he scoffedat me and said that if Cape gets to lay in my bed, then so does he.

“So,” I say into the dark, relishing the feeling of both of their bodies pressed against mine.

“If you’re going to tell me Cape has already had his way with you, I might cry and I’m in a fragile state, baby,” Julian says to my right.

“No!” I stiffen between them.

“It’s gnawing at you, isn’t it brother?” Cape laughs on my left.

“We didn’t do anything!” I protest and bite my lip. “It’s something else.”

“Hmm. Are you sure you want to tell him? Let it be a surprise,” Cape says, catching onto what I’m trying to confess.

“Oh god…” Julian groans. “Out with it.”

I take a deep breath and turn on my side to face him, even though I can’t see him in the dark but I can feel his breath on my cheek. “You know how you were saying I could drive you around?”

“I was just kidding, baby. I wouldn’t be caught dead having you as anything but my passenger princess.”

“Right,” I draw out the word. “Well, that’s good because I didn’t pass the test.”

Cape snorts behind me, and I smack a hand at him blindly.

I can feel Julian’s confusion through the darkness when he speaks.

“That’s… That’s perfectly okay. I don’t care if you have a license. I just wanted you to feel like you weren’t stuck. So you would have a sense of freedom.”

My heart does a flip flop but I tell it to calm down because the sweet sentiment is about to be ruined.

“Well, um, I appreciate that but it’s—”

“She wrecked your car, bro,” Cape says flatly, and my bottom lip falls open.

Why would he just blurt it out like that? You don’t just blurt out to the person that was kind enough to let you use their car, that theywrecked it. My god.

The room is silent, and I’m waiting for the sigh, the growl, theshame on you,but nothing comes.

“I’m really really sorry,” I say.

“Cape?” Julian says calmly.

“Yes, brother?”

“Do you remember when Marney broke the jacuzzi?”

I spin around as if I can see either of them, trying to understand what they are getting at.

Cape suppresses a chuckle. “I do remember that.”

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