Page 148 of Pretty Little Lies

That he’s mine.

Torin leans in to kiss me as Reeve rises and wraps an arm around my waist. I’m a sandwich of boys who are supposed to be my enemies, myproject,but I can’t bring myself to give a fuck at the moment.

A male clearing his throat pulls me from my lust-filled trance, drawing me to Cairo who currently has a phone in his hand.

“Your cell won’t stop vibrating.” His dark chocolate eyes don’t move from mine as I pluck the device from his hands. A stir of dark impatience fleets from his eyes as I extract my focus from him and to the screen of my phone filled with text messages and calls, all from Levi.

LEVI: Where are you, Bay?

LEVI: Call me.

LEVI: Get the fuck out of that party.

LEVI: Roger’s in the hospital.

LEVI: He stroked out again.

FORTY-TWO

bay

The bitter smells of antiseptics,along with the undertones of artificial cleaning products, make my stomach twist painfully as I pace the hallway of Dad’s hospital room. The disconcerting beeping of machines, the bustle of hospital staff, and the staleness of the vibe here only drives in how fuckingstupidI am.

I’ll never forgive myself for this.

At no time will this ever be okay.

I was in the middle of fucking two guys while my dad was slumped down in his La-Z-Boy chair where Levi found him. And he hasn’t taken his eyes off me since arriving here, nor has he said a word but what room he was in.

I must have the look and smell of sex on me, because his green eyes bore into me with so much animosity that I might need a bed here from him stabbing me with them.

It also doesn’t help that allthreeboys accompanied me here like a damn squad of bodyguards.

“Why don’t you sit down?” Reeve issues out softly along the other side of the wall, facing Levi, but not daring to cause a scene here.

He wouldn’t.

Reeve would never bring about any more stress during a time like this. He’s stayed quiet thus far, but I’ve been going back and forth down this hallway for what seems to be forever while the doctors and nurses set Dad up.

“Mae and Ellie could use a snack,” Reeve continues when I don’t reply, purposely drawing me to the other side of my family that needs me.

They’re probably scared and worried while I selfishly think of myself.

Pivoting without a word, I stride to the waiting area, where Torin and Cairo stoically stand guard like I need them to. Ellie and Mae are playing on a tablet, from who fucking knows where or who, as I hunch down in front of their chairs and attempt to put a happy face on.

“Hey, what are you guys doing?”

Ellie is the first one to acknowledge me, cobalt eyes fastening on to me with sudden anxiety. “Is Dad okay?”

I bob my head, over and over and over again, because hehasto be. The man has no other option. “Yeah, they’re getting him settled into a room.” I point at the tablet in Mae’s tiny hands. “Where did you get that?”

Ellie’s cheeks pinken before she leans over her lap. “The man in the leather jacket.”

Cairo.

I could go the rest of the day without another surprise. Why he randomly shows acts of kindness out of nowhere is still a mystery to me, but that stupid asshole cares. He cares about kids, at least.

“Cool,” I quip, needing to move, because the idea of sitting and waiting is going to drive me insane. “You hungry?”

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