Page 44 of Tell Me You Like It

Roman dips his head, and whispers in my ear, “Relax. Take your shot. It’ll help.”

I swallow, and do as I’m told, tipping my head back quickly to slam the shot. It’s straight whiskey, and it burns a path down my throat. I lurch forward, and cough, and as I struggle to breathe, Roman takes the shot glass from my hand.

Everyone around me erupts into a riot of laughter.

“Dude!” Christian laughs, holding his stomach. “Did you see her fucking face? Oh, man, that was funny as hell.”

Lucas is also laughing. “Holy shit. Roman selected a girl whodoesn’tdrink. What are the fucking odds?”

Roman is just leaning back, amused by this whole scene. Fucking assholes.

“I drink,” I say defensively.

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Wyn says to the guys, tucked up against her boyfriend, Gabriel. He doesn’t seem to be drinking, but there are a couple of empty shot glasses in front of her. I guess she already drank hers. “You guys are such assholes. So she doesn’t drink like a fucking fish. Why is that so funny?”

She glances over at me and rolls her eyes, secretlyapologizing for their pig-headedness. Or if not that, then at least, commiserating with me.

It doesn’t escape my notice, though, that she’s the only girl to speak up. The others are just sipping on their cocktails, silent. Almost like they’re non-player characters in some kind of game. It’s fucking weird. But the vibe I’m getting is that even if they did speak up, they’d be quickly silenced.

Wyn doesn’t seem to give a fuck. She’s beautiful and outspoken, and the guys just seem to accept that about her. She definitely stands out from the crowd, and I can’t help but admire her for that.

Jackson reaches over and pulls her against him—tearing her out of her boyfriend's arms. They both laugh, but Gabriel doesn’t look amused.

“Yo, don’t you have a consort floating around somewhere?” Gabriel says angrily. He pulls Wyn back toward him, throwing his arm back over her shoulder.

Jackson just laughs, and thereisa woman sitting next to him—I wonder if she’s the girl he chose last night?

“Whatever,” Jackson says. “It’s just funny because I don’t think Roman has ever been with someone so…” His judgmental gaze flicks over me. “...wholesome.”

Okay, wholesome isn’t bad, generally, but the way he says it makes it sound like a cardinal-fucking-sin. Like anyone who isn’t wearing a short skirt and three layers of makeup is a boring chick who isn’t worth their time.

“I’m not all that wholesome,” I spit back. “I’ve been through some shit.”

I don’t know why I care what these assholes think of me, but I feel compelled to defend myself. The last year has been hell, and after all that, if there’s anything I’mnot, it’swholesome. It changed me in ways I’m still struggling to come to terms with.

Jackson sobers a bit, and a flash of pure vitriol sparks in his eyes. “You know what, I bet you’re right. I bet you have a cruel streak in you. I bet behind that innocent facade, there’s a viciousness that even you have difficulty facing in the mirror.”

Everyone in our group has stopped talking, and all eyes are on me, waiting for me to respond, but I can’t seem to find my voice. His dark words have paralyzed me. I can tell by the look in his eyes, and the conviction in his voice, that he believes what he said. That I’m vicious.

Oh, he hasno ideajust how vicious I can be.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Roman

Silence fallsover our little group as everyone waits for Lux to respond to Jackson’s little jab. It’s all pretty amusing, but he’s probing a little too close to the truth, and if Lux gets a hint that we know more than she thinks we do, then this whole thing is fucked.

It’s like a house of cards, and Jackson is a gust of fucking wind.

My hand falls to Lux’s back, and I rub. Before she can even open her mouth to respond to Jackson, I put a stop to it all. “Okay, guys. This conversation is boring me. Who’s going to grab more drinks?”

Several people pop up to volunteer, and I can feel Lux relax under my hand. She leans back a little, and I shoot a glare at Jackson. His attention is fixed on Wyn, though, who is saying something to him. Her tone is low, confidential, so I can’t hear what she’s saying, but she looks pissed. No doubt she’s lecturing him about putting Lux on the spot like that.

Wyn is outspoken and she’s dating Gabriel, who is Lucas and Christian’s cousin, on their mom’s side—but I lowkey get the feeling there’s something going on between Wyn and Jackson. It’s hard to tell, though. Jackson isn’t one to air his shit. He’s the brooding type, and most of the time, he just sits on the sidelines, silently judging everyone else. But Lux’s presence has us all on edge, and tensions are obviously bubbling over.

Wyn swats Jackson, and extricates herself from Gabriel, standing up. She turns to Lux and holds her hand out. “Come on, Lux. I feel like I’m suffocating in this swamp of toxic masculinity. Let’s go dance.”

Lux glances at me briefly before popping up and joining Wyn. They walk off arm and arm toward the dance floor.

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