Page 46 of Tell Me You Like It

Lucas nods. “And your mom?”

I take a deep breath. Yeah, Mom. Damn. This has all hit her pretty hard, and it guts me to see her in pain. “She’s really scared. She cries a lot.” I shrug. “She’s on the phone with the lawyer several times a day, but he always says the same thing–unless a miracle happens, my brother is royally fucked.”

“Your dad is so fucking loaded, though. Doesn’t he have a whole team working on this?” Jackson asks.

“My dad’s relationship with James is complicated. But, I mean, yeah, he’s throwing as much money as he can at this. But short of fucking murdering someone, there’s only so much the lawyers can do.”

And that’s where I come in. To win the game, you can’t always play by the rules. And I’m not above doing some shady shit—especially when someone has fucked with my family.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Lux

The club isdark and loud, and I’m relieved when Wyn leads me to the bar, instead of the dance floor. Dancing isn’t my favorite thing—unless I’m drunk. After a few drinks, I’m a dancingqueen.I’ll dance anywhere, with anyone.But I’m way too sober to hit the dance floor just yet.

As the bartender places a Mai Tai in front of me, a few of the other girls saddle up the bar, too. Nathan and a couple of the guys are right behind them.

Nathan settles next to me, trying to get the bartender’s attention, but he’s busy with the other girls.

I glance over at Roman and notice it’s just him, Jackson, Christian, and Lucas sitting around the table. They look deep in conversation about something. Probably plotting something shady. Seems like something they would do.

“You get kicked out?” I ask Nathan, taking a sip of my drink. It’s a lot sweeter than I expected, and I scrunch my nose alittle.

“I’m sorry?” Nathan says, raising his voice a little to be heard of the din of music and chatter.

I flick my chin in the direction of the table that we all just vacated. “The guys. Did they tell the rest of you to leave the table?”

“Oh,” he says. “Yeah, I guess they have something they need to talk about.”

“Fucking assholes,” I say, staring over at the table.

Nathan looks a little taken aback by my outright disdain. “They’re pretty cool, actually.”

Oh, fuck. Another mindless drone who drank the Roman Rush cool-aid. I guess that shouldn’t surprise me, though. Nathan is a member of the Burning Crown, so it makes sense that he’s offended on the Sons’ behalf. Still, it’s gross, and I’ve never been good at hiding my feelings.

“Sorry,” I say flatly. “I forgot those assholes are your friends.”

He manages to flag one of the bartenders down and orders a drink then turns and leans back on the bar, facing me. “You know, anyone on campus wouldkillto be in the position you’re in. It’s not often that random people are invited into The Circle. It’s an honor.”

Anhonor? Goddamn, this guy hasn’t justdrunkthe cool aid, he’s bathing in it on the daily.

“Right,” I say slowly. “Great point. I hadn’t thought of that.”

He smiles in approval. “Sometimes, it’s just a matter of perspective.”

“Cool, yeah. Hey, have you seen my friend, Bree, by chance?” I pull up a photo of her from my phone and show it to him. “Last time I saw her was yesterday morning.”

Nathan leans in, squinting at the photo, but when he pulls back, he looks uncomfortable. “Sorry, I haven’t seenher. I’m sure she’ll turn up. Have you asked her classmates?”

I shove my phone into my back pocket and blow out a breath. “Yup, I’ve been asking everyone.”

Nathan adjusts the sleeves on his jacket—more out of nervous habit, I’m guessing. “It’s not unusual for people to go missing around here…” A pause. “For a day or two…” he clarifies.

“Yeah, I’m hearing that a lot.” I flash him a tight smile. “Thanks, anyway.”

Making my excuses, I turn away from him to go find Wyn, who is sitting behind me, talking to one of the other Burning Crown girls.

“I’m starting to think I’m overreacting about Bree,” I say to Wyn, taking a healthy sip of my drink. After the last couple of days I’ve had, I can’t get drunk fast enough.

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