Page 25 of Look What You Made Me Do

Several people look me over with disgust as I make my way into the kitchen. Everyone is dressed up, and I’m in leggings, but whatever. Anyone judging me can suck my dick. For real.

There’s pizza in the kitchen, and I consider taking a slice, but I’ve been so stressed out lately that I’ve lost my appetite. But coffee…I don’t care how upset I am, coffee is life. Pushing past a tight group of people, I open the cupboards and hunt for those magical beans.

“Wyn!” A voice from behind makes me whip around. It’s Ava. I smile and inwardly cringe. Okay,nowI’m judging myself. Ava is so effortlessly beautiful. She’s thin, but busty with long brown hair, tanned skin, and almond-shaped eyes that sparkle. She always looks put together, no matter what.

“Hey, girl,” I say. “Do you have coffee here? I need some.”

She digs deep into the pantry, emerging with a small bag of coffee. She must have hidden it in the back. She hands it to me. “I have to keep it hidden or the guys drink it all, then there’s none left for our consort mastermind meetings on Tuesdays.”

Consort mastermind meetings? Oy. She might be taking this queen consort thing a little too seriously. Consorts were originally conceived as fuck toys for the Sacred Sons. Nowadays, the Sacred Sons just fuck anyone they want anyway, so the consort title is more of a status thing. But Ava is an idealist, and I’m sure she thinks she can do some good as queen. So…more power to her, I guess.

“Thanks, I owe you,” I say. “So, have you officially moved in yet?”

I know she was angling for that once she became queen consort.

She shrugs one shoulder. “Not officially. You know Lucas. He’s allergic to commitment. But I’m here most nights, anyway, so it’s kinda the same thing.”

With a nod, I shove the coffee into my purse. “Well, I’ve shown my face, so I’m out.”

“No, no, no.” She pulls my purse off my shoulder and slings it over hers, then hands me the drink in her hand. “You should stay a while. I’ll put this up in Lucas’ bedroom.”

She seems oddly insistent, and I wonder if she’s heard about the incident from a couple of days ago. Word gets around fast in the Burning Crown and if Kai said something to justoneperson, then the news has already spread like wildfire.

I shrug. “Maybe just a couple of drinks, but I have class tomorrow, so I can’t stay too late.”

“Perfect,” she chirps, grabbing a canned cocktail from the fridge and handing it to me. “You’ll be at the initiation tomorrow?”

“Yup, I’ll be there,” I say cheerfully, even though my stomach churns at the thought. I hate the initiations. They’re always so brutal. But members are required to attend, so there’s no way out of it.

“Have fun,” she says, disappearing up the back staircase to put my purse away.

Blowing out a breath, I open my can and take a sip, then glance at the label. It’s a mojito, and it’s strong. Thank God.

I wander out into the main part of the house, and the ballroom looks like a fucking nightclub, so I head to the living room, where I know it’ll be more chill.

The living room is a cloud of pot smoke, and I cough as I walk in, my lungs burning. Everyone is sitting around, smoking, drinking, playing pool. I see two of the three Sacred Sons as soon as I walk in—Christian and Jackson are standing at the pool table. Jackson sees me walk in and he flicks his chin at me, which is his way of saying hello, but in a low-key way. I shift my gaze away from him quickly without acknowledging the olive branch he’s throwing out—if that’s even what that was. Where was he when I needed him? I’m not interested in fake friends.

“Hey, girl,” Lindsay says. She’s another Deb, and she’s always been friendly to me. She scooches over on the couch, opening a square inch space for me to shimmy into. “Come, sit over here.”

I make my way over to her, stepping over a couple of people who are sitting on the floor. I shove my ass into the tiny sliver of space she opened up for me.

“Thanks,” I say, sucking my entire drink down in one, desperate gulp. Being around people is fucking with my head, and I need the alcohol to hitquickly.

Lindsay is sitting with a bunch of other people, and now I’m in the center of that group, wedged between her and some guy. I’ve seen him before, but I don’t know his name. The largercircle of the Burning Crown is far too big for me to remember everyone’s name.

Lindsay leans toward me. “We heard Kai passed out at your place and had to go to the hospital. Is he okay? Is he coming tonight?”

“Um, I’m not sure,” I answer, skirting the fact that I haven’t spoken to him since the incident. Not that it really matters, but I don’t want people reading into it. God knows they’ll twist anything I say into complete fiction, then pass it off as truth.

“Fuck, first Gabriel, and now this,” she says, and I can tell she’s just trying to be nice, butugh.This is not a topic I want to tackle in front of a group of people.

“Yeah,” I say vaguely. “It’s a lot.”

Everyone in the group is focused on me, leaning in, hanging on my every word. They want all the dirty details of what happened, like whether or not I was choking Kai out during sex or something. I wish.

Oy, I suddenly regret sitting down. But I’m trapped now. Leaving would be a whole production. I’d have to pick my way back through at least a dozen who are sitting on the floor, around the couch.

“So, what happened, exactly?” she asks conspiratorially.

---