Page 38 of You Belong With Me

“And?” I ask, breath held. “Did he?”

Ash nods. “He didn’t really have a choice, but, yeah.”

I could cry in relief. Thank God Gabriel no longer has a claim on me.

Pinching the blunt between my thumb and forefinger, I study it, so I don’t have to look at the three sexy-as-fuck guys who are staring at me. It’s unnerving. “So, Gabriel left?”

“Yeah,” Jackson and Ash say in unison.

“Where’s Lucas?” I ask.

Jackson shrugs, but it’s Christian who answers. “His car is still in the driveway, so he’s probably down at the beach.”

I move to walk out of the room, but I pause, turn around, and hold the blunt up. “I’m taking this with me.”

Christian shrugs. “It’s yours.”

Jackson steps forward. “Hold up. I’d better walk out with you.”

I scoff, annoyed. “You guys said Gabriel is gone. I’m good.”

Did it have to be Jacksonof all peopleto step forward and offer to walk me out? We were close once, and I’m still bothered about him ditching me right after Gabriel “died.”

He moves to follow me out like he didn’t hear me. Whatever. I’m not in the mood to argue. It’s a three-minute walk, anyway.

Outside, it’s dark, and the breeze coming off the ocean is ice-cold. I’m glad I grabbed Lucas’ hoodie, but my bare legs are likeblocks of ice as Jackson and I walk to the side of the house, and down the dirt path that leads down to the beach. There’s a sliver of moon, illuminating the path a little, but Jackson pulls his phone out, and gets in front of me, so he can light the path.

“So, I just wanted to, uh, say sorry about all the shit that’s gone down,” Jackson says cryptically.

“What does that mean?” If that’s supposed to be an apology for ditching me during the roughest two months of my life, then he’ll have to do better than that. I mean, damn, those two months were brutal.

He pauses on the path, his boots crunching the gravel beneath his feet as he turns to face me. “After Gabriel died, Lucas was pissed, and he blamed you. I had to back him up.”

“Oh, did you?” I blink at him, the blunt dangling from my fingers. I desperately want to take another hit, but I didn’t bring a lighter.

“We’re Sacred Sons,” he says flatly. “We have each other’s backs. Regardless.”

I push out a breath and move to walk in front of him. “Great. I don’t know why you’re telling me this.”

He pulls on my arm gently, and I stop. “Because it sucks that it had to be like that. I know it was shitty, and I’m sorry.”

I push out another breath, my anger softening atinybit. If I were in his position, I’d probably do the same thing. I’d side with Lux on just about anything. But it still hurts to be abandoned like that. I smile up at him, but it’s afuck youkind of smile. “Welp, at least I know where the rest of us stand when it comes to your epic bromance.”

He lets go of me and allows me to walk in front of him, but I quickly regret it, because I’m barefoot and the ground is uneven. I pull out my own phone light, and we walk the rest of the way in silence.

When we get to the bottom, I see Lucas immediately. He’s sitting on the sand in the near-darkness, watching the waves gently crash against the shore. I turn to Jackson. “I think that’s him.”

He smiles at me tightly. “I really am sorry, Wyn. I hope we can be chill again.”

“Thanks for walking me out,” I say stiffly, not because I actually want to thank him, but as a conversation end-point. I turn and wade through the soft sand, making my way toward Lucas.

When I reach him, I sit down next to him. He glances at me, surprised to see me here on the beach with him. He twists his body and glances back, in the direction I just came from. He must see Jackson because he lifts his hand to indicate I’ve been successfully handed off.

Turning back around, he looks at me, his gaze flicking over my hoodie and bare legs. “I thought you’d be sleeping by now,” he says. “It’s too cold for you out here.”

I bring my knees up to my chest and pull the bottom of the hoodie over my legs, covering them. “I couldn’t sleep,” I say, setting my phone and blunt on the sand next to me. I reach over and grab his hand. His knuckles are raw and still bleeding. “The guys told me what happened.”

He just watches me as I smooth my fingers over the uninjured parts of his hand.

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