Page 37 of Wicked Sins

Istare after Josiah with a lump in my throat that even a sip of wine is unable to dislodge. I knew this was a mistake, but I came down here anyway. Why hadn’t I stayed in my room?

Because you were lonely, and sad, and you couldn’t stop thinking about how good a glass of wine would taste.

“—everything okay?”

My gaze snaps back to Wayne, and I duck my head a little, giving him a sheepish smile. No need to make him or Mom worry. I glance up at her from under my lashes. Her head’s down, eyes on her plate, but all she’s doing is pushing her food around.

You’d swear she was unhappy I was here.

She happens to look up. I glance away, but not fast enough.

Her chair scrapes back with a shudder over the wooden floorboards.

“Honey?” Wayne asks, setting down his glass of wine as she heads out of the room. “Everything all right?”

“Going to watch some TV,” she says, somewhat indistinctly.

“Sheesh,” he says, inhaling deeply as he drains the rest of his wine glass. “What is it with you ladies lately?”

My cheeks warm-up at the comment. Mom must have told him why I’d been absent from the dinner table, but maybe that’s a good thing. I’d been lonely enough to venture down here and attempt a meal with my family, but now I’m feeling weird and awkward sitting here with Wayne and Emma.

Why had Josiah left? I’d been waiting for the first glass of wine to kick in—still waiting, by the way—so I could try and engage him in conversation. So he could see I was trying to be nice. Maybe then I’d actually be able to apologize.

I should have thanked him last week already, but I’d been mortified after I woke up with him bathing me like an invalid. For days, I couldn’t even summon up enough courage to look in his direction. I’d hoped to clear things up in the car on the way to school, but all he seemed interested in doing was crapping me out.

As if any of that shit was my fault. They fuckingdruggedme.

You shouldn’t have been there in the first—

I empty my glass and hurriedly hold it out toward Wayne. “One more before bed?”

Something flickers over his face, and for a moment, I think I’ve gone too far.

The moment stretches into infinity.

Emma lets out a blustery sigh, mutters something about ‘ride my unicorn’, and slips off her chair. Wayne drops his gaze the moment she speaks, and starts placing his knife and fork just-so on his plate as she trundles out of the room.

“Is there something you want to talk about?” Wayne asks, his voice a low rumble.

Oh, my God.

Heknows.

Josiah must have told him!

“I, uh, no. I mean—”

“I know you’ve been avoiding me, Candy Cane.”

Now there’s a playfulness to his voice, and for some reason, that makes my heart skip a beat.

And my stomach turns to lead.

My skin prickles. “Mr.—”

Wayne chuckles and grabs my hand, giving it a hard squeeze. “Gees, baby girl, I was joking.”

I force out a laugh that should have sounded fake, but Mr. Bale seems to buy it. I point at him, and then hurriedly fist my hand when I see how much it’s trembling. “You got me there,” I say. “Guess I’m just tired of getting my butt kicked in chess.”

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