Page 16 of Sins of Autumn

Their questions and commentary would either have me brawling at the dinner table or hiding in the kitchen and drinking my sorrows with a bottle of Honey Jack.

“I don’t have it in me to deal with any of that. Not yet.”

Cherish reached over, her hand covering mine. “You don’t have to figure it all out right now. But you’re not doing this alone, you hear me?”

I nodded, squeezing back, grateful for her beyond words. Daniella leaned forward from the backseat, her voice cutting through the moment. “So… on the topic of Wilder, have you heard anything else from him since yesterday?”

I shook my head quickly. “No. He’s still blocked.”

Oddly enough, he hadn’t said anything to me about changing that. I’d told them he had come over to talk. What I didn’t mention was that he held me on his lap like I still belonged to him, made me cum all over his hand, and kissed me in a way that shattered whatever was left of my already broken heart. Then he walked out, leaving me more confused and pissed than ever.

They were just as lost trying to decipher what the hell his intentions had been. Well, besides screwing with my head—we all agreed on that one.

Daniella was quiet for a second. “If need be, I’ll handle him.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “The last thing we need is you going to war with Wilder.”

She smirked, leaning back. “Just saying. You know I’ve got your back.”

“And I appreciate that,” I replied, meaning it.

Cherish snorted. “Let’s be real, okay? You’d have to take on his gang of rich assholes too.”

Daniella’s brows shot up and she leaned forward with a sly grin. “Take them on how? I have multiple holes, babe.”

I laughed as my sister’s face screwed up. “You’re disgusting.”

“Well, I’ll say this much, Wilder’s friends might be complete assholes, but damn, they’refineas hell.”

Cherish shook her head. “Of course, you’d think that.”

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

“You’re not,” I admitted with a grin.

I may have wanted to blow them all to hell, Wilder included, preferably inside their fancy-ass penthouse, but that didn’t take away from the infuriating reality: their entire friend group was unfairly attractive.

Thorne could have been the depiction of an angel, with his white, blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, tall and athletically built. Lucian, on the other hand, was every bit the tall, dark, and broody type. Romeo had the elegance of an actual refined aristocrat—if you ignored the ink snaking across his skin and the blunt, razor-edged insanity that lurked just beneath his polished exterior.

Hunter looked like he’d stepped straight out of a Greek myth, all pretty-faced charm with green eyes that gleamed with mischief and curly brown hair that gave him a deceptively boyish look. Atlas, meanwhile, had the kind of classic, old-world style that could land him a leading role inPeaky Blinders.

It was almost as if they’d been handpicked by some cosmic joke to be the most aesthetically pleasing group of assholes imaginable. I couldn’t help but wonder if that correlated to them all being disgusting pigs. Beauty and bullshit seemed to go hand in hand with them.

“And don’t even get me started on Romeo. That man is crazy in all the best ways. Like, someone you don’t make eye contact with unless you want to end up in a trunk. You justknowhe’s packing,” Daniella continued.

I wrinkled my nose. “Can you stop?”

“What?” she said, throwing her hands up innocently.

“He’s insane, sure, but that only makes it hotter. I mean, come on, you’ve seen him.”

“Yeah, we’ve met him too,” Cherish muttered, making a face. “And I think we prefer to stay alive.”

“Ella, you’d have to survive being in the same room with him for more than five minutes first.”

“Oh, I’d survive,” she said confidently. “I’d probably walk funny for a week, but I’d survive.”

We both shot her a look, but she just grinned wider, clearly pleased with herself. Thankfully, the conversation shifted after that, and it had nothing to do with Wilder or his friends. Their voices blended into a comforting hum as I leaned my head against the window, staring at the endless stretch of road ahead.

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