Page 20 of Kings Against the World

Ihavebeen an ass tonight. I’ve fucked up again.

Silver’s right that I’ll have to answer for it once I’m sober. Once the episode passes…ifit does. It still won’t be long before the next one comes.

For now, I finally go limp in their hold, letting them escort me home.

A boot nudges me in my side, forcing me awake. My hands come up to my face and I massage my temples instantly feeling like death.

“What the…”

“Get up,” comes Logan’s voice. “Take these.”

I rub the sleep from my eyes and squint up at him. He’s standing over the mattress I’ve got on the living room floor, his expression as severe as his brother’s last night. He’s holding out a couple of pills in the palm of his hand and a glass of water in the other.

Sitting up, I run a hand through my disheveled mohawk and mumble, “No thanks.”

“Take them. Now. I’m not asking.”

“I need a fucking Bloody Mary… like six of ’em. My head’s killing me.” I push myself to my feet and stare around the messy room.

My whole trailer’s chaos. I’ve always joked it suits me.

But peering around with (mostly) sober eyes makes me second guess myself. I’ve got old beer cans and take out containers everywhere I look. A mountain of clothes on the couch that I’m not sure are dirty or clean, and the place reeks of pot.

I step toward the window and crack it open to let in some fresh air.

“Oz, the pills.”

“Who sent you?”

“Never mind.”

“You weren’t at the party last night.”

“Hi, remember me?” comes a soft, sweet voice. Teysha steps into view from where she’s been in my kitchen. The girl’s heavily pregnant, bigger every time I see her, the bump like a basketball hidden under the loose, strappy dress she wears. She holds up a Tupperware container. “Logan was home with me last night. But we came by to bring you some breakfast and make sure you were still alive.”

“I am. No thanks to your brother.” I clap a hand to Logan’s back and then scoop the pills up out of his palm. I alreadyrecognize them—they’re each a different color and shape, little symbols etched into their chalky texture.

Pills that rule my life. Pills I’ve been avoiding for weeks.

“Take them,” Logan repeats yet again. He thrusts the glass of water at me.

I heave a sigh and admit defeat. Tossing them back with the water, my tongue rolls out my mouth to show them they’ve gone down. “Good enough, Mom and Dad?”

“You joke, but this was a serious matter. Silver told me what went down.”

“So I was late to the meeting.”

“You and Mace got into it.”

“He swung on me first.”

“You went chasingsatellites.”

“Is it my fault they were following me?”

Logan raises both his brows at me, his arms folded across his chest. It’s all he needs to convey what he thinks.

I fucked up and there’s no defense for it.

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