Page 112 of Pretty Poisoned

This isn't good.

"You smell like my brother," Declan says when I sit beside him on the couch. "More than usual, I mean."

"Yeah, I know," I tell him, but I don't explain. I'm just glad Luca hadn't noticed today. I enjoyed it all afternoon while I laid around the suite alone, bringing my t-shirt to my nose and breathing it in. I was a little embarrassed when he came back from the gym, and the first thing he did was wrap his arms around me, bury his head in my neck, and inhale.

"Who are these people?" I ask Declan, sliding under his arm as I scan the room for Luca.

"I don't know, and I don't care," Declan says. "That one by the door talking to Luca—" I follow where he's pointing and spot him next to the door, speaking to a blonde woman in a leather jacket. She runs her hands over his chest and hooks her finger into his belt loop. "She's important."

I feel like someone is sitting on my ribcage. "Why is she touching him?"

"She's probably going to fuck him," Declan says.

"What?"

"She fucked him last time we were here," he says. "What? You don't own him, Teagan. You need to calm down. And we need her—she talked about getting us on a tour with…well, I can't tell you who right now. But it'll be huge. It'll be stadiums and amphitheaters, not nightclub venues."

She leans in and whispers something in his ear, but I can't watch anymore. "I'm tired," I tell him. "I'm going to go to bed—in River and Hazel's room."

He laughs. "Would you stop? I'm sorry, didn't you finger River at a club in Salt Lake City and suck my dick on the bus last night? Aren't you cuddled up next to me right now?"

"That's different," I say sadly.

"How?" he asks. "How is that different?"

"Because…we're a family."

He hugs me closer to his side and kisses the side of my head. "Yeah, you're right, baby. That is different."

When I look toward the door again, Luca and the woman are both gone. I blink back tears.

"Holy shit," Brady says. "Look at you."

"Me?" I ask.

"Yeah, you. You know what it feels like now, don't you?"

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about. 'Did you tell him you don't like it'?"he mocks.

Yeah…I do. And I hadn't even thought about it.

I lean into Declan's shoulder to hide my tears.

"I thought you didn't cry, Teagan," Declan says. "You're turning into a big baby."

"Please don't make fun of me," I tell him.

I'm doing fine with that on my own. Because I'm wearing his fucking deodorant, and my chest physically aches.

Someone sits at my other side, but I don't look up. "What's wrong with Teagan? Is she high?"

Declan and Brady laugh, and I look over and see Luca beside me.

"She's being a big fucking baby for no reason," Declan tells him.

"I thought you left."

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