Page 72 of Wild Like Us
Because Banks isn’t a fuckbag.
I mean, I was wrong about Jack Highland-Oliveira. He’s genuinelythatnice.
I snap a finger to my palm.Don’t be a dick.
Don’t be a dick.
“You want the door?” I ask.
“It doesn’t matter.” He makes a concentrated effort not to look at Sulli.
I lick my lips. “Okay, you take closest to the window. I’ll take her other side.” Basically, we’re on either side of Sulli.
Banks nods, not questioning my decision. “Night.” He smacks a hand to my arm.
I nod to him. “Night.”
A minute later, we’re lying down on our backs, covered with our own sleeping bags. Sulli is turned towards me. Resting my hands under my head, I stare at a stain on the ceiling.
Trying not to stare at her. But my eyes flit to her lips, soft breath expelling between them, then I look back up. Every part of today rushes into me. Between what I feel for Sulli and my friendship with Banks, my brain is a rotating planet of thoughts and varying emotions.
I can’t even shut my eyes.
So I turn my head and see Banks on the other side of Sulli.
He’s awake.
Staring at the ceiling.
Fuck.
It’s going to be a long, sleepless night. For both of us.
14
AKARA KITSUWON
My dreams have been unusuallyvivid these past few years. They’re hard to shake out of, and the biggest indicator I’m still dreaming is always the snow.
No matter where I am.
It starts snowing.
Even tonight, Sulli pounds at a steel door. Latched shut. Trapped in a tiny, cramped metal room together, heavy flurries fall from the ceiling. Snowing in an enclosed room.
Dreaming.
I have to be dreaming, but I don’t wake up. I’m stuck inside my head. Snow drifts into her long, chocolate-brown hair, and as I try to wrench the latch open, my fingers bleed.
She bangs her fists. “HELP!” Her shrill scream punctures something in me. Swiftly, I draw Sulli back against my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around her waist. Lips to her ear, I whisper, “Hey, it’s okay.”
She grips onto me.
She heaves for air.
Oxygen depletes from the room.
I struggle to inhale, but I use every strained breath to whisper, “It’s okay, Sul.”
