Page 149 of The Casualty of Us
I love her for remembering something I never would in that moment, but that’s friendship, isn’t it? Filling in each other’s missing bits with your best ones.
“Come on, baby sister.” Ollie’s arm wraps around my shoulders, and I immediately scrunch my nose up at the smell. “Act like you love me now.”
“Ew!” I push at him. “Ollie! Get off me.” Hayes’s arm wraps around my waist from the other side then, effectively cuttingoff my attempt at escape and leaving me grumbling. “Hurry up, Marley.”
She giggles at that, passing her phone over to Mia as Holden scoots in on Ollie’s other side and Marley runs for Hayes, my eyes landing on where—
“Lisette! Graham!” Their names leave my mouth without thought, and the guys on either side of me tense. “Come get in the picture!” We stay that way as the other two walk over and I mumble under my breath “Behave.”
Ollie snorts as Graham and Lisette round us out, Mia taking several steps back and holding the phone up before calling out, “Smile!”
And I know before the flash even comes that the grin spreading on my face is one I’ll always want to remember. Happy and safe with my heart on either end.
Chapter Thirty-Four
OPHELIA & HAYES - OCTOBER 2013
By the timeOctober rolls around I’m a lot edgy for a variety of reasons, but mainly three. One, I know Thanksgiving is almost here, which means checking the PO box and that entails a mindset shift that I’m already gearing up for, and two—
“Stop it.”
“What?”
“You know what.” I scowl, lifting my head off the arm of the guys’ couch to look down at where Hayes’s head is resting on my stomach with the rest of him sprawled out between my legs. Hazel eyes waiting for mine with far too much innocence in them to ever be believable. “That.” Lifting a brow, I nod down to where his finger is sliding back and forth underneath the top of my leggings. “Is not allowed when you’re failing, Hayes.”
His brows fall, the innocence leaving as he immediately falls back into a full-on pout. “You’re cruel.” Completely ignoring me, he lifts my shirt up a bit to press his lips against my skin with each word that follows. “So, so, so cruel.”
I snort at the show he’s putting on, rolling my eyes and reminding him, “Then get your poli sci grade up and maybe you’ll understand how you’re supposed to be protected from such a thing.”
He lets loose a frustrated sigh against my stomach, and a giggle escapes me before I drop my head back down. Looking back at my phone to read through the last few lines of the report concerning problem number three. I already deemed extreme measures necessary about six reports ago and have proceeded accordingly, but I also haven’t seen the point in stopping them either. At this point I’m just stockpiling evidence in case the moment comes when he needs it.
Still, though.
This new information has me quickly typing out a response for them to investigate further because it could be exactly what I need to put that final nail in her coffin. It has me glancing down at the head lying across my stomach, one of his arms wrapped fully around my waist and his other hand still playing with the top of my leggings.
“Hey.” I click the side of my phone, setting it down and waiting until his eyes find mine to run my fingers through his hair. “You’re not going back to your mom’s for Thanksgiving, right?”
“No.” He tenses against me, and I don’t stop him when he pulls my shirt up some more before dropping his head back against my skin. “No, I won’t see my mom again until Christmas, like usual.”
“Oh.” I pause, a little lost on how to approach the topic but still pushing. “Do you really think she’d send you to jail or something if you stopped going back? Can’t you just talk to your dad?”
Because I need to know all the aspects of this before deciding what to do next, and his thoughts will play a huge part in that.
“Probably.” He shrugs, the arm around my waist squeezing as his voice drops to something tight. “I don’t know, I guess I could, but it’s just easier this way.” He presses another kiss right below my belly button. “Sometimes I still just wish that she—that things would be different like she said,” I run my fingers through his hair and fight a scowl as he turns his head, nestling down against me again while finishing. “So I guess I keep going back to see if she’s changed, regardless of the fact I don’t really have much choice.”
No voice in the matter at all. Not even to call her out. God, if I hadn’t already started working on managing my instant hate for that woman about six reports—
“Freckles.” I blink back to see his eyes running over my face with concern. “Please don’t worry that I’m going to do something stupid, okay? I’m not going to fuck this up.”
“I’m not.” I shake my head, realizing where his head went, and give his hair a little tug while informing him, “Because if something happens, you’re going to come to me this time, right?”
Trying to make it sound at least semi-hopeful while still getting my point across.
“Ophelia Sage.” His dimples flash, eyes filling with delight as he pushes his head back against my hand like a freaking puppy. “Are you worried about me?”
“Always,” I scoff, sarcasm heavy, and I see the narrowing of his eyes that comes with the spark of mischief there.
“Hmm.” He hums before dropping to swipe his tongue across my belly button, making me suck in a sharp breath that I almost choke on as he blows across my skin. “That’s sweet, O.”
