Page 79 of Marked By the Pack
Callum was dangerous.
I swallowed hard.
The food came and went. Kebe had finished her third glass of wine and didn’t act any differently. It was almost like it had no effect on her.
And here I thought I was a champ at holding my liquor.
I took another sip and shivered. It was strange. Usually I got warmer when I drank. But it felt like the restaurant had dropped ten degrees since we’d started drinking.
Chapter 21
Tuesday
Zoey
I stopped on the first step on the way up to the bank. I knew whatever I was about to see was dangerous. And…barely even human? Practically animals? Emma had given me hints. But for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what I was about to walk into.
Whatever it was had made Emma try to skip town.
It was bad.
Really bad.
And yet…I really liked Otto, Huxley, and Ace. I took a deep breath. I already knew what these guys were into. And I was into it too. I wanted this. And I knew Bennett wasn’t looking for a girlfriend right now. He’d told me as much. But maybe he could still give his three friends his stamp of approval or something?
Gah, none of this made any sense. Otto, Huxley, and Ace should be allowed to date anyone they wanted. They wanted me. That’s all that mattered. So I was going to go in there and see whatever secret they wanted to throw at me next. And then hopefully I’d have a really fun night.
I took another deep breath and then sprinted up the stairs. It was like my feet knew if they kept moving, I couldn’t stop and overthink everything. I threw openthe doors to the bank and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
It was just Otto, Huxley, and Ace inside. Otto was sitting on the counter and Huxley and Ace were both leaning against it. My shoulders relaxed. “Hey, guys.”
Otto lowered his eyebrows. “Zoey, what are you doing here?”
I thought he’d be a little more excited to see me. We’d been spending every night together, but he hadn’t come last night. He’d sent Huxley and Ace instead. I kind of thought that maybe…he’d missed me. I’d missed him.
Huxley and Ace looked at each other like they were confused too.
Otto slid off the counter. “Zoey, you have to leave. Now.”
“What?”
“Now,” he repeated.
“But…” my voice trailed off in the most pathetic way. I thought maybe Ace would hit Otto in the back of the head for being stupid. Or that Huxley would laugh because it was all a joke. But they looked uncomfortable too.
“Now,” Otto said again.
I took a step back like he’d just slapped me.
“Zoey, we thought you were coming by this morning,” Huxley said. “Where have you been all day?”
That had been the plan. For me to come to the bank and explain everything to Bennett. But I’d run into him at the coffee shop instead.
Otto turned to Huxley. “Why would you invite her here at all?”
Ouch.Was he really that embarrassed to be seen with me?
“You need to go,” Ace said. “Bennett is in a shit mood. We’ll tell him a different day.”
