Page 75 of Awakened
I turned off the car and just sat there, feeling completely overwhelmed and slightly sick. Too much had happened that needed to be analyzed. On top of that, my stomach was making obnoxious noises, demanding I eat something other than gas station food.
Unfortunately, I had to do one more thing before I could take care of my basic needs. I rubbed my eyes as the phone rang.
“Aiden’s phone. Whitney speaking!” the perky luna said and then giggled.
For fuck’s sake.
“Hey, Whitney. It’s Celeste. Is Aiden there?”
“Are you okay, Celeste? You sound terrible.”
“I’m fine, really. I just need to speak to Aiden.”And strangle you if you keep asking me questions.
“Before I hand the phone over, I want to personally invite you to the wedding. I noticed you didn’t RSVP, and after all you’ve done, it would be wrong for you not to come.”
Who is this chick? You don’t invite the ex-fiancée to the wedding. You just don’t.
“I’m sorry. I have a prior engagement that weekend.”
“Oh. Okay. Let me get Aiden.” She sounded so sad. Disappointing that woman made me feel like I had punted a puppy. Her sweetness gave me cavities, but I had to remember she wasn’tthe enemy, even if she annoyed the shit out of me. It wasn’t her fault.
There was a scuffle and muffled words.
“Les?”
“Seth will be at your wedding.”
“I knew you could?—”
“Did you know about Becca?”
Silence.
Yep, he knew.
After an awkward minute, he mumbled, “I didn’t think it would matter. You rejected him.”
“You are a real fucker, Aiden.” My heart raced, and I took a deep breath. He didn’t deserve to get a rise out of me. “You know what? It’s fine. You and Seth can repair your bromance. Just understand that I won’t be around to see it. Lose this number. Never call me again.” I hung up before he stammered out some bullshit excuse or apology. It was too late to salvage any kind of friendship between us. Too much damage had been done.
Someone knocked on the window, startling me from staring at my steering wheel. I glanced at the time on my phone and cringed. I’d been sitting there for half an hour. The neighbors probably thought I was casing the joint.
“You okay, honey?”
I grabbed my bag and got out. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just having a hell of a day.”
“I hear ya, sister,” she said over her shoulder as she hurried down the sidewalk behind her two tiny dogs.
Once in the apartment, I stomped up to my room. Tearing off my dress from the disastrous dinner, I face-planted into my comforter. Overwhelmed with exhaustion, I passed the fuck out.
There was a crash in the kitchen, and I jolted upright. Disoriented, I threw on my robe and tried my best to tiptoe down the stairs to get the jump on the intruder. I rounded the corner to the dark kitchen and saw a large silhouette. Before I had time to usemy senses or brain, I jumped on their back and started choking them.
As we struggled, I got a mouth full of their hair and stopped pressing on their neck. “Oh, shit.”
I had attacked Michael—the cherry on a shitty sundae.
The lights flicked on, and Sarah stood by the doorway, completely mussed in a scrunched-up dress and panties around her ankles.
I carefully slid down Michael’s back, my feet catching on where his jeans and boxers were wedged at his knees. Stepping back, it was difficult not to notice his very impressive ass. There must have been something in the water at his and Zach’s apartment—fine-ass men chemicals. My nose finally picked up on the stench of sex in the room.
