Page 85 of Nightmare

He kisses my lips, making me melt into him like I always do – like a lovesick dumb bitch –then he pulls back to stare into my eyes, “Later.”

I pout, and he winks at me effortlessly, making my lady parts tingle a little. I press my lips to his again, unable to help myself. He instantly threads his fingers in my hair, pulling my head closer to his to deepen the kiss. My blood boils over, I dig my nails into his chest, attempting to pull him into bed with me.

Summer clears her throat, “Okay, nymphos, can we get breakfast before you get too horny to leave the house?”

I pull back, laughing a little and letting go of the grip I have on my man, “Okay, okay.”

* * *

Summer throwsthe menu’s down on the table, “I don’t know why I bother looking at this thing anymore.”

Mac meets her eyes from across the table, “French toast?” His eyebrows wiggle a little and she rolls her eyes, nodding.

Mac laughs, and I look at him, “What’s the joke?”

Travis snorts next to me, and Mac tips his head towards him, letting him answer the question, “Remember that morning after we fucked for the first time? Mac was trying to get Summer to try the French toast here and she said she didn’t like French toast?”

I laugh, “Summer loves French toast, we just didn’t want to get breakfast with you three clingers.”

Mac puts a hand on his chest in mock-hurt, “Ouch, Liv.”

We all laugh, then the waitress comes over to take our order –five French toasts –Jax slaps a hand down on the table to call attention to himself once she walks away, and we all meet his intense stare.

“So, are we going to talk about the 10-million-pound rhinoceros in the room?” He asks the group.

Summer snorts, “That’s not even close to the way that saying goes.”

“You’ll need to be a little more specific.” Mac says, leaning back in his seat.

Jax blows out a breath, “Well, clearly information has been shared,” He flicks his eyes between Mac and Travis before continuing. “I don’t know about either of you, but I’m stressing out.”

“You’re being incredibly ominous, Jax. Spit it out.” Travis sighs.

Jax puts his hands on the table, threading his tattooed fingers together, then putting his attention on Travis, “You spilled all of our secrets to a girl you’ve known for a month, I can’t be the only one feeling nervous because of that. I’m sure she’s told Summer everything by now too, giving me twice the reason to be stressed the fuck out.”

“Is there a reason you’re talking about us like we aren’t sitting right here?” I ask, heat spreading through my chest.

Mac clears his throat, “Summer has known about our past for weeks, so don’t sit there and act like a dick to Olivia. You’re not the keeper of all of our secrets.”

Jax whips a head towards Summer, “You’ve known?”

She laughs at him, because that’s who she is, rolling her eyes. “If I wanted to fuck you over, Jaxson, I would have by now. You have trust issues.”

Travis snorts next to me, threading his fingers in between mine under the table.

I search my best friend’s face, trying to read how she feels, what she’s thinking or anything at all. My stomach twists into a knot, feeling farther away from her than I have in a long time.

“What the fuck?” I breathe, and Summer’s gaze falls to me. My lungs constrict when I find sadness in her eyes. “You didn’t tell me?”

“It wasn’t my story to tell, Liv.” She says. I fill my lungs with air to stop myself from grinding my molars together when she continues, “I wanted to tell you, of course I did, but I knew you needed to have that moment with Travis.”

“I appreciate that.” Travis says next to me, so I turn to look at him.

I can’t find any words to say, because on one hand she has a point, but on the other hand – she’s never kept a secret from me before. We tell each other everything, that’s just what we fucking do.

I sit back in my seat, moving my gaze around the table between all of them, searching all of their faces for any sort of feeling or thought.

“How are you two so sure we can trust them?” Jax asks his friends. I feel a little twang of pity in my chest, I can understand having trust issues, but he clearly has some unresolved trauma underneath his hard exterior.

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