Page 21 of Reckless at Westbrook High

“You cheated.”

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Did no–”

“Oh my god,” Callie laughs, licking the seam of paper to seal the joint she’s managed to roll with my weed while we were distracted. “You’re both idiots.”

“But you love us,” we say together, grinning.

“And I honestly can’t remember why,” she teases, tipping her chin for us to follow her out to the balcony. “Come help me smoke these and I’ll make you breakfast.”

Make that two joints with my weed.

“Will you cut up the bacon before you fry it like Mom used to do?”

“Whatever you want, fuck boy.”

He jumps up like his ass is on fire and so do I, dropping down on the couch next to her to prop my feet up on the coffee table. Kai takes the space on her other side and the three of us sit in comfortable silence a while, passing the joints back and forth between us until they’re gone. Kai doesn’t smoke as much as we do, he and Damon only smoke it for the light buzz now and again, but Callie and I are different.

We need it to function.

To numb the pain beneath the surface.

I’ve never seen her completely sober before, and I’m one hundred percent sure I don’t want to.

“I need coffee,” Callie groans, forcing herself up to her feet.

I nod my agreement and stand to follow them. “I’ll be down in a sec.”

They leave and I move for the bathroom to take a piss, washing my hands before I brush my teeth to scrub the taste of whiskey from my mouth. I grab a black pair of basketball shorts from my closet and throw them on, sliding my phone from the nightstand to take it with me. I’m mindlessly scrolling through my notifications on my way downstairs, silently cursing my idiot brother as I go, which is why I don’t see the shirtless back standing at the bottom before I walk right into it.

“The fuck?” I frown, shoving Damon’s shoulder to get him to move his big ass, but then I look over at Kai and Callie and freeze where I stand, slowly following their line of sight to whatever it is they’re staring at.

And then I see it.

There’s a blue eyed, blond haired little pixie standing in my fucking living room of all places, vacation bags at her feet, hands in her pockets with her head held high, and just the sight of my ex-girlfriend standing here in front of me damn near knocks me on my ass because what in the actual fuck does she think she’s doing?

The four of us stay silent and Freya clears her throat, quickly bouncing her eyes between me and Kai before she spots the key tattoo on my wrist – the only real difference between our identical bodies and still the only way she can tell us apart, it seems.

“Hi, boyfriend.”

I straighten my spine and continue to stare at her, grinding my teeth when she has the audacity to blink up at me from beneath her light lashes, the same shit she used to pull on me back then to get her own way.

“She can’t be serious,” Callie says through her teeth, side eyeing Damon when he takes a step closer to her, white knuckling the black gym towel around his neck with both hands.

“I said.. get out,” he says slowly, his tone causing her to shift on her feet, but she doesn’t shrink in on herself like she used to.

Instead she balls her hands into fists inside the pockets of her light denim jeans and lifts her chin. “And I said I need to talk to Wren.”

He glares and takes another step, towering over her now. “He told you what would happen if we ever saw you again. I’m offering you one out, little girl. I suggest you take it and run. Now.”

She looks from him to me and back again, crossing her arms over her chest in a clearly practiced form of defiance. “Or what?”

He locks his jaw and Kai looks at me, blinking a few times with his mouth parted like he can’t believe what he’s seeing.

“Alright, fuck this,” Callie mutters, stepping forward to wrap her hand around Freya’s throat. “Tell us what the fuck you think you’re doing here or leave,” she grits out, getting in her face. “Choose now.”

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