Page 100 of Vicious Chaos

Britt giggles and they both instantly relax at the sight of her. “I didn’t realize it then, but after I learned about everything, I put the pieces together.”

Ronan runs his hands through his long hair, giving her a sheepish look. “We couldn’t just let him live. Not when there was always a chance he was looking for you.” He gives me a quick look, one I immediately understand to mean he was doing exactly that. He had been trying to track her down.

Her lack of social media makes a hell of a lot more sense now that I know her story.

She walks away from me and towards them. Even going up on her tiptoes, both guys have to lean forward for her to kiss their cheeks. “I know. I’m relieved he’s gone. I just wanted to make sure, or psycho pants behind me would make sure he would be within twenty four hours. We have enough going on on this coast without that too.”

“I really would have,” I agree instantly. Would have been a challenge, but I would have made it happen.

“That’s why we didn’t tell you,” Ronan mumbles under his breath.

I roll my eyes but Britt cackles as she looks at me. “Told you so.”

She already looks so much lighter, I can’t even be mad about her rubbing it in.

Scarlett is tryinghard to hide it, but she’s been in a mood all day.

She may have been able to relocate all of her girls but closing Steel Roses still hurts. The knowledge of that shines in all of our eyes as we watch her march out of her room with Britt and Jade at her sides, yet she puts on a brave face. She’s determined for the last night to be a good one.

The three of them make a pretty picture and I smirk at the not so subtle cohesiveness of all three of their outfits. Of course Scarlett would take this chance to send another type of message to anyone that may be paying attention.

Each one of them wears a different style, but each has their blue roses proudly on display, impossible to miss, and similar fabrics to pull the looks together. I admire the thought that went into each one. Britt looks gorgeous with her bright red hair contrasting against the black of her dress, the teal of her roses popping. Jade looks nervous, but beautiful in jean shorts and a fancy black top that is held together by straps and jade blue roses.

I raise my brows at that. I know damn well both outfits came from Scarlett’s closet, and I have no idea how she ever would have danced in either option without a wardrobe malfunction. It’s something I’d love to see. In my room. With no one else around.

She meets my eyes and must read my thoughts because she gives me a sultry smile and a wink. Fuck. This girl knocks the breath right out of my lungs every time I see her. She’s even more stunning tonight in her dark blue romper, so dark it almost appears black. The light catches the overlapping patterns of roses that make up the shiny material.

She does a little spin for us and Kade wolf whistles, making her and the girls laugh. I’ve always found Scarlett’s confidence sexy, but sometimes I wonder if she really understands the way we see her. Just how lost we all are for her.

“You three clean up nice. Who knew?” Ryder teases.

Britt takes a dramatic bow in thanks. “Our queen plastic didn’t hold back to make sure we all looked like the perfect psycho plastics in blue.”

Ryder and Kade snort, immediately understand her reference. Luca and Noah exchange confused looks and Scarlett stares at her friend in bewilderment. I tamp down my smile, I don’t need to explain how many times I watchedMean Girlswith Madeline back in the day.

“Kade, you’ve failed your girlfriend,” Britt chastises.

He spins to face Scarlett and his mouth parts in horror as he notes her lack of understanding. “How have you not seen that movie?” he exclaims.

She looks to Luca before looking back at Kade and flips him off. “When do I have time for movies?”

He rolls his eyes at her sass. “It came out in the early two thousands. I know for a fact you weren’t always a psycho.”

She shrugs as she gets her bag and slings it over her shoulder, only half interested in this conversation now. “My father didn’t allow us to watch television. Thought it would corrupt our innocence.”

Ryder smacks Kade for bringing up something that led back to her past. It would have been impossible for him to know his attempt at lifting her mood would have the opposite effect.

An awkward silence fills the room at her words. No one is sure what to say as we all watch her.

“Welp, that got weird fast,” she teases. It breaks up some of the tension, but I can still see the lines of unease on her face. Luca starts herding everyone out the door as Mikey and the others walk in through the front door.

I grab Scarlett by her elbow as the others start talking as they walk back out and start climbing into cars.

“It’s okay to be sad about tonight, pretty girl,” I whisper against her neck as soon as I have her pressed up against me.

She sighs and I can tell she’s about to deny it.

“What was your first mistake?” I ask before she has a chance to. It’s a question I haven’t had to ask in a long time. She’s been so much happier, lighter, learning to lean on us for support, but she’s still the same person. She still falls back to running from her emotions, especially when that voice in her head tells her that she shouldn’t be feeling them. Like feeling sad about a decision that needed to be made.

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