Page 22 of Broken

“No, you.” I poke him again.

“No, it really is you. Guys aren’t supposed to be cute,” he says and pokes me harder.

“Ouch!” I giggle and rub the spot. “It’s you! Now stop arguing with me.” I go to poke him again when he reaches up and grabs my hand. Before I react, his other hand lands on my waist, and he yanks me toward him.

My normal reaction would be to take over, so I’m the one in control. Like I always am. Like I have to be.Like I need to be.

But for some reason, I don’t. I let him hold me. I let him pull me tight. It feels weird, foreign almost. But so good too.

And when he leans in close and brushes his lips against mine, I let him.

Chapter7

Holden

“What the hell is that noise?”I groan and pop one eye open. My head pounds, and I swear my skull is splitting in two.

“Sorry, man. I forgot to shut off my alarm,” Rhett grumbles from his bed as he kills the noise.

It does nothing for my head, which continues to pound.

“I’m making us the cure right now, guys,” Landon announces as he walks out of the bathroom, his hair wet and a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.

“How the hell are you standing right now?” Rhett asks before pulling the covers over his head. “I know you took more shots than me,” he mumbles.

“Why do you ask such stupid questions? You know I’m a beast. I won’t lie, though, I have a slight headache. Nothing my cure won’t fix. Considering it fixes everything.”

“Can you just shut up for now?” I hate to be a dick, but his voice makes my skull hurt more.

“Damn, someone’s cranky.”

I ignore him and put one of my pillows over my head.

“Our boy can’t handle all the fun,” Landon teases. “But hey, real talk, you and Lennox seemed to disappear for quite a while last night.”

My mind is blank. I try to remember, but it takes too much effort.

“Tell me you finally got laid, bro. Because I’ll tell you what—it’s about damn time any of you guys got laid around here besides me.”

“Can you not be a prick for once?” I ask him from beneath my pillow.

“Do you even remember last night?” Landon digs some more, but I ignore him again.

“Ha. You don’t, do you? Guess we’ll find out at some point. I’ll leave my magic cure in the fridge before I head out. Gotta hit those slopes early. Maybe I'll find myself a hot ski partner.”

“Peace,” Rhett grumbles, but I say nothing.

Instead, I try to fall back to sleep. Sleeping a hangover off is a lot better than suffering through it. But my mind won’t rest.

Because Landon’s right. I can’t remember shit about last night.

It’s like a blank slate, a void of nothingness. I remember dinner and hanging out across the hall, mixing and downing drinks, and that’s about it.

What the hell is Landon talking about when he says Lennox and I disappeared for a while? I rack my brain, but I come up empty. I close my eyes and hope for sleep, but after thirty minutes, I give up. After chugging two bottles of water and a couple of ibuprofen, I take a hot shower, letting the scalding water run down my back until I finally start to feel like I can function.

With a towel around my waist, I brush my teeth and look at myself in the large bathroom mirror. Instantly, my eyes fall to a dark spot on my chest, slightly above my left nipple. It’s the shape of a circle and about as big as a quarter. When I look closer, I notice it’s purplish brown like a bruise.

As soon as the memories come flooding back, I freeze.

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