Wilder (The Wild Ones 3)

“Why are we talking about me?” Benson asks as he lifts his hands. “And how is this anything like I did?”

“Yeah, there was a boat, a twin, and a water cannon in his scenario,” Killian adds.

“I’m talking about Lilah. That was her first time falling in love, and she didn’t realize she was even in love,” Bill says with a fond smile.

Benson’s lips twitch, and he sits back like he no longer minds the topic of conversation.

“This isn’t cheering me up at all. He had it easy. Lilah was impressed with that pathetic excuse for showing out,” I point out. “I’m competing with an entire lifestyle.”

“At least you don’t deny you’re in love,” Bill chirps like this is a good thing. His smile falls. “Unlike Hale.”

I look away, clearing my throat as I tighten my grip on the next axe.

“Takes a man to admit when he’s blindsided by something he thought he could easily thwart by taking a few precautions. Love doesn’t let you hold back, even when you try to. Sometimes you think you’re holding back, when you’re really giving more of yourself than you meant to.”

“Could you not be a philosophical romantic right now?” I ask as I glare over at him. “I’m not wired that way, Bill. Drop it.”

He keeps his eyes trained on me, lips thinning.

“You grew up fast. As the oldest, you became the man of the house at a young age,” he goes on, definitely crossing one of my boundaries. “It’d be a shame to see you miss out on something good just because you’re oblivious to how rare that something good is.”

“If it has you bent out of shape, then it’s probably something you’re not going to get over very easily,” Killian tells me.

Somehow, they’ve turned this all around on me.

Since I’m not ready to deal with this shit right now, I turn and walk off. Hale was smart enough to get gone before all this started.

Great. Now a fucking Vincent is smarter than I am.

My life is officially going to shit.

Wild Ones Tip #782

We’re clingy motherfuckers. Ye’ve been warned.

Chapter 21

PIPER

*******

“I can’t be there. I have four meetings, and Piper has twice as many, Mother,” Reese is saying with an exasperated tone. “We’re not destroying our name by putting Dad’s drama into the mix. We did the PR campaign, and Dad couldn’t keep his mouth shut. When you’re an insensitive asshole being accused of being an insensitive asshole, you shut your childish mouth and act like an adult,” she carries on, her voice in full rant mode now.

I idly flip through Liam and Lilah’s Instagram accounts, since they’re the only two that freaking have social media.

Liam has posted several pictures of Kai and Hale lately. In this latest one, Kai is smiling.

It’s been over a month since we left. I’m glad he’s smiling, and I wish I could smile like that too.

“We just got home. I’ll deal with this some other time, but I’m not wrecking our name to help him salvage his. Sometimes, you’ve got to deal with the consequences that follow the cruel shit that comes out of your mouths,” she says as she hangs up and tosses her phone to the bed.

She gives a muffled scream behind tight lips and stomps her feet several times, before she finally collapses to the ground.

“I know they gave us money, shelter, stellar educational opportunities, and basically all the material things we could have ever wanted…but sometimes I wonder how much of our lives they expect back in return for their offerings,” she groans as she puts her arm over her eyes.

“Liam posted a new picture of Hale if you want to see it,” I tell her. “Lilah too.”

She starts to lean up, but she drops back down, putting her arm back over my eyes. “It’s been a month. I’m over it,” she lies.

She talks a big game, but she seems to forget I know her better than that.

“When we were in Tomahawk, away from the egos, and the competitive, aggressive personalities…I got used to so much ease and honesty,” I say on a sigh. “It’s harder than ever to deal with people here.”

She laughs bitterly for a minute before that laughter turns into another groan.

“It’s sadly where I fit in. I’m not good with all that blunt honesty. I like my masks and my many faces. I like keeping up appearances instead of dialing it way back. I’m competitive too. This is my world. Tomahawk was just a nice vacation from it, while I was doing a little soul searching.”

I don’t always know when she’s lying, but that sounds more true than false.

“I think I took his virginity now that I look back on it. I feel awful about that.”

The confession catches me so off guard that I snort out a laugh.

“It’s not funny. I’m a terrible person,” she grumbles, whimpering a little as she keeps her eyes covered.