Wilder (The Wild Ones 3)

“He’s a grown man. I watched him leap at the opportunity, if that’s the case. He made his own choice. Don’t take responsibility for it.”

“If not for me, he’d still be a virgin, possibly saving himself for his wife, like the good boy he is. He was too good to be around me. I knew it, and I stuck around to tarnish him. I’m like poison to a guy like that. This really is where I belong.”

I glance over at her, watching as she turns and puts her face in her pillow.

This hotel room is small and quaint compared to the luxurious ones she usually picks out. But we’re living life on our own dime now, and cutting corners is a must.

California isn’t all that far from Washington. Well, at least not compared to everywhere else we’ve been since we left Tomahawk.

What am I saying? I can’t just drop in for a visit.

Kai’s smiling in this picture. I’d ruin his smile if I came back just long enough to confuse us both.

“What about you?” she asks me.

I lift my head, glancing over at her, finding her peering down at me from the bed as I remain seated on the floor.

“What about me?”

“You’ve been a vacant shell since we got back. It’s like your body is here, but you never really left Tomahawk. I mean, for Pete’s sake, Piper, you check your phone every three seconds to see if a new picture of him has been posted or not.”

I put my phone down, and I slide it out of reach, my lips thinning. It is a bad habit I can’t seem to break.

“Liam’s account looks fake as shit, by the way. I thought his last name was Harper instead of Flapper.”

“His family is searching for him to guilt trip him into coming back and paying for their lives, so he had no choice but to build a fake account,” I tell her absently.

When did I pick my phone back up? How did I end up scooting this far over without noticing it?

No new pictures.

“Seriously, I’m worried about you. It’s been over a month, and you haven’t even started moving on.”

“Says the girl who goes on a new date every week, but suddenly stops even glancing at a guy even when he’s model material and overtly checking her out,” I point out.

She shrugs, a distant look hitting her eyes.

“It was nice to be seen as something more than I am, instead of being seen as something less than I am. It’s going to take a minute to remember how most guys see me. Until then, I’m not really interested in passing the time with a fleeting romance that won’t measure up—”

She stops talking when I arch an eyebrow.

“That doesn’t mean I’m not over him. It just means he raised the bar for my standards, which isn’t a terrible thing at all. Stop giving me that condescending look.”

Rolling my eyes, I start to argue, when my phone rings. Glancing down, ready to hit ignore, I pause.

LILAH is flashing across the screen, and I actually end up dropping the phone as I squeak.

Hurriedly, I scramble to answer it in the next second.

“Hello?”

“Hey! Long time no chat. I was just wondering when you two were coming for a visit!” she says, sounding way too enthusiastic, as though she’s trying too hard.

I blink a few times.

“That’s rather sudden thing to say after an even more sudden phone call out of the blue,” I tell her.

“I don’t call people too much. I prefer talking face to face. You’re too far away for that, so I think you should come visit.”

“Why are you trying so hard to get me to come visit?”

Reese sits straight up, eyes on me like she’s listening to every word I say.

“Is Kai okay?” I ask when worry hits me from out of nowhere.

“Yeah, he’s fine. He and Hale had us worried when they disappeared into the mountains for a bit, because they’re already one step away from not belonging in society at all, but they came down a couple of weeks ago and have integrated back into society. At least by Tomahawk standard anyway.”

I blink a few times, my mouth opening and closing.

“What?” I finally manage to ask.

“What what?” she asks back, sounding confused.

“What are you talking about, Lilah?”

“Oh, you know how Wilders are. They go from overly laidback to excessively crazy with very few gears in between. Hale joined him on the excessive end, but they’ve returned. All’s okay on that front. Mostly. Sort of. Hale’s weird now, but he’s getting better. Kai’s a bit more of an asshole than usual, but that’s to be expected. Wilders are Wilders. Anyway—”

“You’re not making any sense at all,” I say on a sigh as I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Anyway,” she says again, not bothering to explain all that gibberish she just spewed, “I was wondering if you could come back for the New Year carnival. It’s coming up in a few weeks. Christmas is over. I didn’t get a Christmas card, so I’m assuming it’s because you were planning on returning and bringing in some New Year cheer. Otherwise, that’d be rude. I sent you a card.”