She tried to wiggle out from underneath his arm, her thoughts on their relationship too much, but his body had her pinned.
“Go back to sleep,” Vincent grumbled when she didn’t try to give up.
“No, I need”—she strained, trying to push him off her—“to get up.”
He didn’t budge. “No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do!”
“No.”
Lake sighed. “Vincent, I need to see Adalyn and tell her what a terrible best friend I am.”
Leaning up, he looked down at her, still pinning her with his body so she couldn’t get free. “So, you’re a terrible best friend just because you fucked her brother? Twice?”
“Oh, my God.” Lake covered her eyes. Hearing it out loud made it that much worse. Worst best fucking friend ever.
“Shit happens.” He uncovered her eyes, taking her hands and pinning them to the mattress above her. “And, Lake, I didn’t exactly make it easy on you not to fuck me, so blame it on me.”
She stared up at him, wondering how in the world it didn’t faze him that he had slept with his sister’s best friend. “So, you don’t feel bad at all for what happened between us?”
“Am I sorry that I love you and I love fucking you? Fuck no.”
Damn, when you put it like that… Okay, maybe from Vincent’s standpoint it wasn’t that bad, because well, he was Vincent, and the things he did were iffy anyways. Not to mention, he was Adalyn’s brother, and she would always forgive him.
He leaned back down, biting the chubby part of her lip. “We can make it three times real quick.”
“No!” She squeezed herself out from under him as fast as she could before her mind changed. “I’m already going to Hell, and I’d like it if Adalyn wasn’t the one to send me there.”
Vincent grumbled, getting out of bed. “Well, hurry the fuck up and get dressed. I’m not having my sister cock-block me. If I want to fuck you, I’m going to fuck you.”
The fact that his asshole statement turned her on proved she was in too deep with him.
I’m so fucked.
* * *
“Where’s Adalyn?” Lake asked Vincent’s mother and Adalyn’s father who were sitting in the living room, watching TV.
Carla smiled. “She’s upstairs in her room. It’s good to see you, sweetheart.”
She smiled back, feeling anxious about facing her best friend for the first time in what seemed like forever.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Vincent asked, taking her hand in comfort.
She shook her head, looking at the ground. “No, I should do it alone.”
Heading up the stairs, she heard Carla’s worried tone ask what was wrong.
Vincent plopped down on the couch, putting his feet on the table. “Nothing’s wrong. Lake’s just going to tell her that she’s my girlfriend, and she lives with me.”
She froze when she heard the gasps. Dammit, Vincent! He had no shame.
Making herself go to Adalyn’s door since turning back to face Vincent’s mother was just as scary, she forced herself to knock then go inside.
Adalyn practically screamed then jumped up from her bed, giving Lake a death grip of a hug. “Where the hell have you been!” She slapped at her arm before giving her another hug.
Lake hugged her back one last time, sure their friendship would be over. “Um, I need to tell you something.”
“Yeah, you do! You need to tell me why you disappeared for over a month without returning any of my calls and texts.” Adalyn slapped her arm again.
“Let’s sit down.” She sat on her bed and Adalyn plopped down beside her, giving her a curious yet still mad look.
Lake bit her lip, not knowing where to start. The beginning. She needs to hear all of it.
“The day after Nero’s graduation party, I found out my father owed Dante a lot of money, and he was going to hurt him. So, I did the only thing I knew to do and offered to pay him back. I gave him all of my college fund money, but that wasn’t enough, so we worked out a deal that I would work for him.”
She took a breath, her vision starting to become blurry. “The job wasn’t exactly legal, and I wasn’t proud of what I was doing. I was so embarrassed, and that’s why I couldn’t tell you.” She wiped at a tear that strolled down her face.
“Then Vincent found out, and he helped me for a month to get out of debt with Dante. We became”—she didn’t know how to tell her the next words—“close. I didn’t mean or even want for it to happen, but it did, and that’s why I kept away from you. I couldn’t face you. You are my best friend, Adalyn, and I feel like I betrayed you. I’m so sorry.”
“Sooo”—Adalyn raised her eyebrow— “does this mean you’re not going off to college now?”
“Adalyn, did you even hear me? Me and Vincent are together.” She wanted to shake some sense in her. Punch me in the face or something!
Adalyn shrugged. “Well, I knew it was going to happen eventually.”
Huh? “You knew?”
“Yes, I’m not stupid. I figured something happened that night we went to Poison, and you refused to tell me.” Adalyn raised her hand. “By the way, you can keep that to yourself now. I don’t need to know what happened.”
Lake blushed a little before she took her in for a hug. “You’re the bestest friend I could ask for, and I don’t deserve you.”
“Oh, hush.” Adalyn hugged her back. “You didn’t answer me. Are you still leaving for college?”
She fell back on her bed, sighing. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
Vincent’s deal with her was that if she came back, he would let her leave and go to any college she wanted, no matter how far. The fact that he had said that to her showed her how selfless he was, and it made her heart ache in a way which scared her shitless.
Adalyn fell back on the bed beside her. Lake knew what she was thinking about—the two had been friends for so long it wasn’t hard at this point to tell.