I wrinkled my nose at the mention of her parents. "Yeah, that's probably best. Last thing I need is for my dad to call and scream at me. Not now."
"You got it," Bree agreed, then within moments started snoring.
I stifled a laugh, but tucked a pillow under her head and a blanket over her body before crawling under the covers of her bed. If she wasn't going to use it, I might as well.
Despite how exhausted I was and how soothing the sound of rain and Bree's snores were, sleep totally eluded me. I probably dozed off lightly sometime after four in the morning, but when Bree's alarm clock went off, I felt like warmed-up dog shit.
My best friend—still asleep on the floor where she'd passed out—startled awake and sat up with some epic haystack hair. "It's morning?" she asked, bleary with sleep.
"Unfortunately," I replied with a yawn. "Thanks for letting me crash."
Bree got up off the floor and stretched her arms over her head with a loud groan. "No worries, babe. Seriously, stay forever if you want."
As tempting as that offer was, I shook my head. "Nah, I can't let them think they've got me running scared from my own home. Besides, I've got Archer's hopes and dreams to crush under my boot."
Bree snickered a laugh on her way to the bathroom. "You're fucking vicious, MK," she called back to me. "I love it."
I grinned as she turned the shower on but left the door partly open so we could still talk. I'd still had my phone in the pocket of my sweatpants when I'd escaped the Danvers mansion last night, so I rolled over in Bree's big bed to check if Dallas had messaged. After all, only he, Bree, and my father had my number, so I couldn't see anyone else contacting me.
How wrong I was.
"Twelve missed calls and twenty-seven messages?" I yelled aloud, double checking the notification display. "What the shit?"
Swiping my screen unlocked, I groaned.
"Bree! Did you give the guys my number?" Because I seriously doubted Dallas had handed it over... Maybe my father had? Then again, he didn't seem to care much about what I was doing, and I couldn't see Archer asking him for help.
Bree didn't reply, and I narrowed my eyes at the cracked bathroom door.
"Bree..." I repeated, my tone low and warning.
The shower shut off, and a moment later, her face popped around the door—guilt painted all over it. "It was last week," she explained, cringing at whatever was playing out on my face. "Like, before shit got bad. Before the juice incident. Kody asked, and he was all shirtless and sweaty and..." She trailed off with a helpless shrug.
I guessed I couldn't blame her. I'd lost my brain plenty of times thanks to those boys being shirtless and sweaty, and if he'd asked before we started classes, it wouldn't have seemed like such a crazy request. We did live together.
"It's fine." I waved off her concern and sighed. I clicked into the messages to scan the content. It was all fairly unsurprising shit. Where are you? and the likes.
There were three different numbers, and there was one message from each that helped me identify who each number belonged to.
Max Steele: Come home, hellcat.
Anger flared, and I deleted the rest of his messages without opening them. Fuck that. He'd told his friends everything that we'd done, right down to the fact that he had my panties. Had he shown them or something? Ugh. So gross. Talk about drunken mistakes.
The next one I kept. Don't ask me why; I'll blame it on my stupid, girly hormones.
Kodiak Jones: I'm not sorry for kissing you. I'd do it again, if you didn't slap so hard.
Charming bastard.
The last one made me want to throw my phone across the room and only solidified my determination to fuck shit up.
Archer D'Ath: Typical princess behavior. We'll be discussing some ground rules when your tantrum is over.
I couldn't help myself. I tapped on reply and typed out a quick message, sending it in a flurry of irritation.
Madison Kate: Take your ground rules and shove them straight up your ass, you micropenis, dirty douchebucket.
Then because I was still frothing with anger, I sent another.
Madison Kate: Quit the domineering act too. You're no Christian Gray.
His reply was almost instant, and I jumped when my phone vibrated in my hand.
Archer D'Ath: No. I'm worse.
A shiver ran through me, and I decided against continuing the asinine conversation with him, instead, tossing my phone back onto the bed and going for a shower now that Bree was out.
"Hey, you want to cut classes today?" I asked her while lathering shampoo into my long, pink locks. My walk in the rain the night before had made it all tangled and gross, so it needed the freshen up.
"Cut classes?" Bree replied, sounding surprised. "It's only the second week, girl."
She had a point, even if it did feel like I'd been back in Shadow Grove for months already. "So, no?"
"I didn't say no." She appeared in the doorway of the bathroom, holding up two dresses. "Which one?"
I swiped water out of my eyes and considered both outfits. "Black one," I picked. "With those cute thigh-high flat boots you've got."
She nodded. "Yep, that'll look cute on you." She hung the sweater dress I’d chosen on the door handle, then disappeared back into her bedroom.
I smiled and rinsed out my hair. I'd thought she meant for her, but of course she was making sure I didn't go home in my sweatpants from last night. Typical Bree, she was already thinking about how to make me look amazing, just in case we ran into the guys.
Not because I felt any need to be primped and made-up for them, fuck no. But because when we felt good about our appearances, it acted like armor. It boosted our confidence, and I could do with every ounce of that I could find today.
Some time later we were both dressed, makeup on and hair done. I had to hand it to her, too; I felt ready to tackle whatever the day wanted to throw my way.
There was just one thing missing.
"So," Bree said, propping her hands on her hips. "Coffee, then... a movie?"
It was raining again, and to me that was perfect weather for daytime cinema visits. So I happily agreed to her plan. "I know the perfect place for coffee," I told her, "and zero chance of running into anyone we know."
"Sounds good to me," Bree replied, grabbing her car keys and leading the way out of her villa. "So, where are we heading?"
I grinned. "West Shadow Grove. Nadia's Cakes."
24
Walking into the coffee shop, a flutter of anxiety hit me. Last time I'd been here, some chick had assumed I was Kody's new girlfriend and slapped me for exactly no good reason.
To my relief, the shop was fairly quiet and the bitchy brunette, Drew, was nowhere to be seen.
"Okay, you're right," Bree declared after we’d finished our coffee and two servings of cake each. It was never too early for cake.
I grinned, licking my fork. "Good, right?"
She nodded, groaning and rubbing her stomach. "So good. How'd you find this place? You've been back in town for, like, three seconds."
I grimaced, remembering my coffee date with Kody. "Long story." Thankfully Nadia wasn't there, so I didn't have to field any awkward questions about my "boyfriend" in front of Bree. The old woman was too sweet for me to correct her.