Page 104 of Shattered King

My head, however, knew this had always been inevitable.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Lulu

I put the straw to my lips and sucked down the last of my Appletini. It was sweet and sour and packed one hell of a punch. Drinking, going out, was the last thing I’d felt like doing, but Ruby wouldn’t take no for an answer. The girl could throw a bigger tantrum than Josh when she put her mind to it. Besides, I was going stir-crazy. I needed to get out of my own head for a while. So, in the end I’d given in.

Hunter had given me the space I’d asked for. He still texted and called me every day, but our conversations were strained.

I hadn’t seen him or touched him in four long, lonely, miserable days.

Sara had been more than happy to have us stay with her, but she was worried. I should’ve probably told her what was going on, but I couldn’t bring myself to rehash the whole mess. I missed Hunter, terribly. I was also beginning to think that maybe I’d made a huge mistake, walking out like I did. That maybe we could have worked something out? But what? I couldn’t see a solution to our problem. Despite everything, I didn’t want Hunter to give up his business for me. He’d worked so hard to get to this point in his life. But I couldn’t just turn my feelings off. I tried that before, and look how that turned out.

Was I being unreasonable?

“Yes, you are,” Ruby said from beside me, plucking a cherry from her drink and sucking it.

I swiveled in my chair toward her. Her eyebrows went up and I realized I’d been blabbing my thoughts out loud. Thank God the table beside us empty. I must look like a crazy person.

I poked her in the shoulder. “How can you say that?” There was a slight slur to my voice. Hmm, maybe I’d had one too many delicious fruity cocktails. Nah.

I deserved to have some fun, to let loose a little. To have one night where I could ignore the pain in my chest and the constant queasy feeling in my stomach. Hell, I hadn’t gotten this drunk since . . . well, I couldn’t remember how long, but I knew it was a long damn time.

Ruby was eyeballing me, and those eyeballs were a little on the bloodshot side. Maybe she’d had a few too many cocktails as well? Nah. This was girl’s night. Being irresponsible with alcohol was expected, right?

“Hunter’s a good guy, Lu. And he looooves you. I mean, if I had a guy love me like that?” She shook her head, a far-off look drifting across her unfocused gaze before her striking, dark blue eyes swung back to me. “I’d hang on with both hands and never let go. I know you’re scared and everything, but Hunter’s one hard, scary motherfucker. He’d never let anything happen to you or Josh.”

“You sound just like Hunter.”

She grinned. “Because I know it’s true.”

I wanted the conversation off me. I didn’t want to talk about this tonight. I’d been thinking about nothing else for the last four days. So I changed the subject. “What about you, Miss Ruby Styles? Do you live your life to the fullest?”

“Well, yeah, I try.”

“Hmm.”

She poked me in the shoulder. “Hmm, what?”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “What’s going on between you and Neco?”

She squirmed in her seat, a frown stealing her features. “Nothing.”

“Don’t give me that. I see the way you look at him. The way he looks at you.”

She glanced away and took a sip of her drink. “He looks at me the same way he treats me, like a little sister.”

I snorted. “Well, if I had a brother who looked at me the way Neco looks at you, I’d . . . well, I’d be creeped right the hell out.”

Her eyes got big. “You think Neco’s creepy?”

After my fifth drink I was obviously having trouble expressing my thoughts in a clear and concise manor. So I tried again. “Umm, no . . . that’s not what I meant. What I was trying to say is, he looks at you like he wants to tear your clothes off your body and have his wicked way with you, not . . . um . . . whatever the hell big brothers do . . . are like . . . with their sisters. If you know what I mean.”

She jerked back in her seat. “He does not!”

“Does too.”

“Does not!” she squawked.