AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hold up a hand. “Please don’t mention Brady’s hotel room when he is on a date with my sister.”
“Sorry.”
“Why is that asshole even still in town?”
“Havoc bullshit,” he replies with a shrug. “He’ll leave as soon as he finally sets a date for our damn Initiation. I’ve been spending as little time dealing with him as I can.”
I just stare at him. “Are you sure that’s smart? What if he decides to kick you out, or something?”
“He isn’t going to kick me out. Havoc House has rules, remember? I haven’t violated any of them.”
“It’s cute that you trust Brady to be fair,” I huff.
His level gaze skates over my face. “I’ve been busy spending time with you.”
Deflating, I come to the unhappy realization that I’m aiming my anger in the wrong direction. Drake has proved he is on my side, and he seemed genuinely surprised to see Brady and Olivia together. My stomach turns at the thought of it. “I think Italian food might be ruined for me.”
He holds up a paper bag with ribbon handles. “Does that mean you don’t want your leftovers?”
I snatch the bag out of his hands. “I might change my mind later.”
About ten seconds of seeing Brady and Olivia laughing intimately at a corner table was enough to kill my appetite for the next week. We didn’t even stay for dessert. And I love dessert.
I don’t realize I said the last bit out loud until Drake nods to the bag with a faint smile. “I had them throw in some tiramisu.”
“I love you,” I say on an unhappy sigh.
Then I freeze as I realize what just slipped out of my mouth.
I hadn’t said it when he did, even though I felt it. I thought it was too soon for me to put it into words, but I guess I was wrong.
I’ve been wrong about a lot lately.
Instead of making a big deal out of the profession, Drake just wraps his arm around my waist and turns me toward the bike. “If I’d known you’d make it so easy, I would have plied you with Italian desserts a long time ago.”
“Very funny.”
His fingers skate over my chin, tipping up my face so I have to look at him. “You coming back to the house with me?”
It’s tempting. So very, very tempting. But I’m not ready to face the other Havoc Boys, no matter how many assurances I get from Drake that they’ll fall in line. As far as they know, I’m still the girl who had a starring role in the gang-bang that was played on their living room wall. Dealing with just the seniors and pledges over break was one thing, but now all of them are back. I’m just not ready to deal with the inevitable backlash.
“Not tonight,” I reply with a tired smile. “All I want to do is fall asleep and pretend like most of tonight never happened.”
His hands tighten before he lets me go. “It wasn’t all bad.”
Considering how much effort he put into creating a nice evening, I probably sound a dozen different types of ungrateful. “We’ll try this again tomorrow night. You don’t need anything fancy to get in my pants.”
“That might be a problem.” Drake hesitates, dropping his hand from my face. “There’s a meeting before the party tomorrow night. Brady called it. We’re all supposed to be there…pledges included.”
My eyes narrow. “You weren’t going to tell me about it?”
“I’m telling you now,” he points out. “But you also said that you were done with all this. You only pledged Havoc House because you had to. Nobody will blame you if you want to forget about the whole thing. But yes, technically, you are still a pledge.”
Impulses war within me. On the one hand, it is more than tempting to forget that Havoc House has ever existed. Olivia is obviously happy with whatever fantasy life she has set up for herself, and she doesn’t want me to get involved. I won’t have any more problems with the Havoc Boys or the alumni if they think I’m slinking away with my tail between my legs.
Then I remember my conversation with Mercy. Bad bitches don’t run away.
“I’ll be there.”
