Page 174 of Trust Me

“Until when?”

Remi’s teeth ground together. Even though I wanted to say something, this wasn’t my fight. Not unless it escalated. If Remi wouldn’t put his foot down here, there wasn’t much I could do. And if he didn’t keep his foot down, that was an even worse problem.

He looked around at the guys, and slowly, he began to nod. When he stepped forward, I felt my heart pick up speed.

“We’ve been doing this a long time,” he said. “I could blame you for all of it, and I probably should, but if you keep inviting the Devil into your home, what can you expect to happen?”

Cole’s face twisted in anger. I saw the guys bristle, and something about it brought a satisfied smile to my face.

“I really don’t feel like mopping blood off the ground,” Remi went on, his gaze moving to West. He felt it too, that sleeping beast inside of him, but he didn’t shrink in the face of it the way I did. “So, let’s just call it, okay? Once and for all.”

“This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen,” Cole growled, crossing his arms.

Remi started to say something, but Sen suddenly walked out of the hallway. I hadn’t noticed he wasn’t with us anymore, and I felt a little worried about it, but he was smirking. Looking at Kai, I found him smiling too.

“Oh, look,” Sen said, holding up a little baggie with a pair of kitchen tongs. “This looks like a crime.”

Cole immediately started toward him, but West stepped in his way immediately. Kai walked over to Sen, positioning himself just ahead of him. With his hand behind him, he gently held his boyfriend by the front of his sweatshirt, no doubt ready to throw him out of harm’s way.

I put a hand on Remi’s forearm, assessing the situation carefully. He was silent, but not the good kind.

“Oli—” Dean started, but I shook my head.

“Rem,” I said softly. “Let’s start packing. They can deal with this, don’t you think?”

His eyes were full of a dark rage, and I racked my brain for something to say to calm him down. Before I could think of anything, his nostrils flared. Tears brimmed in his eyes, and I knew he’d walk away before he did it. He marched right past Cole, not sparing him a glance as he slammed through the back door.

Sen grimaced. “Was that my fault?”

“No,” I sighed. “Just get him out. Call the cops if you have to.”

I followed after Remi despite the urge to say something to Cole. It wouldn’t do any good, and there was no closure the two of us would ever need.

“Rem,” I said. The scent of tobacco made me wrinkle my nose. “Again? When did you start?”

“Last week.”

“I’m sorry.”

“He said he was clean. Gods, I’m fucking stupid.”

“You ignored the signs. You always do.”

“I don’t want that shit here,” he said, his voice strained.

“The guy or the drugs?” I joked. Sobering, I took his free hand. “You’re going to be with us. If you want . . .”

“What?”

“You can stay for a while.”

“Maybe we should just all get a house together at this point.”

“I’d say yes, but it isn’t that simple anymore.”

He looked at me with eyes rimmed in red. “Because he’d hate it?”

I took a long breath. “We’re moving east if we’re still together after I graduate.”