Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
The van hit a bump, jostling me into the back seat again.
I clenched my fists and swung them apart, trying and failing to break free from the zip ties. “If this is your idea of an intervention, it sucks.”
Suffering through my third intervention in just five days sat somewhere on my to-do list above eating gas station sushi and below getting a root canal. At this point, I needed to wipe the slate clean and restart my life with new people in it.
“Not an intervention, per se.” Romeo switched lanes hard enough to catapult me across the van. “More like a tactical adjustment. Somehow, I doubt Briar will be overjoyed with the prospect of dating a walking brewery.”
“I’m sober right now,” I pointed out. “And I’m not taking advice from two idiots that think tossing a black bag over my head counts as a therapy session.”
“We did go a little hard with the black hood.”
“Let it be on record that I suggested something gentler.” Zach swung open his door when the van pulled to a stop. “A pillowcase would’ve done the job. Didn’t Dallas buy one with Nic Cage’s face on it?”
I squirmed again, my frustration mounting. “This is kidnapping.”
“Technically not a kidnapping.” Zach popped open the trunk, bathing me in sunlight. “We’re your best friends. You consented by proximity.”
“That’s not how consent works, jackass.”
“It is when you’re sinking.”
With that, he and Romeo lifted me onto a cart and began wheeling me somewhere, the black material still pulled tight over my head.
The fight drained out of me. I slumped against the cold metal. “I’m not sinking.”
“Because you’re already at the bottom.” Zach propped open a door for Romeo to push me through. “Unfortunately for me, as your best friend, it’s my duty to pull your ass back up.”
“This is just revenge for when I locked you in the cryochamber.” I swatted at him blindly, meeting nothing but air. “You’re not gonna save me by kidnapping me.”
If anything, this would only delay the one thing that could screw my head on straight – a heavy dose of Briar.
“You’re way past saving, lover boy,” Romeo’s voice chimed in from my right, sounding suspiciously cheerful for someone I’d once deemed a sociopath. “Consider this a salvage mission.”
The buttery scent of popcorn assaulted my nostrils. Wherever they’d taken me, it smelled like a concession stand. No one stopped to question the blindfolded, zip-tied stranger as they wheeled me into a room the temperature of a freezer.
Without a warning, Romeo and Zach grabbed me from either side and dumped me onto a cushy leather chair. They ripped the hood off my head and unclipped the restraints just long enough for Romeo to drop a massive tub of popcorn in my lap while Zach zip-tied my left wrist to the handrest.
I registered where they’d taken me. Our old stomping grounds. The movie theater we’d terrorized as kids, skipping class and taking naps in the back row of Theater 8.
The three of us stared each other down. Me, from the front row seat they’d forced me on. Them, from the railing they leaned against.
“Seriously? You rented out an entire theater just to roast me. I’m touched.” I let my fake smile drop into a scowl. “You guys are idiots, and this is pointless. Dad and Sebastian already got to me. I was headed to Los Angeles to tell Briar I’m moving in with her before you fuckers derailed me.”
Romeo held a small popcorn bag, pausing mid-bite. “Wait. You’re moving to Los Angeles?”
“Yes. More or less.” I groaned, exasperated. “And I was on my way to tell Briar in person. So, congrats, assholes. You’ve successfully kidnapped me for no reason.”
Romeo and Zach exchanged glances. Neither looked particularly apologetic.
“In that case, we’re doubling down.” Zach straightened up, moving to the seat beside me. “No offense, but Sebastian literally had a meltdown that sent him across the world and Felix hasn’t seen the sun since flip phones were cutting-edge technology.”
I sighed and leaned my head against the backrest, resigned to my horrible fate. “This is pointless.”
“We thought you’d enjoy the roleplay.” Romeo claimed the seat on my left. “Plus, we never had the chance to apologize.”
“For what?”
“Back then, we knew something happened to you when you came back from summer break with the ridiculous lobotomy excuse. We just didn’t say anything, because we both had our own shit going on, and you obviously wanted us to stay out of it.”
“And truthfully …” Zach stole popcorn from the untouched bucket on my lap. “You were always the glue that held us together. We both knew that if you fell apart, there’d be nothing left. I’d mope around in my home all day, and Romeo would probably end up in jail for murdering his father.”
Romeo didn’t refute the claim. I stared at the blank screen, shocked. Well, damn. I’d always thought the two of them saw me as the third wheel, not the missing piece.