a dirty little smirk pulled at his lips. I knew him well enough to know, he’d tell me exactly what I could do in vivid detail. Which was why I pulled away before he could say anything gross.
I zeroed in on Jamie, who’d taken a seat on the couch to eat his own burger. Before he could protest, I planted myself in his lap by perching my butt on one of his muscular thighs and grabbed ahold of his wrist. While staring at Louie, I took a big bite of Jamie’s burger.
Louie playfully frowned. “Tease.”
A low moan escaped me at the explosion of flavor that hit my tongue. Closing my eyes, I savored the taste. It was a southwestern burger with barbecue sauce, bacon, and onion rings on it. I hadn’t eaten since six that morning before I'd left for class. It wasn’t until that first bite I realized how hungry I was. Ravenous was more like it and I seriously considered stealing the rest of Jamie’s burger.
“How much have you had to drink?” Jamie asked. I opened my eyes to find both of them staring at me.
“Enough to still understand what’s going on but not care.”
Jamie looked to the coffee table, eyeing the empty bourbon bottle.
“You just dismembered two bodies,” I stated.
“You unloaded a clip into a guy’s dick. I don’t think cutting up two dead bodies is what’s really bothering you.”
Oh, the ever perceptive Jamie. He was right. Their methods were gross but not why I was stressed. As much as I wanted this day to be over, I was also dreading the end of it. It meant this chapter of my life would end. I’d be right back where I started—under Stefan’s rule. All day I’d felt like I’d been waiting for my impending doom, ripping off the Band-Aid slowly, as it were. I didn’t like that. I was a rip that sucker off fast so I can get the pain over with and move on kind of girl.
“I don’t want to sound like an impatient child, but are you done yet?” I asked, deflecting.
Jamie relented with a nod. He tried to hand me his burger, but I shook my head. I’d lost my appetite.
“When was the last time you ate?”
My silence was his answer.
“It’s a long drive home. I don’t need you throwing up in my car.”
I rolled my eyes, taking the damn burger, and went to get out of his lap. He stopped me by wrapping his arm around my waist. I questioned his hold on me with an arched brow. He ignored me by turning his attention to Louie. “Throw me another one, man.”
“What, no offer of sexual favors in exchange for food? I’m feeling a little slighted.” Louie pouted, reaching into the fast food bag to get him another burger. Jamie didn’t feed into Louie’s antics. Instead, he looked bored.
As I watched them, I tried to hide my smile. Jamie and Louie had been inseparable since they became friends freshman year of high school. They’d always reminded me a little of yin and yang. Both were polar opposites; Jamie’s dark brown hair and hazel eyes clashed with Louie’s blond hair and blue eyes, and their personalities were just as different. Jamie was stoic and reserved whereas Louie always seemed carefree and charismatic. Where one was weak, the other thrived. Together, they were like two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly.
When we'd been kids, before I'd really known Louie, I'd been a little jealous of him. I hadn't wanted to share Jamie. I’d never really been good at sharing, period, but that was beside the point. I'd been a major bitch toward Louie, but that hadn’t seemed to faze him one bit. In fact, the asshole had encouraged my shitty behavior. It had thrown me for a loop, which had resulted in me liking the goof in the end.
“What’s got you smiling, gorgeous?”
Busted. Sheepishly, I faced Louie. He was sitting next to us on the couch, eating. “I was just thinking back to when we were kids.”
“Hmm,” he hummed while he chewed. “Good times.”
Some of it.
We ate the rest of our food in silence until Jamie asked if I had a candle. I retrieved one for him, along with some matches. He then asked me for my car keys. I handed them over without question. He tossed both his keys and mine to Louie. “Help her out to my car. I’ll need you to follow us in hers. She can’t drive,” Jamie said before heading