The Moth and the Flame (When Rivals Play #2) - B.B. Reid Page 0,141

so…jealous.

Unfortunately, he didn’t bother answering my unspoken question.

“I’ve only met one of your cousins, so I’m going to take a wild guess and say you and Ever are in some kind of weird love triangle with sex on a stick?”

He stubbornly kept his eyes fixed on the road and his mouth shut.

Unperturbed, I continued to muse aloud. “But then where does Four fit into all of this? I thought she was his girlfriend?”

No response.

I gasped dramatically as if he had.

“Are you saying he’s dating them both?”

The muscle in his jaw began to tick, but he stubbornly remained silent. I was starting to think he and Wren were carved from the same stone.

Tapping my chin, I said, “No, that doesn’t sound right. Four doesn’t seem like the type to share her man.”

This time, he snorted. It wasn’t much, but I could tell I was getting closer to a real reaction.

“Then again, Ever is so dreamy,” I cooed. “I bet he could get any girl to do whatever he wanted.”

Finally, I’d found the right nerve, and without mercy, I hammered at it until he exploded.

“From what I heard last night, he certainly appears to have the stamina to keep them both satisfied. Maybe even all at once?” I leaned over until my lips nearly brushed his ear. “All. Night. Long.”

“All right!” he shouted as I sat back in my seat. “Stop! Damn! I’m sorry. Wren wants you, and I know it. The whole goddamn world knows it.” He peeked over at me. “Okay?”

“Okay!” I agreed cheerfully.

He shook his head and barked out a laugh of disbelief. “Jesus, you’re a bitch.”

I nodded and returned to staring out the window. “As long as we’re on the same page.”

“I’m telling you, Lou. Clexa is going to happen! Mark my words.”

“But you have nothing to base that on!” I shouted. “You’re just being a perv.”

On the way back to the manor, I’d discovered that Jamie was another The 100 fan. Right now, we were arguing over the possibility of Clarke and the commander getting some girl-on-girl action.

Dusk was just beginning to fall as Jamie drove through the gate, and I was trying to hide my anticipation of seeing Wren again. Soon. Hopefully. That anticipation skyrocketed when the house came into view, and I spotted the Crown Vic parked in the driveway. The Impala, in all its glory, would have been easily recognized by Exiled once he hit the city, so Wren had chosen to use the car Ever had loaned him.

Jamie hadn’t been able to stop the Wrangler completely before I was hopping out.

He’d come back.

Wren had come back to me.

I ran through the front door, eager for Wren to carry me off into the sunset, but stopped short at the scene playing before me.

Four and Ever were there along with Thomas and Rosalyn and a slender woman I didn’t recognize. She had dark hair that was unkempt, olive skin, and only wore a pale pink nightie. As if she’d left in a hurry.

The tension in the foyer was heavy as they all faced off with one another. Ever looked shell-shocked, Four looked worried, Rosalyn was clearly distraught, and Thomas…he looked seriously pissed.

I didn’t hear Jamie come up behind me until his voice rang through with so much emotion.

“Aunt Evelyn?”

She whirled around, and a kind smile covered her face when she spotted Jamie. “Hi, Jameson. I’ve missed you.”

Jamie made a sound, grasping for words, but when none came, those light brown eyes Ever inherited fell on me, and her smile disappeared. She took a hesitant step forward and reached out to me before thinking better of it and covered her lips with trembling fingers.

“Are—are you Lou?”

“Yeah…”

She took a deep breath before her tears began to fall. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.”

WITH NOTHING TO DO BUT stare at four log walls and bleed on Fox’s floor, I ran through my plan for the umpteenth time trying to figure out what I did wrong or what I could have done differently.

The answer was always nothing.

Evelyn was free, and Fox had plans for me. Maybe this was how it was supposed to be. My capture gave Evelyn the time she needed to get away, and I didn’t regret it. I only regretted not getting to see Lou one last time.

I snorted in the dark. Wasn’t that just a fucking cliché?

I didn’t care, though. I’d give anything, including my dignity, to see her again. I closed my eyes picturing her black as midnight hair, her sweet and subtle smell, and