Serves Me Wright (Wright #9) - K.A. Linde Page 0,39

box in the back of his truck. He dapped knuckles with Julian. Piper was chugging from a bottle of water. She passed it to Blaire, who took a sip. Chester leaned against the truck next to Blaire. Annie grinned at me, as if understanding the look of awe on my face.

They’d all come here for me. Just for me. I’d always been a loner. More interested in my camera and books. Too much social anxiety to reach out and find my own niche. Sometimes, I was pulled into a vortex by proximity, but I hadn’t found anything until Sutton and Annie. And now, I had my own little world. Even with my brother unexpectedly in it.

“Thanks for helping me today,” I said, unable to keep from choking on the words.

They smiled and said it was no problem. Only Annie knew what it all meant to me. Or so I thought.

Then everyone piled into the trucks to head over to Piper’s house.

Julian grabbed my arm before we left. “What got you all emotional?”

I laughed softly and glanced away. “Just nice to have a friend group like this.”

“You have Annie and Sutton.”

“Yeah. It’s just…new.”

“The whole family thing is new for me, too. I only ever had Jordan.”

I nodded. “I get that. I’m the opposite. I’m more surprised that Chester even bothered today.”

“He seems totally chill now. Not at all how he was at graduation.”

“I know. I don’t understand his moods.”

“Well, I’m just glad.”

“Same.”

“You can ride with me,” he offered.

Annie had driven Jordan’s truck over, and we’d gotten the cats into the backseat of Julian’s Audi SUV. I still had to come back to clean and do a final walk-through. I could get Bertha then.

“Sounds good.”

I slipped into the passenger seat, and we followed behind the three trucks. It took us half the time to unload the boxes than it had to stack them into the trucks. I ordered pizza and gave Annie money to grab some beer for the entire party. It was my thanks. While she was gone, I dealt with the cats.

I put food and water out before letting Avocado and Bacon out in the backyard. Bacon went straight for the food, seemingly unperturbed by the new location. But Cado disappeared as soon as I opened the crate. I bit my lip as I watched her dart off. She’d come back when she was hungry, but I still worried. She had left a few times in the past and always came back. I’d never considered her mine before. So, now, I had anxiety about my cats. Great.

The pizza came in record time, and we all crowded around the living room, eating off of paper plates and drinking the cheap beer. I was seated next to Julian, who kept accidentally touching my hip with his.

I glanced over at Julian, and he smiled, taking another sip of his beer. Maybe not accidental?

“So, yeah, it’s been a week,” Piper said with a sigh.

“What did I miss?” I asked. Julian had completely broken my concentration.

“Peter and Jeremy broke up,” Piper said.

I frowned. “Oh no! What happened?”

Peter was Piper’s twin brother. He and Jeremy had been dating for a long time. I didn’t even know how long. They’d been inseparable.

She shook her head. “I have no idea. He won’t talk about it.”

“But he’s distraught,” Blaire added. “He was here last night and cried the whole time. We don’t know what to do for him anymore.”

“Fuck,” Hollin said eloquently.

“I know that feeling,” Chester agreed. “I just went through a rough breakup. Two years, and then it ended.”

“Maybe you could talk to him!” Blaire suggested. “I mean…if you’re okay to talk about it.”

“Yeah. It was the right time for my relationship, but it still hurts.”

I stared at my brother. He hadn’t spoken one word about Margaret since the breakup. He hadn’t even told me himself. I was surprised he was volunteering this information.

“Well, why don’t we go out tonight?” Julian suggested. “We could get Peter out of the house. Might help.”

“Yes!” Annie cried. “I’ll drag Jordan out, too.”

“I’m down,” Blaire agreed.

“I’ll try anything,” Piper said.

Chester and Hollin both agreed to go out. All eyes swung to me. I was still distracted by Julian. Now, his hip wasn’t the only thing pressed against mine. Half of his leg was also touching. And fire was running down my entire body at the contact.

I looked up at him again. The last time we’d gone out together, I’d gotten wasted, and we’d hooked up. Was going out a good idea if