Page 138 of Tempting Venom
Another rev of an engine gets close, and Marcus drives away like a bullet in the night just as Jude speeds in my direction.
He stops beside me, throwing down his bike, then grabs a hold of me.
I’m about to kill Jude for coming here and interrupting what was probably the most surreal experience of my life.
One second, I was so dead inside that I nearly killed myself, and the next, a rush of life burst through me like an explosion.
Jude shakes me and checks me left and right, asking me questions I barely hear.
“Was that your car that blew up?”
“Did I imagine it, or was that Marcus?”
“This is because you were being reckless by burning his bike, wasn’t it?”
“Why are your eyes blown up like that—Preston Aaron Armstrong! Did you take those drugs without telling me?”
Blah, blah, blah.
All I keep thinking about is that moment of peace when my lips met Marcus’s.
And how much I need that again.
Even if it hurts.
19
PRESTON
“Are you really not going to tell us what the fuck happened three days ago?”
I steal the puck from Jude, who just spoke, skate away with supersonic speed, and score.
Kane, Jude, and I are doing our usual nighttime practice in the rink, now that they finally realized the importance of my highness.
Only, something’s different tonight.
Kane and Jude watch me from the middle of the rink like hawks as I glide backward, then mimic a commentator’s voice. “Armstrong does it again!”
I point my stick at them. “This is the part where you make some noise, peasants.”
They’re both wearing those annoying frowns, and I pout. “No one appreciates Preston enough. I’m telling you, bitches, I’m getting new friends. Will ask my minion Hayes to put out feelers right away.”
“You can’t deflect forever.” Kane glides toward me. “We need to know what happened that night.”
“No, you don’t.” I skate to Jude’s side and wrap an arm around his shoulders. “You don’t see us throwing a bitch fitover your disappearance from the team in your quest to chase Destiny.”
“Her name is Dahlia. And I didn’t hide the facts from you, did I?”
“Don’t care. You abandoned us, and I spent nights on end crying into my pillow. Isn’t that right, Jude?”
My best friend’s frown only deepens as he watches me. It’s far from ideal, considering he’s been giving me that look faster than I can blink lately.
“Kane is right,” Jude says. “You were completely off that night. Not only did you take those meds without telling me beforehand?—”
“You were busy stalking Sleeping Beauty, so I didn’t think you could spare a moment for your lord and savior—me.”
His lips part, and a look of guilt passes over his face, his shoulders tightening beneath my grip.
