Addicted After All (Addicted #3)(52)

“How many people in this room have you seen buck naked? Name them too.”

I tilt my head. “And I was just starting to like you, Poppy.”

“You always tell me that,” she says warmly.

I do? I mentally pass through her comment while I calculate my answer. Christ. “Four people. Lily, of course. Ryke.”

Ryke raises his brows quickly like guilty. This happens when we’re undressing for events in one room. We all just don’t care.

“Connor,” I add.

He raises his wine glass to me.

“And unfortunately Daisy.” I glare at her for streaking in our house. I caught a small glimpse, and it was enough to imprint an image that I’ve tried, desperately, to erase.

She playfully winces. “Sorry.”

Ryke shifts uncomfortably, but he doesn’t say a word about it. I highly doubt he’s that upset. But then I think about Ryke spotting Lily undressed, and it almost twists my face, gross sentiments invading me.

There’s a lot there that I don’t like to imagine or talk about. Starting with who’s the baby daddy? rumors and ending with Ryke and Lily discussing sex. The in between—Lily being aroused by his make-out sessions with Daisy—is temporary and only fueled by her hormones. So I can live with it fine.

It’s the other stuff that’s attempting to unravel me.

“What about Rose?” Daisy suddenly asks me. “Didn’t you see her naked with the leeches…?”

Rose’s mouth drops. “Loren—”

“Holster your broomstick,” I tell her. “I didn’t even try to look at you. For one, no.” I cringe. “For another, I was focused on Lily.” I remember the road trip where the girls skinny dipped in a pond. We were all trying to remove the leeches, not catch a peek of each other’s girlfriends, wives, friend—whatever.

Rose relaxes back into Connor.

I nod to Daisy. “Truth or dare?” I’m betting she’ll pick dare.

But she hesitates for a second, her cheek still on Ryke. Her eyes are glazed, which means she’s tipsy, maybe verging on drunk. I haven’t craved alcohol that severely tonight. It’s easier when there are more people staying sober than just me.

Daisy raises her head and surprises me by saying, “Truth.”

A question lights up in my mind. An * one. For Daisy, I would normally try to soften my spiteful, slightly vindictive nature. But it’s a knee-jerk reaction. And I let it out faster than I can rein it in—forgetting in a moment that she’s not Rose.

“When Connor walked in, and Ryke came on your face—how embarrassed were you?”

All of Daisy’s sisters’ jaws unhinge. Daisy slumps down in the couch, her eyes wide in complete horror. I may have unleashed one of the few secrets still kept in the group.

I hear Sam mutter to Poppy, “Where am I?” He’s shielding his eyes with his hand. He’s known Daisy practically forever.

Connor is smiling into his wine glass, and Ryke looks like he wants to tear off my head—or maybe Connor’s.

“You f*cking told him?” Ryke growls at Connor.

“Maybe a month ago,” Connor admits. “It was a good story. I felt guilty for keeping it to myself.”

“Fuck you,” Ryke curses.

Rose smacks Connor’s chest. “You walked in on them?”

“It was unintentional,” Connor says easily. “Though the timing was bad—or perfect, depending on the way you look at it.”

“There’s no good f*cking way to look at it,” Ryke retorts.

“Had I not walked in right then, I don’t think you would’ve come on her face at all.”

Ryke groans. “Just stop f*cking talking.”

“Daisy?” Lily says, reaching out to comfort her little sister, which instantly makes me feel like a dick. Well deserved, I know.

“It’s cool,” she says softly and then winces, for real. “I mean, what happened wasn’t cool. It was…” She meets my gaze. “…almost as embarrassing as this.”

Ryke pinches his eyes like he’s wishing he could go back in time.

Yeah, now I feel like shit. My muscles constrict in taut bands. It’s like every time I open my mouth, I eventually feel this pain. It’s regret too shallow, always finding a way to surface. And still, I’d rather keep it there, right on the brink.

This guilt is what differentiates me from my father. I know this.

I watch Ryke lift Daisy onto his lap so she’s not slumping in humiliation. He wraps an arm protectively around her collarbones, above her chest, and keeps shooting Connor and me an I f*cking hate you right now look. It’s weak in comparison to our dad. And Connor is hardly even perturbed, just casually drinking his wine.

“Truth or dare?” Daisy suddenly asks Lily.

Lily goes rigid. “Truth?” she says unsurely.

I wait for the how many inches is Loren Hale? That’s the vindictive question I would’ve shot back in her position. Rose would’ve too. Anything to embarrass me. That question doesn’t upset me though—but it’s not something I would want to willingly advertise.

Daisy plays too nice with me and asks Lily, “What’s your biggest pet peeve about Lo?”

Lil tilts her chin up at me, and I stare down at her. “When you won’t let me hold the comic book because you think that I’ll crease the pages.”