Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes #1)(72)

“So, essentially I’ve been a huge fucking asshole to you guys and my princess because of these jealous bitches?” Despite the dim lighting, I could see the embarrassment riddling the girls’ features. “I barely remember the last few weeks, mostly just being angry and… and sad. I remember being upset when I would see Lucie or you guys. I just couldn’t seem to focus through that fog. Three weeks?” At his question, we all nodded solemnly.

“How is that possible? I swear the party was just a few days ago.” Looking to each of us, he ran his hands through his hair. “I’m so sorry guys, for anything and everything I said or did, I don’t even…” trailing off, a stricken expression took over his features. “Oh god, Lucie…” He stepped back, rubbing his eyes, “what am I going to do? How do I fix that? How do I fix what I said?” At this point he was almost yelling, voice thick with emotion. I breathed an internal sigh of relief. This was the most expressive I had seen him in weeks, I couldn't help, but be happy that we had him back.

“We’ll tell her what happened and she’ll understand. We’ve already talked to her since everything went down. She doesn’t hate you, Hudson, she’s just waiting for you to talk to her,” Logan reasoned.

“Alright, okay, I can do that. First, though, I need them to tell me exactly what they did and why. All of it.” He waved his hand towards the group of girls still standing quietly.

“Ladies,” Cam’s voice was filled with disdain, I snorted. There are no ladies here. “Tell us everything you know, anything you’ve done or said to Lucie, and anything you’ve attempted to do to Hudson, Dante or us.” Claire’s voice was monotone when she answered, describing in vivid detail all of the acts that had transpired against our little group since the beginning of the semester. Most of it we had already figured out, but a few things still surprised us.

“I tried to Persuade Hudson when we realized she wasn’t going anywhere, but his mental shields were too strong, so we came up with another plan,” Madison interjected her southern accent flat.

“When was that?” Taking a step forward, I positioned myself slightly in front of the others. Guilt weighed heavily on me, I should have seen this happening, should have protected them. But instead, I was too busy with worrying about my image to prevent all of this.

“That Saturday after we ran into her in the quad,” my attention shifted to Brittney as she answered my question, though her focus was on Hudson. Everyone looked to him next, waiting for clarification on when that was, his brows furrowed deep in thought. Surprise filled his question when he responded.

“Seriously?” Brittney’s blonde head nodded jerkily, her eyes were glazed with a far off look. “That was the Saturday after movie night when this one tried to use her powers on you.” Hudson gestured between Khloe and I. Is that what that was?

“Why?” Eloquent I know, but between the surprise, anger, and guilt I couldn’t string more words together if I tried.

“You chose her,” Khloe’s answer only confused me more. I directed her to explain, and I felt my jaw clench at her answer. “You didn’t want to be with me, you wanted to be with her and these jerk-offs. So once I satisfied my need, we all got together and came up with the plan to Persuade you into forgetting about her.”

“What need?” It was Logan’s turn to be confused, a head tilt and furrowed brows transformed his face.

“Well, obviously Dante wasn't going to give me what I needed, so I cheated on him with Justin,” no emotion colored her answer. No remorse, no guilt, nothing.

“What the fuck? All because I didn't want to fuck you that night?” I wasn’t really upset about her cheating, but I’d blown her off before. Clearly, this wasn’t the only opportunity she had found. Now I was just upset because of the shame I had felt at my budding attraction to Lucie. Khloe had been out making a fool out of me while I was distancing myself from the one person that actually made me feel like I was worth a damn… Why does this always happen to me?

“So let me get this straight, you cheated on Dante, with Justin of all creeps, because you had to?” Logan’s voice dripped with disgust at Khloe’s indiscretion.

“Would… would you say you were feeling hangry?” Landon’s lips were pressed into a tight line, arms folded around himself twitching with the urge to laugh.

“Well, a bitch has got to eat,” Logan chuckled coldly, his eye’s hard as he glared at the four.

“That doesn’t matter,” I ground out waving a hand to bring their attention back on track. “What else did you do? What did you do to Lucie?”

“After giving you the bracelet and telling you about her and the twins, we followed her into the woods and threatened to tell Noah where she was if she tried coming around again,” Claire took over. Curses went up as the guys started to shuffle, the level of anger growing to near palpable levels. While Nik hadn’t spoken from his position against the doorframe, his power was rolling off of him in waves, the energy crackling around us.

“Did you tell him?” Cam bit out, his lips pulled back in a snarl, sharp incisors glinting in the dim lighting. They all shook their heads. Thank fucking god. I let out a relieved sigh, similar sounds of relief rang throughout the room. “Is that it?” They nodded blankly. “Get out of here and don't you dare come anywhere near my family or our girl ever again. My threats aren’t empty like yours.” Cam’s voice echoed with power, a rough growl rumbled in his chest as he commanded them to leave. They filed out quietly, heels clicking against the tile of the hall as they made their exit.