Addicted After All(96)

Daisy rocks on her heels. “I’ll try it.” Of course my gutsy sister would. Ryke passes her his bottle, and she sips Ziff about the same time that Lo and Connor drink theirs.

Daisy spits it out almost instantly and rubs her tongue with her fingers. “Ugh, that’s bad.”

Connor and Lo are able to keep their drinks down, but I can tell Lo needs a chaser, his forehead wrinkling in distress. I’m about to retrieve him a water, but Rose stands up and nods to me like she’ll do it. She’s already eyeing the bit of Blue Squall on the rug that Daisy spewed.

“Sorry, Rose,” Daisy calls after her. “I can clean it…”

“It’s fine,” Rose says, already disappearing in the kitchen.

“I thought you said she swallows,” Lo tells his brother. Oh my God. This time, I punch him in the chest, away from his ribs. He looks remorseful and more unsettled, probably because he realizes it was about Daisy.

Ryke runs a hand through his hair and glances hesitantly at Daisy, who has wide, large eyes. This is a clear indication that they discuss sex, and us, when we’re not with them. This means I no longer should feel guilty when me and my sisters do it too. I nod at this resolution.

Sam mumbles, “I’m going to pretend I never heard any of that.” He rises to his feet and nods to Connor. “It’s not that bad.”

“Ziff,” Connor recites, “it’s not that bad. Drink it.” I crinkle my nose. Yeah, that’s not going to sell anything.

Sam sighs in frustration and crosses his arms. “My hands are tied here. Even if it doesn’t taste that great to you, it has ranked well among our other flavors on board. Greg wants to launch with Blue Squall soon.”

We’re all quiet for a moment. And then Lo says, “You remember Mountain Berry Fizz?” He just brought up an apocalyptic moment in Fizzle’s history. I remember MBF very, very well.

“Don’t,” Sam says, raising his palm at Lo to shut it down.

“What’s Mountain Berry Fizz?” Ryke asks.

I add, “The worst Fizzle flavor to ever be created. The aftertaste was like window-cleaner.”

“Or bleach,” Lo says.

I nod quickly. “You couldn’t predict the awfulness after the sip settled in.” I realize I’m hugging onto Lo when Sam’s eyes flit all around me in a judgy or curious way, but I don’t care much. “It was pulled off the market after three months.”

Light bulb moment for Ryke. “Which is why I’ve never heard of it.” He stares at the bottle of Ziff. “How the f*ck am I supposed to be the face of a product that I can’t even drink?”

Sam checks his phone and then says, “You’re going to have to drink it at the unveiling, without cringing. We’ve set up an event, open to the public, where you’ll drink Ziff and then climb.”

Ryke spreads his arms out. “Why the f*ck are you just now telling me this?”

“Greg thought you’d agree to the terms, no matter what. If you want to earn his respect, you just need to suck it up and do it.”

Ryke says, “I have to drink water before I climb. About a f*cking liter.”

“We’ll talk about the event later,” Sam shrugs it off and points to the box. “I’m leaving this with you so you can get used to the drink. I’ll let you all get back to…” His eyes ping to the baby dolls in our hands. “…whatever you were doing.”

No one even bothers telling him it’s CPR training. And as he departs, I whisper to Lo, “Does it really taste like deer bile?” That seems more abnormal and off-putting than bleach.

“No,” Lo whispers back. “It’s more like an iron, metal flavor. It’s not refreshing.”

My mouth falls a little. I picture blood, which tastes a bit like metal. This is a power drink for vampires. Mountain Berry Fizz 2.0 all over again. My heart goes out to Ryke. It feels like he’s being setup to fail.

This is the hardest part about having friends, watching another life unfold in a messier way than it should. And not being able to help. I have no magic spells or tools to fix this. No one ever says, let awkward Lily Calloway come to the rescue!

I come, a lot. But it’s never satisfied anyone but me.

And maybe Lo.

If my superpower is sex, then…I’ve abused it. I suppose I might’ve been a quiet, lurky villain this whole time.

“Lil?” Lo breathes, his lips brushing my ear. Everyone has gone back to their dolls. “What’s wrong?”