“Where is it this year?” I ask him, turning around to face him fully.
He watches me, his jaw sharp, and I instantly have a sinking feeling in my gut.
“The lighthouse,” he says simply.
My eyes widen.
“What? Archer, no!” Posie snaps, stepping toward him. “Are you fucking stupid?”
He smirks. “Consider it exposure therapy. No better way for everyone, and you, Lakyn, to get over this shit. We go there, we party, and we leave. Everyone will forget about it after that.”
My head is whipping back and forth before he’s even finished his sentence. “It’s not fucking happening, Archer.”
There’s no way in hell I’m going where we buried a body. Exactly one year after that night. No,fuck that.
He steps forward, his hands settling against my waist. “But, Lakyn, you know I won’t be taking no for an answer. None of us will. So, figure out what you want to wear, put away your crazy, and be at the party.”
I glare up at him, wanting to fight him on this, but knowing he’s right. They will never let me back down from this. His eyes narrow as he watches me with so much tension, so much longing in those stormy irises.
My heart stutters. These guys love me, in their own dark, depraved way.
Glancing over my shoulder, my eyes go to the rocky beach. Everyone is relaxed, sitting on rocks and smoking, others walking through the trees. Some people swim in the dark waters, and I shiver, knowing it’s freezing cold, and not only that, but the ocean water at night is dangerous. You never know what’s lurking in the depths.
My eyes flicker to the boat behind me, and I see Reign talking to a group of guys who are a few years older than me. Reign was in college back when I was in high school, so he knows a lot of these people, even if he’s been gone for the last three years.
Reign looks like so much more than the guys he stands beside. Taller, stronger, sharper, more intimidating. He’s a different species, cut from glass and sculpted by God.
Then there’s Archer, who’s built like a football player; you could break your wrist punching him in the stomach, and feel light as a feather in his arms. Creed is lean and tall, solid but not looming, no bulkiness to show for his incredible strength. Kyler has a swimmer’s body, with long, immaculately defined muscles covering every inch of him. All my guys are perfect, and so fucking attractive, which is why even before last year, all the girls hated me. They hate us for having the guys.
Though, Reign is more. He’s all of them wrapped into one. I get why all the girls have always had their eyes on them all our lives, and why they still have their eyes on him even in this moment.
A flame of jealousy lights my veins. Reign was always possessive of me, just as the other guys are, but he was more so, yet also made me feel like he was just beyond my grasp. Eventually, I had him in my grip, only for him to slip through my fingers like quicksand.
Archer’s fingers tighten around my waist. “Come swimming with me, Lakyn,” he mumbles, his fingers pinching at a flyaway hair.
I narrow my eyes, lifting my drink for another sip. “No. I didn’t bring my suit.”
“You’ve gone skinny dipping a million times with us. Why the fuck do you need a suit?” Kyler barks out a laugh as he walks up behind me.
I glance around. “Um, there’s like a hundred people here. Why the hell would I go skinny dipping? Oh, and also, I don’t go swimming in the ocean at night. You fucking know this.”
“Maybe we just like seeing you wet.” Kyler chuckles.
I roll my eyes, stepping out of the corner they’ve pinned me in. Raising my cup to the crowd, I smile at them sarcastically. “Don’t spend all your time with me. Go hang out with all these people you invited.”
I start walking away, feeling overtired and slightly irritated. They want to go back to normal, but I can feel the eyes of so many people spearing my damn soul. Everyone thinks I’m a murderer, and my friends stand by thinking nothing of it. They just want to forget that they ever killed anyone.
Before I can make it two steps, an arm snaps around my waist, and I’m hauled against Archer’s chest. “What’s got you in a fucking mood?” he growls.
I attempt to wiggle out of his hold, but he doesn’t allow me to budge an inch. “You. All of you.” I lean in, my lips brushing his jaw. “Or did you forget about what happened last year? Because if you want to know something, it’s the fact that you all had eleven months to move on with your lives while I was stuck thinking about it day in and day out, playing that entire night over in my mind on a fucking loop. Shit is traumatic, Archer, and you’re acting like nothing happened.”
An instant fierceness washes over him, and he grabs my chin, spinning me around until my back is against the railing. He leans over me, until my spine is arched, my hair brushing over the edge of the boat, swaying in the breeze.
“You think we just forgot about shit, Lake? Like we brushed our hands on our fucking knees and called it a day? No, we didn’t. Shit was traumatic here, too, baby. We had to deal with the feds for a long-ass time, the stares, the accusations. But you want to know what was worst of all?”
The way he spits the words in my face, pure rage lighting up his eyes, chokes me, strangles my breath in the middle of my lungs. “What?” I gasp.
He leans forward, until his lips hover only a breath away from mine. My eyes suddenly burn with unshed tears, with the emotion in his eyes, the torment in his voice. “It was losing you, Lakyn. Waking up one morning and you being gone. We looked everywhere. We did everything we could, and we couldn’t fucking find you. Our Lakyn.My fucking Lakyn. You were gone. You think it was easy for us? You’re so fucking wrong,” he spits, angry as hell, shoving off me in a second and storming away, leaving me gasping for air, my chest aching in agony.