“Look, I respect your decision. You know I will. I just ... If you can find a way to speak to him, or to come out here, to forgive him—”
“Mom. I have to go. I’ll call you later,” I snap, my rage boiling inside.
“Don’t shut me out, baby girl,” she presses with a whine.
“I won’t. I really can’t talk now. I’ll call you tomorrow.” I end the call before she hears the anger that seethes through my body. With one hand I shove my phone in my back pocket, and with the other I grab a handful of my pilfered underwear and stomp out of the room.
“You motherfuckers!” I scream. All eyes are on me when I hit the end of the hall. I hold my undies over my head and march to the table, throwing them down amongst the dirty plates.
“Shit,” Sean whispers as if I can’t hear the fuckhead.
“What. The. Fuck.” I meet each of their guilty stares, but my gaze lands back on Trent, along with with my fiercest scowl. “I said, what the fuck is this!” I scream like a lunatic but I don’t care.
“Your panties?” His stare falls to the table.
“Like you’re not sure? Hell yes, these are mygoddamn panties!” I want to hit someone, kick something. I’m so pissed off I can’t see straight. “Why? Just tell me that!”
Their eyes dart to each other, and for a second I’m not sure anyone will answer.
“Because it was funny,” Austin confesses, fighting a smile when he stares at Trent.
“Funny?” I repeat, at a complete loss.
Sean stands from the table, his hands up in surrender and a sliver of fear etched in his eyes. “We’re sorry, Lex. We should’ve stopped.” He glances at Trent, so I settle my glare back on the lead man.
He meets my gaze, nonchalant, and shrugs. “You’re like one of the guys. We pull shit like this all the time. Keeps life interesting.”
“Interesting? This is entertaining for you? Were youallin on this?” My voice has never been this pitchy but I can’t seem to calm down.
“Come on, Lexi. You have to admit it’s pretty fucking funny.” Austin chuckles and leans back in his seat. Iz joins in on the laughter but it’s all I can do to not slap the merriment off their stupid faces.
“You all are assholes! I’ve been buying underwear at every fucking stop.”
“You can have them back now.” Trent’s lips pull in an apologetic frown.
I shake my head. “Throw them in the trash. I don’t want them. You sick bastards.” I stomp over to the kitchen and pull the lid off the pan at the stove. All that remains is maybe a spoonful of noodles. Idiots didn’t even save me dinner. I slam down the lid with a clang and take five full breaths before turning to face the table. My voice drops so low I almost frighten myself. “Never. Mess. With. Me. You all better sleep with one eye open.”
They have the decency to appear scared. They should be.
“And next time you make dinner, leave me a fucking plate.” I snatch back my notebook and climb into my bunk, pulling the curtain tight and putting my headphones on before I have to listen to one more damn word out of their stupid, immature mouths.
They want to act like children? Fine. Game fucking on.
