A Drop of Pretty Poison (Pretty Poison Trilogy #2)

by Kelsey Clayton

“Because I’m falling in love with your sister.”

“So, you’re falling in love with me, huh?”

“I mean, you’re all right.”

“Oh! Well, in that case…”

“I’m already there, but I figured you deserve to hear it first.” He takes a nervous breath and tucks my hair behind my ear. “I love you, Laiken. I am so massively in love with you, and I’m sorry that I didn’t realize it sooner.”

“I’m in love with you, too.”

“Are you fucking crazy?” I ask, smacking his chest with every word. He catches my wrists and chuckles, but I’m not done yelling at him. “What were you thinking, handing him a knife? What if he actually stabbed you?”

“I would’ve deserved it. I knew the rules. But I couldn’t stand to be away from you anymore. The pain of missing you is worse than anything he could’ve done to me.”

“I wasn’t trying to force you into telling him, you know. I just wanted to know it could happen eventually. That you saw a future with me.”

“You are the only future I see.”

“Because Cam is right downstairs,” he says. “And you tend to lack volume control. I don’t regret telling him about us, but I’m also not trying to rub it in his face, either.”

“I need you.”

“You have me, baby. You always have me.”

“Better that than not going after what I want when it’s right in front of me.”

“My God! Stop acting like you haven’t tasted each other’s cum before!”

“This is bullshit!”

“Sit down, Drama Queen.”

“I mean…” Mali says with her shit stirring voice. “Before you knew who it was, you were fully on board.” Her finger moves to her chin as she pretends to think. “I believe the words you used were ‘Good pussy is hard to find these days.’”

“You want him to hate me, don’t you?”

“You took my best friend. It’s only fitting I take yours.”

“A-are you about to propose right now?”

“No,” he says with a small laugh. “I’m sure that will happen eventually, but you once told me I’m not allowed to skip steps. So, Laiken…” He pauses just to drive me insane. “Will you officially be mine? My out-in-the-open, hold-your-hand-no-matter-who-can-see girlfriend?”

“Yes.”

Until he started hogging my boyfriend.

Turns out Hayes isn’t the only one who must have failed sharing in kindergarten.

That manages to get through to him, and I could chalk it up to him being just as protective of her as he is of me, but I don’t think I’m naive enough to believe that. Still, that’s a topic for another time. Right now, my best friend needs me.

Finally, he goes to Mali. There’s something different about the way he embraces her. He’s speaking softly, straight into her ear. I can’t hear what he’s saying, but I see the way she nods against him. When he finally pulls away, he looks her in the eyes.

“Yours is caused by perpetual sexual frustration. Mine is caused by jealousy. We are not the same.”

“Mm-hm. So, I’m going to need you to make arrangements to be here every night for the foreseeable future.” My jaw falls open as I stare at him. “May as well bring all your shit with you, too. Thanks.”

“D-did you just ask me to move in with you?”

“No,” he says with a mouthful of donut, and my stomach drops for a second. “I told you to move in with me. There’s a difference.”

“Laiken,” he says seriously. “Will you please move in with me so that I don’t have to spend another cold and lonely night without you for the rest of my life?”

“You’ve really turned into one hell of a romantic,”

“Tell anyone and I’ll say you’re full of shit. My reputation has no room for a Sappy Fucker title.”

“Rightfully so. He was mine first.”

“He’s stealing you from me,”

“No one can ever steal me from you.”

“Hear that? N...

“Yep, but you might not be when Mali sees that you branded me.”

Yeah, maybe I should’ve thought of that beforehand.

“You just had to be all sensitive and worry about if you’re the right guy for her or not, didn’t you?” Yeah, I know. I’m a fucking hypocrite. “Couldn’t have just made a move on her when I told you to?”

A part of her wanted him to fight for her. To tell her to be with him instead. To tell her anything except what he did. But there’s no getting through to him right now. Not when the wound is still fresh.

“Yeah, right.” Cam rolls his eyes. “It was a cross between his tendency to become a possessive caveman when it comes to her and wanting to be my brother-in-law so badly he was willing to sell his soul to the devil for it to happen.”

“Did you just insinuate that your sister is the devil?”

“Absolutely. I love her, but she’s ruthless.” He puts his hand on my shoulder. “Best of luck to you. Please know there ar...

“Keep your eyes off my goddamn wife.”

“You need to steal Mali away from Monty,”

“Bullshit,” I scoff. “She wants you. She’s always fucking wanted you. You’re just too stubborn to let yourself see it. But that’s not even what I’m worried about here. We just need to get her the fuck away from that douchebag.”

“You don’t fuck up small, do you?”

To be honest, I’ve been trying to distance myself from him—at least as much as I can, anyway. He’s a great friend and I appreciate all he’s done to help me, but he’s not worth losing my marriage over. I know what it’s like when someone wants to steal what’s yours, and whether his assumption of Monty is accurate or not, I don’t want him to feel threatened in any way.