A Shot of Pretty Poison (Pretty Poison Trilogy #3)

by Kelsey Clayton

My mom is dying.

“Unfortunately, Hayes, the chemotherapy and radiation no longer seem to be working,” she tells me. “We’ve tried upping the intensity of the treatments, but I’m afraid if we continue to do that, it will jeopardize her quality of life.”

Apparently, there’s something attractive about a bartender who can mix a drink and shotgun a beer, all while the saltwater is still in his hair and his wetsuit hangs halfway off his body.

especially after what went down between him and Mali. But that’s not my story to tell.

But my heart will always belong to the girl who made me feel for the very first time.

Meeting my heiress of a roommate was a blessing I didn’t see coming—one that confirmed I was making the right decision and karma was rewarding me.

Everything I have, including my job, is because of her.

“The difference between him and me is that he left his family. Mine left me.”

I didn’t know she was hopelessly hung up on my best friend, even after he fucked it up, I’d think she’s asexual. But I’ve heard enough to know that’s not the case.

She and Riley have never gotten along, and she doesn’t make a good attempt at hiding her disdain. At first I thought it was because Riley may have had a thing for Cam. But that wasn’t the case. Instead, it’s because Riley has a thing for me. And Laiken might be gone, but Mali’s love for her runs deep.

“What’s going on?” Mali asks. Cam huffs and rolls his eyes. “Of course, you’re coming to save him. Unbelievable.” If anyone isn’t afraid to talk back to Cam, it’s her. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” “It means he’s ruining his life, and you’re fucking letting him do it!” Cam roars then focuses his attention on me. “I know you’re heartbroken over my sister, but it’s been almost two years! Move the fuck on!” Okay, fuck this. “This isn’t about Laiken, asshole!”

“Like husband, like wife, right? Running when shit gets tough!”

Fuck. “I’m his wife,” I pipe up.

“Your husband is very lucky, considering the accident he was in,” he tells me, and all three of us exhale. “Now, that doesn’t mean he’s injury free. He’s suffering from a couple bruised ribs, and a very large abrasion on his torso, but his helmet is what saved his life. Being as he was unconscious for a worrisome amount of time, we want to keep him overnight for observation, but we’ll run another CT scan in the morning to make sure there’s no brain damage or severe concussion.”

I spin around just in time for him to crash into me, wrapping his arms around me tightly. The emotions of being able to hug my brother again, especially at a time when I needed a hug, are overwhelming. I let myself have this, hugging him just as tightly as he’s hugging me. “Fucking hell,

“If you came for a divorce, now’s really not a good time,” he spits.

“Are you okay?” “Oh, so all of a sudden you care about my wellbeing? Where the fuck was that shit two years ago?”

“Hey Siri, set a reminder to remove Laiken from anything with an emergency contact.” His phone confirms the reminder is set and he smiles darkly at me. “Don’t worry. They won’t bother you again. You can go back to your new life and forget all about me.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, knowing it’s not nearly enough. “Feel better.” He says nothing as he rolls his eyes and looks away, and God, I would do anything to go back to the time when he would stare at me like I was the only one who mattered in the world.

“He hates me,” I sob. “He hates me so much he can’t even stand to look at me.” She sighs heavily and rubs my back. “He doesn’t hate you. I don’t think he’s capable of hating you.”

“Oh, that’s smart.” The relief is evident in her voice. “I can’t even imagine what he would do if he found out I’ve known where you’ve been this whole time. Or worse, if Cam found out.”

“That’s the thing. You can’t leave.” “What?” “I need you to stay,” he says, then corrects himself. “Hayes needs you to stay.”

“That’s the thing, he’s not the Hayes you knew. He’s not the Hayes that I knew. And it wasn’t until I called his mom on the way back from the hospital that I figured out why.”

he looked at me earlier. I’m the last person he wants to see.” But Cam isn’t hearing any of it as he shakes his head. “He might think that now, but you’re the only person he ever wants to see. He wouldn’t have looked for you for so long if he didn’t want to see you.”

Rule one: End things with Hayes and leave Calder Bay entirely. Rule two: Zero contact. You’re not allowed to see or speak to him at all. Rule three: Do not, under ANY circumstances, tell him leaving was anything but your choice. If you break any of these rules, I will see to it that Hayes is charged with the murder of Montgomery Rollins and spends the rest of his life in prison. I have enough evidence to guarantee his conviction. If you don’t believe me, turn this over.

Since the night I left, I followed the rules to a T—until tonight. Mali tried to point out that she could tell Hayes why I left without breaking the rules, but I don’t think our stalker will take kindly to exploiting a loophole.

“First of all, we don’t do this shit. We don’t lie to each other. That’s what we agreed after you admitted to fornicating with my sister behind my back for months, right?” I can’t help but laugh, wincing at the pain. “Fornicated?” “It’s the only word I can use without gagging,” he growls. “Deal with it.” Fair enough. “Fornicating it is.”

It’s something that I’ve been thinking about since last night, when Laiken stood in my doorstep looking every bit like heartbreak incarnated. For the first time, I stopped blocking everything out and started realizing everything she gave up. Everything she walked away from. And it became clear that I have to stop holding onto something that was never actually what I thought it was. What we had is gone now. It’s time for me to let go. “I’m going to sell the house.”

I spin around, being careful not to twist my body, but the pain comes anyway as I see Laiken standing there. I look her up and down, closing my eyes for a second as I commit the sight of her to memory, and then my walls go up. “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear yesterday,” I growl. “You’re not getting a divorce. So go ahead and do the little vanishing act you’re so fucking good at because I’m not signing anything.”

“I tried, but I couldn’t. Cam told me about your mom. I’m so sorry.” I scoff. “For what? For not being here when she was diagnosed, or for fucking me up so much that I was actually jealous of her death sentence?”

And now a cancer rips through her body like she’s not the strongest woman I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. “Laiken,” she sighs, looking both relieved and surprised to see me.

“It’s complicated,” I answer. “Really complicated.” “It must be if it made you leave him after the way I saw you two look at each other,” she says. I smile sadly. “I still look at him that way. I think I always will.” “Have you tried telling him that?” Yeah, right. “That would require him letting me tell him anything at all. He doesn’t want me here, and I don’t hold that against him. I know I hurt him.”

“Don’t live with regrets, Laiken,” she murmurs softly. “If my son is the one you want, then I think you should fight for him. Fight for your love, because I’ve seen it. I’ve experienced it. And it’s so special. Somewhere beneath all of the hurt and the anger, he knows that, too. But only do it if you know without a doubt that he’s what you want. You can’t get him back just to walk out on him again. He won’t make it through that.”

“Mom, Dad! I have a surprise for you,” he sings. My eyes widen and I turn around to face him in a panic. “You didn’t tell them?” He smirks. “What’s the fun in that?” Ugh, fucking asshole. I should’ve known better. I very well may have walked into a damn ambush. Do I think Cam would let any harm be done to me? Of course not. But do I also know he’s mad and wouldn’t mind seeing me in an uncomfortable situation? Absolutely.

“You think you can just waltz back in here and expect everything to be fine?” he asks with brows raised. “Dad!” Cam protests. “No, it’s fine,” I tell my

Going into the dining room, my brows furrow as I realize it’s set for five. My dad had added a place for me when I got here, which means it was already set for four. But that wouldn’t make any sense, unless…

“Fine, but that means I get to…” His words die out as he steps into the doorway and his gaze meets mine. He lets his eyes rake over me for a moment. It shoots me right back to when I was a hopeless teenager crushing on her older brother’s best friend. A time when I would have killed for him to be looking at me like that. But I know better than to think he’s checking me out right now.

“Y-you guys do this often?” My dad grins smugly. “Yep. We started it after Cam moved out. Gets us all together. You’d know if you had been around.”

The last thing I want to do is rub my new life in Hayes’s face. Not when he’s been going through hell while I’ve been living in a mansion and working at my dream job. It should be the other way around. I should be the one suffering while he’s living his ideal life. Not to say I haven’t had a hard time. I mean, it was months and took prescription medication before I was able to sleep through the night without Hayes by my side. But saying my problems compare to his is like saying a skinned knee is the same as a gunshot wound.

“Ma’am.” He nods at me as he passes, smirking, but not in the way I like. This smirk is more sinister, as if his words were meant to hurt me and he knows he hit his mark.

“What I’ve wanted since I was fifteen,” I answer. “You.” My words catch him slightly off guard and his brows furrow. “That’s the thing, Lai. You had me. I was all fucking in. But you threw that away.” “I know, but if you would just listen—“ “No,” he cuts me off. “I was willing to listen before you left. Before I woke up to find you gone. All I wanted to do back then was listen. But now? I don’t want to hear it. It’s too late, Laiken.”

“Ten minutes?” he asks, and I nod. “See, that’s where we differ. You only need ten minutes with me, but I needed the rest of my life with you.”

“The only thing I’ve ever wanted is him, Mom. But mostly, I just want him to be happy, and I don’t know if I’m the person to make him happy anymore. Not after I broke him the way I did.”

don’t know, honestly. But what I do know is he hasn’t so much as looked at another girl since you left.” And that’s all I need to hear before I have my answer.

As I bang on it again, I don’t stop until I see him come into view. He’s in a pair of gray sweatpants with no shirt, and he stops to stare at me for a moment. I think he knows that I’m not going anywhere because he runs his fingers through his hair and comes to unlock the door. “You know, for someone who couldn’t bother to say goodbye, you sure seem to have a lot to say now.” I hold my head high, even though it’s killing me inside. “Ten minutes.”

“It never used to be this hard to look at you, either.” He takes a step closer. “I used to fucking love looking at you. Craved it. But now, every time I see you, all I can think about is the night we spent together just hours before you left. And the whole damn time, you knew you were going. I thought things were finally getting better. I thought we were going to be okay. But you fucking knew that wasn’t the case.”

“See, that’s the thing. You got something to hold onto. You knew the last time we fucked was going to be the last time. But I didn’t.”

He gives me a skeptical look. “I told you; I don’t want to talk.” Grabbing my wrist, he pulls me into him and spins me around. His touch burns as he drags his hand down my side. “You fucked me that night knowing it was going to be the last time,” he repeats. “That was on your terms. This is on mine.”

I don’t even attempt to deny him. I can’t. I’ve been so desperate for this, to the point where all I want is to obey his every word.

“You always were such a good girl for me when you wanted to be.”