Something Wilder

by Christina Lauren

“But wasn’t it your year to plan this trip?” Everyone looked at Bradley now, too. His shoulders hunched. “So, okay, don’t get mad.” He smiled nervously. “But I told him he could come if he picked the spot and planned the whole thing.”

Ok we can fight him now

“I think we’re missing the point,” Leo said. “Terry is dead. If we go back and tell the authorities that he fell, there’s a good chance we won’t be suspects in a murder case. Going off on a treasure hunt is a very bad look.”

A MAN WITH SENSE

All he’d ever truly wanted was her.

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH PANIC PANJC!!!

He wanted to tell her, I have some saved, it isn’t enough—it isn’t nearly enough—but it’s a start, and then realized that the idea was insane. It had been barely four days. He couldn’t offer to buy her a ranch.

He COULD tho

Leo had to count his breaths. He was all tightness and longing; there was no space for words. Finally, he was able to tell her: “Missing you was physically debilitating.”

PANIC!!!!!

I might follow you anywhere, he thought.

I WANT ONE

feel bad.” Walter straightened in his saddle. “I didn’t like Terry, but I didn’t want him to die.”

Thank you Walter

Bradley took off his baseball cap and used it to scratch the back of his unruly hair. “I’m sorry he died, but I’m done feeling guilty.”

Its literally only been a few hours omg

“This tiny town represents what I fear my entire future will be: dry, dusty, and decrepit.”

Me too girl

Before he’d even registered his own decision, Leo shoved back from the table, jealousy and possessiveness streaking a hot path through him. The chair scraped against the battered wood floor and in three steps he was standing behind her. Close behind her.

Giggling and kicking my feet

“Lads, Nicole,” he called to the group, walking briskly. “We’re leaving. Quickly.” Smoothly, he dug his hand into the front pocket of her jeans and tugged the car keys free, spinning them on his finger and winking

He's HOT

“This is so awesome,” Walter said from behind them, his knees tucked to his chin. “I feel like we’re in The Goonies.”

Im Walter

Bradley let out a war cry, raising a fist to pound it on the tinny ceiling of the Jeep. “I was born for this moment!” he shouted to the sky.

Bradley……i like you man. You're weird

“They’re shooting at us!” Nicole screeched. Leo reached for Lily, protectively cupping her head with his arms and pulling her into his chest. “They actually brought a gun?”

I LOVE HIM

“I’ve got Terry’s bag!” Walter yelled above the chaos. He pulled the handgun out, waving it. “Guys! Want me to shoot back?”

WALTER!! LOL NO

Walter continued to look out the back window. “Do you think we should go check on them?”

Protect Walter at ALL costs

want to be near you.” She gaped at him, and he added, “I still have feelings for you.”

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

“I don’t need you,” she insisted again, but this time with less heat. “Okay,” he said gently. “I’m not doing any of this because I think you need me. I’m doing it because I want to.” He looked around, searching for the right words and finding only the simplest ones. “I want you.”

THE VOICES

“I don’t think you’re sorry you did it.” She looked up at him, surprised. “And I’m not sorry you did it. If you did it again, I wouldn’t stop you.”

THE VOICES

“Wait!” Walter called. With a dust-caked hand, he reached up, shoving his dark curls off his forehead. “I just wanted to say to Miss Nicole and Lily, this has been one of the best trips we’ve ever, ever done.” He looked at Bradley and Leo. “Right, guys?”

Walter <3

“I’m going to get close enough to throw my pack on the shore, and then I’m coming back for you, okay?”

Exactly what i was thinking King

He reached back, pulling his soaked shirt off and using it to carefully clean her up. “Lily,” he said gently. “Breathe, honey. It’s okay. You’re safe.”

Im done for.

From the way he looked down at her, gaze moving over every one of her features, Lily could tell he’d thought the same thing. “I had to let you go once,” he told her. “You think I’m letting that happen again?”

CRYING. SCREAMING. THROWING UP.

Don’t fall in love with him again, she thought.

Too late!

He stood and walked over, bending to get her attention. “Lily, I’m freezing.” His eyes were dancing, sparkling playfully in the sunset. “I’m so cold. Please help me.”

I need him

“I love you,” he said in her dream. “I don’t think I ever stopped.”

AAAAAAAAHHHHHH

think the problem is that I’m not the kind of person to fall in and out of love.” And now her pulse was pounding. The implication landed heavily. But she asked anyway: “What do you mean?” “I mean, I fell in love once and stayed there.”

AAAAAHHHHH

“Don’t play with me,” he said, and his voice vibrated against her lips. “Lily? I don’t have it in me to say no, but don’t do this out of pity or obligation.”

THE. VOICEZ.

“I want us to be able to look at each other when we have this conversation,”

A. MAN.

Feet crunching through dry branches. A gun cocking.

WHY CANT WE JUST BE HAPPY

“I don’t know, just—like, try to feel small in your boot.” “What the fuck does that mean?”

Im Lily lol

Lily moved to shove him behind her when she heard Leo’s relieved voice: “Dude.” “Bradley?” “Goddamn, there you are.” Laughing as he took in their expressions, Bradley shook his head. “You both look so panicked. It’s just me.”

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE

Leo and Lily exchanged a brief, confused look. “How—what are you doing here?” Leo asked. “Nicole said you’d gone back to New York.”

I don't trust him

“You spoke to— Oh, right. I told her I was flying home, but really I just couldn’t handle knowing you two were going on without me.”

Sus

“Seriously?” Bradley said, wounded. “It’s me. What’s there to think about?” He reached out to jovially smack Leo’s arm. “Already this treasure has messed with your head.”

I DON'T TRUST HIM

Bradley looked genuinely shocked for a beat. And then his expression broke, and he burst out laughing, bending at the waist. “Shit, I couldn’t hold it.”

OMG PSYCHOPATH

“An associate professor’s salary and a fuckton of debt. It’s impossible to get out from under it,” Bradley admitted, looking vulnerable for just a moment.

BUT THATS WHAT YOU CHOSE

“Why are you risking your job, our friendship—everything for this?” Leo asked. “Why didn’t you just talk to me? I don’t get it.”

!!!!!

“You wouldn’t get it,” Bradley said simply. “Mr. Responsible would never get himself into this situation, and I admire that, but I got mixed up in some stuff you wouldn’t understand and am in so deep these guys are going to straight-up kill me if I don’t get my hands on a lot of cash. Want to save my life? Help your best friend out.”

Oh cry me a river

Lily would have done anything to keep her man safe,

HER MAN YASS QUEEN

A rush of emotion pushed up from her chest and into her throat, salty and hot, at the awareness that even when injured and intensely concentrating on an urgent task, Leo was still keeping an eye on her.

EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING

“You fucker,” Nic seethed, grabbing Bradley’s hair and cracking her knee into his face. Blood gushed from his nose, and Leo’s old instinct remained—to move toward his friend, to protect one of his own—before he remembered. Bradley wasn’t included in that circle anymore. Finally, another figure jogged forward, dragging Nicole away swearing and kicking at the air.

YEA GET HIM NIC

He was glad he’d grabbed the one important thing from the cave.

WHAT THAT MEAN

With a quiet “Thanks,” Walter took his backpack from Nicole. “I declined to cover his bail but told him he was allowed to write us letters of apology from jail.” He cleared his throat. “I also told him he looks terrible in orange.”

Oh Walter

What was it with her and crying lately? She was not a fan.

Me

“Good, because all of those voices in your head telling you that I wouldn’t be happy with you long-term or you’re not worth giving up my life for are just thoughts, Lil. Just because thoughts are loud or constant doesn’t mean they’re right.”

I LOVE HIM

“It appears he did. At least a little. It’s old. We use Unicode now, mostly, but ASCII was used for order-entry computer systems for years.

How did he make computer code hot

Leo rested his cheek sweetly on his folded hands and smiled at her. “It means I could tell them anything I wanted.”

HE IS EVERYTHING

“Fougère?” he supplied, and shook his head. “That’s not a real thing.”

LOL

“Because if by chance they put together that my fake Fougère code was a doublet or triplet code, then the three E’s in Beat ya here should have been the same number. But—” “Leo,” she said with strained patience, “I swear to God if you don’t tell—”

Me too girl lol