The Queen Of Bad Things (Book 2)

Chapter 9. Insane Asylum

Aria had been home for a week. For the most part, I avoided being near her. Angel and Aria's relationship grew stronger, but I couldn't say the same for her and me. Aria decided to forgive Tammy, and Aria spent a lot of time with her mother.

As much as I wanted to get closer to Aria, I wasn't sure how to. Things between the two of us weren't easy at the beginning, mainly because of what I hid from her — and once again, I hid the same thing from her. A person couldn't possibly take in that amount of crazy information and remain sane.

"Ace, are you playing this game or what?" Austin asked.

All of the boys stared at me with the same worried expression.

"Man, if you weren't up to a poker night, you could have said something. We understand," Benny said.

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose with my finger and thumb. "No," I said. My head shook back and forth. "It's fine. I needed a distraction." I handed the blunt to Luis.

Luis hit the blunt and passed it to Joey. Smoke rolled out of Luis's mouth, and he coughed.

"You've been distracted the entire game, bro," Benny said. Benny handed the blunt to Abel.

"What's going on?" Austin asked.

"I was just thinking. . ." I trailed off. I shook my head. "Forget it. Let's just play the game."

"You can tell us," Abel argued. "Maybe we can help."

"With Aria? I doubt it. I don't even know what the hell to do with her," I said and snorted.

"You were awfully deep in thought. You must have some kind of idea," Austin said and handed the blunt back to me.

I sighed heavily. "Well, I was just thinking that I want to tell Aria the truth, but I think it would be too much. All of this has been a lot of pressure on her as it is, and I don't want to add more. Things aren't going well between her and me either. It's fucked up like I don't know how to get close to her. What I feel for her and what she feels for me are a hundred percent different."

"Hmm," Luis hummed.

"That's too much to throw on her at once," Austin said. Austin put out the blunt in the ashtray.

"Do the same thing you did the first time. It worked back then. Why wouldn't it work now?" Benny arched a brow.

"It's not that simple," I muttered. I threw my cards down on the table. "I don't have shit."

The others laid their cards down. Luis won the round.

"Damn, you're the only one who had a decent hand," Austin said and chuckled.

Luis smirked as he took the money from the center of the table.

Abel threw a poker chip at Luis's head.

"Don't be a sore loser," Luis said and laughed.

"I think I'm done. My luck sucks lately," I said.

Austin leaned toward me with a serious expression. "You need to talk to her more. Maybe you should train her again."

"Without telling her what she is? That's a great idea," I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"Start over," Abel said.

"That's what she needs, and it's probably the only thing that is going to work. It's the only thing that makes sense," Joey said.