Exposed [Book 4 in the Expiring Series]

4 Why Is There Drinking In Every Chapter?

Colton~~

The light is positively blinding. Seriously, who let a sun god into the room? Give me a name and a knife, and I'll make sure their eyes and head are feeling exactly what mine are.

I brace a hand against a hard, flat surface that's sticky and sit up. The room flip flops, stomach acid rising up my throat.

I'm on a coffee table.

"Good morning." Percy's chipper voice sends a spike of pain through my head. He holds out a white pill and a glass of water. I take them both.

On the couch Brydan and Riley are sprawled haphazardly. Eli and August are curled on the rug amid overturned bottles and spilled cups. August is stripped down to his underwear.

The scent of coffee and bacon saturates the air: I'm repulsed and hungry at the same time.

Percy must notice my nostrils flaring because he says, "Jonas went out and bought breakfast."

"Where is he now?"

"On a run."

I rub my forehead and swear I can feel the swollen blood vessels through my skin. How the hell is he on the move while I'm still on a coffee table? He had plenty to drink as well.

The better question is how I ended up on a coffee table.

"What time is it?"

"Ten."

Seong-ho and Enzo stumble into the room, wearing dress ties like scarves. We didn't even wear ties to the house. I have no idea where those came from.

On the floor, Eli and August stir. There's an ugly bruise forming on Eli's forehead.

If Jonas is able to run around while we're all like this, I think we failed at throwing his bachelor's party.

Tobias comes in from the kitchen, a glass of apple juice in his hand. "There are doughnuts."

And like that, Sebastian appears out of nowhere, making a bolt for the kitchen.

*****

Three days later, once I no longer feel as if I'm going to be sick every time I attempt to eat, Vienna and I go into Westerton for dinner. She holds a wine glass between her fingers, a dark red sangiovese inside. Her blonde hair is curled tonight, and silver earrings dangle from her ears.

She's the picture of elegance, and she's frowning. "You didn't exactly come off as wanting to be Alastair's best friend."

"I was worried about my sister."

"You didn't have to make it so obvious. Not if you were going to petition our case to him."

"I didn't think about that then."

She stares into her glass, as if expecting to find her answers in the wine rather than in the person across from her. "You're going to ask an Amoris if your sister can marry an Amoris so you can marry a girl who was exported for being a rebel? You see the problem or am I the only one?"

"That he'll try to marry her?" Alastair has a reputation on Amoria. He's a rich, young bachelor, and there is no one who would claim he isn't attractive. Combine all of those and Amoria ends up with an heir who can't seem to stay out of the headlines.

With a sigh she drinks from the glass. "I don't see that as a problem if they like each other."

I drum my fingers against the white tablecloth in the places where the candlelight shines.

"Alastair likes Gwen. Do you think he'll want to help you with this if it means Gwen might marry any Amoris before he can get the chance to woo her over?"

"She already has to marry soon. Just like I do. This won't speed up her marriage."

"I suppose if it gives him a better chance at winning Gwen over, he might help . . . Careful, though, Colton, you might send them straight into each other's arms." She leans back in her seat, her glass held in both of her hands. I gulp. "Which would you rather? Us to marry or Gwen and Alastair to not?"

"The first of course."

"And what if this plan with Alastair fails?"

From the back of the dining room, I spot our waiter on his way with our food. "We'll have to try something more extreme."

"What does that mean?"

"You don't want to know."

"Colton, tell me."

"You're not going to like it."

Since it's Halloween, here are what some of the characters from the series would dress up as.

Iris: Black Widow

Jonas: A prince

Colton: Damon or Stefan Salvatore

Sebastian: Peeta Mellark because bread

Vienna: A flapper

Tobias: He'll dress up as a scientist, and no one will know who he is supposed to be, so he will have to keep telling people what his costume is and will get increasingly frustrated that no one is getting the costume he put a lot of time and work into. He'll then meet someone who knows who he is dressed up as and they'll be soulmates possibly.

Erik: 1940s Gangster

Bently: Wouldn't be caught dead in a costume

Percy: Soccer/football (depending on where you live) player

Rydersin: Ghost bride or a character from Amorian culture that I have not done enough world building yet to know about. What kind of TV shows are popular there? Musicals? Do they like comic books?

Gwen: Greek goddess

Alastair: Brendon Urie in the Death of a Bachelor music video. No one would know who he was supposed to be, but he'd look fine and know it.

Happy Halloween! 🎃