The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max) novel Chapter 17

“We’ve decided you’re emotionally incapable of making rational decisions right now about us because you’re heartbroken over Douglas the Douche Canoe.” Max smirked as he walked away from Ollie. “We’ve decided it is in your best interest for us to make all decisions concerning our friendship until you are more settled emotionally.”

She rolled on her bed and sat up, placing her feet firmly on the floor not missing the laughter on the twins faces. “You’re doing what now?”

“We’re making all the decisions until you’re feeling better over Doug. You’re heartbroken right now and you need your friends to comfort and support you, but you keep pushing us away. Granted it’s because we’re dickheads but, we’ll be better.” Ollie said as she slung her backpack onto the floor and grinned. “Johan agrees with making friendship decisions by the way and said he would be here, but he has a date with a cowgirl. She’s a real cowgirl. Lives on a ranch and wrangles beef steer for a living. It’s kind of cool. He met her when Max was in the hospital. She was there because she broke her wrist when -”

“I don’t care,” Lark interrupted Ollie’s storytelling. “What are you doing?” She eyed the items being pulled from the backpack suspiciously.

“We’re having a sleepover. We were going to do it in the treehouse but pretty sure we heard Dad egging Mom to meet him out there and we’ve already seen them have s*x too many times in our lives for me to risk witnessing it one more time.”

“We’re having a sleepover?” she tried to ignore the way Max was now looking around the room and the scowl on his face.” We can’t have a sleepover.”

“Why not? It’s Friday night. You don’t work tomorrow.” Ollie wriggled a bottle of bourbon, “and Dad got a new bottle in this morning. We stole it.”

“You stole it,” Max corrected. “I have my own my own bottle at home.”

“Remember when we stole the peach schnapps from Everly’s stash, and we got wasted up here?” Ollie giggled with the memory. “We all puked so hard.”

“I still hate peach schnapps.” Lark shuddered while her mouth grew watery with the memory. “What is your problem?” she finally snapped at Max who was shoving things aside on her vanity.

“Where are all our pictures?” he turned and faced her angrily. “There were photos everywhere of you and me and they’re gone.”

“We burned them,” Ollie ratted her out with a grin. “She was removing you from her life because you’re a jerk who treated her like shit.”

“I’m not the only one who treated her like s**t. Why do you get your photos to still be here?”

“Because it wasn’t my d**k she wanted, it was yours and you were too stupid to notice, and it broke her heart. Almost got her killed too.”

“Ollie!” Lark hissed at her. She did not want Max to know about the events of prom and it was twice now in front of him she brought it up.

“What almost got her killed?”

“Secrets. All these secrets we all keep from each other. It’s awful. We are dying inside,” Ollie said dramatically as she yanked the top off the bourbon and took a swig. She passed the bottle to her brother who shook his head at her behavior before shrugging, taking it and downing a big mouthful. Ollie pushed her laptop across the floor sinking down beside it.” We should look at our old photos and talk about the happy times instead of rehashing the shitty ones.”

Lark groaned and stomped into the bathroom and came back with paper cups she used for mouthwash. “Here, bourbon like that needs to be sipped not chugged, you heathens.” Pouring a measure into the cup, she sat on the floor opposite Ollie and rested her back against the bed, closing her eyes.

“Heard from Douglas?” Ollie asked as she kicked her feet out and nudged Lark’s legs.

“Yup.”

“Really? He was supposed to forget you exist. I’ll need to call my friend again.”

She and Ollie stared at each other, and Lark lifted an eyebrow, but Ollie gave her a warning glance. Interesting. She really hadn’t told Max about the cartel leader. Huh.

Max butted into their silent conversation, “what did Doug the Douche want?”

“He went to drive his sports car and found out what I did to it.”

“He was driving a Prius when he was here. He thinks it’s a sports car?” Max commented sitting down next to her, his thigh touching hers. He grunted when she pulled away from him and yanked her back. “Quit it.” He took his phone out and took a selfie of them, “we’re starting a new collection.”

“He used the Prius for driving to work but he kept the sports car he bought when he won his first big case and got a bonus. “She tried not to react to his touch or his words.

“What did you do to it?” Max asked sipping on his paper cup.

“Put olive oil in the windshield wash and snapped all those little cap things on the wheels so the air would gradually leak out and put an opened can of sardines under the floor mat.”

“Ooh,” Ollie squealed, “tell him about the trunk.”