“Calm down boys she’s fine, she’s on top of Jensen” Kat says and then pauses as she realises what she’s said and her and Jenny burst out laughing, I can’t help but join in. Several heads peer of the back of the sofa and eye me curiously although all their faces fill with relief at seeing I’m safe. I do notice that none of them asked where Jensen was.
Cash turns back to his mom, eyeing the three wine glasses and two empty bottles of wine, I have no idea when they opened a second bottle, I only had one glass.
“Are you guys drunk?” He asks.
“Not drunk just a bit merry son” Kat answers him.
Making us all burst out laughing.
“That would be a yes then” Trick murmurs quietly making me laugh harder.
Chapter Six
“Dude what the fuck happened?” Luc asks, obviously deciding to leave the laughing mom’s to it as the guys all focus on me and Jensen.
“Help?” I ask as I hold my hand up, Rafe comes forward and gently lifts me off of Jensen who just stays flat on the floor. The front door opens and Rob, Marc and Rich all walk in together.
“Dad, Rich what are you doing here?” Cash asks, since they weren’t supposed to be here.
“Kat and Jenny invited us for pizza” Marc answers.
“Wait Dad?” Jensen says still on the floor.
Rich pops his head over the back of the couch and raises an eyebrow at his son. “What are you doing down there?” he smirks.
My eyes dart to Kat but her attention is already on Rich, I smirk to myself, this is going to be easy.
“I thought she was crying” he grumbles quietly, and a look of sympathy crosses Rich’s face as everyone bursts out laughing.
“Rich always panicked when I cried” Kat says, and Rich snaps his attention to her.
Jensen shoots me a questioning look, I shrug in response my grin widening. I can’t really answer him verbally right now.
“It was absolutely hilarious, remember that time we sent him to the store because your grandma died, and you were crying” Marc starts chuckling. “He panic bought like a hundred chocolate bars.” Marc finishes and starts laughing harder.
A grin lights up Rich’s face as his gaze stays glued to Marc and Kat. We all laugh too but my guys are obviously picking up something between the parents because their eyes just keep switching between all three.
“I’d forgotten about that” Robs adds. “We were all eating chocolate bars for ages.”
Rich rubs his hand over the back of his neck as he mumbles, “they were her favourite” he shrugs, sending them all into fits of laughter.
Kat stands up and sends a look to Marc who just grins at her and nods slightly. She walks over to Rich.
“I was very grateful” she laughs as she stands up on her tip toes and kisses him on the cheek.
He freezes shooting a worried glance at Marc who just winks at him and smiles softly. Rich slowly puts his arm around Kat’s shoulder as if he’s afraid that if he moves to fast the moment will shatter and everything will go back to how it was. As soon as his arm settles around her shoulders, she practically sinks into him.
I glance around the room, the guys are all sharing slightly confused looks, whilst Rob and Jenny have shit eating grins on their faces. I’m definitely going to have to explain some things to the guys later, that’s going to be a fun conversation. Jenny winks at me making me smirk especially when Trick catches the look and narrows his eyes at me.
“Right, grown-ups there’s beer and wine in the kitchen, what pizza does everyone want?” Rob asks taking charge.
We all tell him what we want and then the adults go into the kitchen, Marc walks towards Rich and Kat and takes her hand, when Rich starts to move his arm Marc leans in and says something to him that makes him grin and keep it there as the to men do a weird guy handshake thing. As soon as they’re out of hearing range the guys surround me.
“What the fuck was that?” Jensen asks me.
“I’ll explain properly later there’s not much time now but just stop for a second and really look at them. Look how happy they are” I sigh happily as lean into Rafe.
Rich’s laugh booms out and Jensen’s eyes go wide.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh like that” he pulls me out of Rafe’s arm and tucks me into his side. “I don’t know what you did and I’m sure there’s more to the story but thank you for whatever you did, Angel.”
“I just gave a little nudge to Kat, that’s all them” I tell them.
Jensen bends down and kisses me softly, I sigh as he pulls back and he winks at me, smirking before he swings me around and into Cash’s arms. Cash grins at me before tugging me closer and thoroughly kissing me.
“We missed you Il mio Cuore” he whispers.
I go around each of my guys and get similar greetings, I really missed them which seems silly but I’m fucking owning it. I end up sat on Trick’s lap with Riot sat on one side of me with his hand on my thigh and Jensen sat on the other his head in my lap as I absently play with his hair. It doesn’t make me nervous to sit like this in front of the parents now.
Although our situation isn’t the same as theirs. There is an increasingly louder part of me that is beginning to hope that we might be able to have a relationship like they did and hopefully if my meddling works, will have again. My cynical side chooses that moment to remind me that just because it worked for them does not mean it will work for us. For starters there’s six of us, that’s a lot of people to balance and the chances of them all wanting the same thing and wanting a relationship with me are pretty damn slim.
I know we’re touchy feely, I know that we kiss all the time and have done other things too but maybe that’s all it is for them. Maybe it’s like what it was like for those other two guys who were with Kat, just an experiment, a bit of fun. The truth of it is I’m not going to know how they feel until I talk to them. I’m starting to think that it would be a good idea to bring it up with them before we leave but we’re leaving in three days and we have Christmas and the Christmas eve party during that time.
I’m going to wait.
Coward.
I glance down at Jensen, absent minded, as my brain spins me in circles. He’s intently studying my face and looks like he has been for a while, he frowns and lifts one of his big hands to cup my face, I lean into it.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking about Angel, but it will be ok” he assures me, “Rafe!?” he yells as Trick’s arms tighten around me obviously having heard. The parents all walk in just as Rafe crouches in front of me, Jensen doesn’t take his eyes off me or his hand as Rafe lean’s forward and kisses me senseless, right there in front of everybody whilst I’m sat on Trick, with both Jensen and Riot touching me.
It feels right but it shouldn’t, should it?
Society dictates that it shouldn’t but then again society is fucked so should I really pay any attention to it?
“What was that for?” I ask.
“You were sad, and overthinking, us three are at awkward angles to kiss you and catch you by surprise and Rafe was the first name that came to me” Jensen says casually and my mind stutters.
Is it really that easy for him to share me? He wasn’t in a position, literally, to comfort me how he thought I needed to be comforted so he asked one of the others too?
That’s pretty fucking amazing.
It makes the claws of hope dig in deeper. There’s no getting rid of it now.
Fuck.
“Distraction” Rafe answers effectively pulling me out of my thoughts again, his voice grumbling.
Riot chuckles next to me and Rafe turns to him and smirks, planting a soft kiss on his lips. That effectively stops what ever was going to come out of his mouth.
“Haha, it works on you too” I tease turning to Riot he darts forward and captures my lips in a searing kiss.
“Dude, that’s not playing fair” I say breathlessly and all my guys chuckle.
“You guy’s are a
dorable” Kat suddenly says.
The guys all freeze seeming to have completely forgotten where we are for a moment and that they were nearby. I chuckle quietly and they relax. Rafe finally gets up, moving to sit on the arm of the couch near Riot and wrapping his arm around him as Riot leans into him. A content smile on his features, his hand still on my leg.
The doorbell rings and Marc and Rich get up from where they’re sitting either side of Kat to grab them since there’s so many of us and the guy’s tend to eat a large one each, it’s going to take the two of them to carry them all. The next hour or so is spent eating pizza and laughing. It’s amazing to me that this sort of thing happens in real life. Family night, with pizza. No drugs, no pervy men, no threat of violence. Just happy people enjoying spending time together.
“Well we’re going to take off, see you at the Christmas eve tree decorating on Monday!” Marc says, “I’m assuming you’ll be here until the last possible second?” he chuckles his question aimed at Cash who just shrugs and grins.
Marc, Rich and Kat all get up together and start to make their way towards the door, all of us yelling goodbyes. I watch as Kat pulls him down and whispers something in his ear before grabbing Rich and pulling him out the door, Cash and Jensen have little confused frowns on their faces as they watch their parents and it’s adorable. Marc doubles back to where we are all sat.
“Can we talk for sec Cash?” he says.
“Sure dad,” Cash answers. Getting up and walking over to where his dad is standing just out of hearing range.
“Do you want to go and watch a film, Dragonfly?” Trick asks from behind me and I nod.
“Maybe explain what was going on between my dad and Cash’s parents?” Jensen asks raising his eyebrow as we all make our way upstairs.
“Nope we’ve got to wait for Cash before I’ll explain that, it’s only fair since it concerns his parents too” I tell him.
“Fine” he huffs exaggeratedly, before a mischievous grin lights his face. He quickly but gently scoops me up being careful of my injuries and runs up the stairs with me.
Seriously impressive.
“What are you doing?” I ask between giggles.
“Snagging the best spot again” he grins cheekily, before gently placing me at the top of the bed so I’m sat up and the crawling on top of me and setting his head on my stomach again. It seems like this is his favourite position.
“You fucker” Riot growls as he enters, making Jensen and the guys laugh. I just grin happily.
Cash
Mom, dad and Rich have been acting weird all evening to be honest. I can’t quite put my finger on it, they just seem closer than they ever have before. I’ve caught looks between them and Rich at family events before that seemed almost longing but I never thought to ask either of them about it. So I’m quite relived when dad asks to talk to me. If he doesn’t explain what’s going on though I know that Ever knows and is going to fill us in. I did as she asked earlier and watched the three of them. She was right, they all seemed so much happier and some of their interaction sort of reminded me of a less obvious version of how me and the guy’s are with Ever.
Rich and dad never strayed too far from mom, normally it’s just dad but something about their dynamic and how comfortable they are with each other just screams of a mutual past.
Dad leads me off to the side and I watch as all the others go upstairs, probably to watch a film. I know I told her earlier, but I really did miss her. I think today was the longest we spent away from her since she arrived and she was even in the house. The depth of my feelings for her are scary to be honest.
“What’s up dad?”
“I’ve just noticed a couple of things and wanted to talk to you about it” he starts.
I can’t help but tense up. I have no doubt that this has something to do with Ever. I thought my parents were fine with it, they had no problem with the fact that we were all taking her to the Winter Formal. I love my parents they’re honestly awesome but if they try to tell me I can’t spend time with Ever anymore then we’re going to have a serious problem and since I’m already eighteen they don’t really get to have much of a say anyway. I would hate for it to come to that though.
“No matter what Son, make sure you follow you’re heart” he begins.
I can feel my eyebrows furrow with confusion, not where I thought this was going to go.
“No matter what anyone else will think, no matter how unconventional it is. If it feels right, follow your heart” his gaze skips over my shoulder and I follow it, seeing Mom stood with her arm wrapped around Rich’s waist, his arm wrapped around her shoulders pulling her in close. Rich looks up and I turn back in time to see my dad wink at him. Again not the reaction I was expecting. What is going on? He focuses on me again, “if you have any questions about anything, know that you can come to me, there will be no judgement.”
I nod and he takes that as a que to pull me in for a hug and then walks back over to Mom and Rich all of them disappearing through the door and into the night.
I have no idea what that was about.
I take the stairs two at a time rushing to get back to Ever. I’d roll my eyes at myself because of how ridiculous it is but I’m not ashamed in the slightest. As I step through the door my eyes scan the room instantly landing on Ever, as she smiles her eyes light up, and my heart stutters in my chest, she is my heart.
“Il mio Cuore” I say echoing my thoughts, I’m actually surprised she hasn’t asked me what her nickname means yet.
I walk briskly towards the bed leaning over Luc who just smirks and doesn’t even try to make it any easier by moving out the way, the fucker. She tilts her face up to me and I instantly bring my lips to hers, I don’t linger, if I do we’re all going to get distracted and I really want to know what is going on with our parents. I pull back grinning as she tries to follow me.
“Hi” she says breathily, her voice husky and sending a spark of desire straight to my dick. I hear one of the other guy’s quietly groan and my grin widens, at least it’s not just me that’s so easily affected by her.
“Alright, you’ve said hello and Cash is here now what the fuck is going on with the parents?” Jensen demands, the lucky fucker once again lying on her stomach as she plays with his hair, seriously? How does he keep managing to do that! He tilts his head up so he can look at Ever.
I settle in at the end of the bed with Trick and Rafe, absently thinking that we really do need to get a bigger bed or just more seating in here, I shoot a quick look at Luc and he nods already thinking the same thing. Good.
I have a feeling if I just bought more chairs we’d probably all end up on the bed together anyway, all of us wanting to be closer to her. So we’ll probably end up just getting a bigger bed. Those years without her were dark, for all of us and there wasn’t really an end in sight until Atlas suggested that we look for her. Even coming in and not having known her, he saw how important she was to us. We didn’t really get to start looking for her though because he disappeared and without him we didn’t know where to start or have the connections that he seemed to have in order to try.
Although those dark years sucked massively, they made us stronger, harder, downright nasty if we have to be. They taught us the lengths that we would go to protect, they made us better men for Ever. Especially since she’s in the fragile situation she is currently. They prepared us to protect her now and there isn’t any fucking length we wouldn’t go to in order to do it.
She’s not just my heart, she’s all of ours.
We lost her once and like hell will we ever lose her again, unless she wants to go, obviously we would never make her do something she doesn’t want to, but I pray to any fucking deity that will listen that, that never fucking happens because me and my brothers wouldn’t just break we’d shatter into millions of tiny jagged pieces and there’d be no fucking saving us.
Like I said, the depth of emotion that I feel for Ever, is fucking scary sometimes but I welcome it
because it means that she’s fucking here. Sometimes I just can’t believe that we actually got her back, that she is actually here. I keep panicking that I’m going to wake up and she will be gone again, without word, without a trace, just fucking gone, just like last time.
Jensen became a shell of himself and as the years went by he only got worse, that darkness in him that Ever seems to love, that was always present the last couple of years, it’s Ever who’s bought the light back. I have no fucking Idea how the guy managed to stop himself from killing Jeremy, probably by sheer force of will and the fact that if he did he would be caught and that means he wouldn’t see Ever, too many witnesses. I’d say I’m surprised that we would be willing to kill to keep her safe but I’m really not. She’s been through hell but no more, she has the six of us and most likely Atlas too if he does turn up at the cabin, no one will hurt her again.
The best thing about it though? She can stand by us side by side, she revels in the darkness we crave.
She’s honestly fucking perfect for us.
She always has been.
Chapter Seven
Cash
“Dude!” Jensen yells as he kicks my knee from where he’s still perched on Ever, snapping me out of my spiralling thoughts.
“Huh?” I answer.
“You ok?” Ever asks me, a worried crease in her forehead making her nose wrinkle in the cutest way possible.
“I’m fine, il mio Cuore just thinking” I smile softly at her trying to reassure her, “so what’s going on with mine and Jensen’s parents then?”
“You were right about your mom when she drinks wine Cash” she smirks as I groan.
Oh fuck what did she say, before I can ask though she continues although I sense she’s left something out and is telling us an edited version.
“She told me that when she was a teenager, when all of our parents were in school together still, she had a polyamorous relationship, Marc was one of her partners” she pauses and my heart starts pounding in my chest as I share a look with the guys, “Rich was also one of her partners” she says shocking the shit out of all of us as she darts her beautiful navy eyes in Jensen’s direction, I start chuckling as my gaze lands on him, the dude has literally got his mouth hanging open and staring up at Ever in shock, she gently puts a finger under his chin and closes his mouth again, chuckling.
Secrets Worth Keeping (Finding my Home Book 2) Page 6