Alexis: You guys drive safe too.
“Okay, how did you do that?” He asked impressed. I smiled.
“Each of them worries about something different with me. You have to hit them all at once and make it clear you're not fucking around.” I shrugged. “I figured it out about a month ago, its saved me lots of phone time.” Dylan chuckled. Then he sighed.
“We need to head back if you’re going to get back before curfew.” He grumbled as he put his cell phone away.
“Thank you, Dylan.” My voice was soft and quiet. “For, well, being you.” He smirked at me, reached over and rubbed the top of my thigh.
“Anytime Sunshine.” His voice was soft again, making another wave of emotion run through me. I was getting more comfortable with that feeling. Shit. Dylan buckled in. I put my phone away and did the same. He drove us back to his house. I was putting my bag in the truck when he said he’d be right back. I turned the truck on and turned on the heater. He was back a couple of minutes later carrying something. I opened the door to get out, but his hand on my thigh stopped me. He put a big book in my lap. It was an old binder that said Recipes. There were several pages loose and stuck out at odd angles. His mom’s recipes. I had completely forgotten about the cookies. I met his eyes, my heart filling with that warmth again.
“You sure?” I asked gently. His warm eyes met mine.
“Yeah, just be careful with it, we’ve kind of destroyed it.” He smiled at me. I leaned down, and he tilted his head up a bit. I kissed him softly, moving my lips over his gently. Trying to tell him how I felt without actually having to say it. His teeth did that nipping thing that sent sparks through me. When I pulled back, I knew I was in trouble. “Drive safe, Sunshine. Don’t worry about tomorrow morning. It’ll all work out.” I nodded, letting him know I heard him. “I’ll see you on Christmas.” I winked at him and put the book carefully in my bag. He waited outside till I drove off. My heart was still racing a couple of blocks down the road.
After I got to Rory’s, I texted in the group message that I was home and fine. I got a lot of smile emoji’s back and a kiss one from Dylan. I sent one back. Isaac told us to stop making out in front of them on the phone. It made me smile. I went to bed, but I didn’t sleep. In fact, I didn’t sleep at all. What the fuck am I going to do? Dylan was right I should tell the guys what their girls are really like. But the girls made them happy, and I wanted them happy. But I didn’t want to be around the girls. I went around and around all night till I had a vague idea. If I could manage it, the question of who they would choose wouldn’t need to be answered at all. I hope.
Chapter 10
Sunday Morning
I got out of bed around eight and did my usual morning routine. I had dark bags under my eyes. Great. At least the marks on my neck weren’t so bad today. I still used concealer to cover it; I didn’t bother with the bags. I pulled my hair back into a loose braid and dressed for meditation. My true self said building the link was going to hurt, so I dressed with that in mind. I wore my usual blue jeans and my oversized gray sweater. It was loose, comfortable and reached my mid-thigh. I picked up my belt and tried to decide if I needed it. These were new jeans, so no. But did I want to wear it? I pulled it on and looked in the mirror, eh. I pulled it off and looked again. I was about to put it back on again when I realized what I was doing. I cursed. I was stalling. I pulled on my jacket, got my keys, mp3, and cell phone then headed downstairs. I waved bye to Rory as I headed out the door. It was Sunday; I always had breakfast with the guys on Sunday. As I drove to Miles' house, my gut knotted. They were going to want answers, how was I going to avoid giving them? Just play last night off as girl drama? Would they really buy that? I had the other idea, and I knew I was going to do that, but I was trying to do it without telling them the details. Oh, this is going to be tricky. My body was tense as I punched in the combo to Miles’ gate and drove up to the circular driveway. Just my luck everyone was here on time for once. I shut off the truck with shaking hands. I could do this; I could get them to go with my plan without details. Right? Right. I took a deep breath and let it out. Maybe I should call Dylan. Get a pep talk? I groaned at myself. I was stalling. I opened the door and forced myself out of the truck. The walk to Miles’ door was the longest walk of my life. I opened it and walked into the foyer. I swallowed hard as I closed the door.
“I’m here!” I shouted.
“Living room!” The guys’ voices shouted back. Wow, guess I didn’t have to shout. I took off my jacket and left it on the banister as usual. Taking a deep breath, I walked into the living room. They were all there waiting for me. It was a weird time to notice that Miles had moved the furniture again. The brown leather couches were facing each other again across the coffee table. You’re stalling Lexie. I forced myself to look at them. Ethan was sitting on the arm of the far side of the left couch his feet on the cushion, his elbows on his knees. Zeke was sitting on the high stone hearth of the fireplace. Asher was at the far side of the right sofa; Miles was in the corner closest to me. And Isaac was pacing, his hands laced behind his head as he paced. Every one of them were waiting, patiently. So, naturally, I was a smart ass.
“So, where’s the firing squad? Am I getting voted off the island? Am I the weakest link?” I was letting my mouth run because they all just kept watching me. No one laughed. That small fear from last night came back. Lexie, come on. You can do this. I sighed and sat down in this corner of the left sofa. “Well, I thought it was funny,” I mumbled. My stomach knotted.
“Ally, what happened last night?” Asher asked his eyes on my face. I smiled sweetly, my pulse picking up.
“How’d everyone sleep last night? Good? I slept great.” I lied enthusiastically. I didn’t know what I was trying to do, but the tightness in my chest was making it harder to tell them. I could do this, right? Yeah. I can do this.
“You didn’t sleep last night.” Zeke bit out, his words clipped. “I can tell by the bags under your eyes, now answer the fucking question.” I sighed. Maybe I should have gotten that pep talk from Dylan. Too late now. Okay, fine. Here goes.
“Let’s call it girl drama.” I offered.
“Girl drama? You went after my girlfriend.” Asher reminded me. I shrugged.
“Extreme girl drama?” I tried again, my voice uncertain. Everyone frowned at me. That pressure was back in my chest.
“The girls said they were just talking to you when you lost your temper over nothing and went after Trisha,” Miles told me calmly. “Dylan’s friends wouldn’t say anything.” I met his eyes; he had a small smile on his face. He knew they were lying. I had to come clean, a bit.
“Okay, look. Your girls and I don’t get along, except Riley. We get along great.” I fought the need to bite my lip. “So, I’m not going to be able to hang out with them anymore.” Everyone, except Miles, looked at me like I was speaking another language.
“I won’t be hanging out with them either,” Miles added, the guys looked at him the same way.
“Why? What happened?” Ethan asked, his eyes storming. I swallowed hard around the knot forming.
“I don’t want to fuck things up between you guys and your girls,” I admitted. “I want you guys happy, and if they make you happy, then I don’t want to get in the way of it.” There, that was all I was giving them. Every one of them was to some degree looking at me like I was insane. I needed them to take this answer and not ask. Please. Please, guys. I don’t want to make you choose.
“So, you're not telling us what happened to make you go after Trisha?” Miles asked gently. I nodded, my stomach still knotted.
“Screw this.” Asher bit out. He pulled out his cell phone and started hitting buttons. “If you won’t fucking tell us then I’m calling someone who will.” Before I could say anything, Asher’s phone was on speaker and ringing. It was answered almost immediately.
“Yeah?” Dylan’s husky voice came out of the phone. My heart dropped, my lungs were instantly tight. I closed my eyes. Fuck
.
“Lexie’s not telling us shit, what happened last night?” Asher demanded, his voice hard. I bit my lip, trying to think fast. I wasn’t fast enough.
“Those girls have been bitches to her all fucking week, man,” Dylan announced, his voice still pissed from last night. Everyone's face showed surprise, well except for Miles. His face was just blank. I groaned and curled up in my corner of the couch.
“What?” Asher’s voice was full of surprise.
“Yeah, Trisha, Cece, and fucking Faith.” Dylan kept talking. Fuck.
“Dylan…” I groaned painfully. He realized he was on speaker.
“Sorry, Sunshine, but I’m not watching this anymore.” He didn’t sound sorry at all. His mind was made up. I buried my face in my hands again and tried reminding myself that the guys weren’t going anywhere. “They started off being sneaky, and then they stopped trying to hide it at all. Cece thinks Lexie’s trailer trash; Faith thinks she’s screwing Miles behind my back. And fucking Trisha thinks she’s trying to screw you, Asher.” I groaned against my hands.
“Seriously? Trisha said that last night?” Asher asked his voice still stunned. Dylan scoffed.
“She’s been saying shit like that all fucking week. Anytime you showed Lexie any kind of affection; she tore into my girl. Anytime that it showed that Lexie knew you, she tore into her. She even threatened that she was going to cut Lexie out of your life.” Asher’s mouth was open in shock. I tried to explain why I didn’t say anything.
“Asher I didn’t think-”
“No! You had your chance to talk, so sit there while we find out what the fuck has been going on!” Zeke shouted at me. His eyes burned as he glared at me. I’ve never seen him this mad at me before. I kept my mouth shut as my heart pounded in my chest.
“Zeke! Don’t talk to her like that!” Dylan’s voice was hard and cold. “Not over this. You haven’t heard everything yet.” Zeke’s jaw clenched as he glared at the phone.
“What has Faith been saying?” Ethan asked, his voice boiling.
“Faith believes the shit that Jessica has been spreading around,” Dylan answered, his voice still hard. “Then yesterday she started in on Miles asking all sorts of shit about Lexie and their friendship.” The guys shot a look at Miles.
“That’s the only thing I knew that was going on, except the threatening thing. Those girls kept asking me very invasive questions.” Miles admitted. “Until Lexie told them to... well, leave me alone last night.”
“Was that how the fight started?” Isaac asked as he walked to stand next to Asher. I bit my lip. Oh, this was going to be bad. I took a quiet deep breath. Come on Lexie, fucking nut up. I hated this feeling.
“No, Sunshine walked away from that with Miles. That’s when we went outside with my friends.” Dylan snorted. “My friends saw this shit in one night, and you guys still didn’t have a fucking clue.”
“What started the fight?” Zeke growled.
“As soon as you guys were out of range they started in on her. They went fishing.” Dylan’s voice was hard. “They went looking for a reaction, and they fucking got one.”
“Give us details man.” Ethan shot at the phone.
“Trisha started with accusing Lexie of fucking all my friends.” I winced. Oh yeah, this was going to be bad. “Then she accused her of trying to steal you, Asher.”
“What did Faith say?” Ethan asked, his voice boiling.
“Faith accused her of fucking Miles. Lexie, of course, was a smart ass and asked if hugging was the new fucking.” Isaac snorted. “Then Cece told her that you guys didn’t need a piece of trailer trash tail around now that you had classy girls.”
Isaac growled in Spanish under his breath as he started pacing again. I had only ever heard Isaac speak Spanish when he was really pissed off. It didn’t bode well for me.
“Oh, it gets better.” Dylan’s voice was still cold. “My girl, being who she is, told them she only saw bitches here.” Ethan smiled, he still looked pissed, but he at least smiled. “Then Faith chimed in with that Jessica bullshit. And then Trisha, this fucking bitch…” I looked to Miles, but he didn’t seem to have a problem with Dylan calling the girls names right now. “She said that Lexie didn’t have any family and that her Dad probably died in a crack house.” The room was dead quiet. “That’s when Sunshine went at her.” Zeke looked over at me his eyes on fire.
“Trisha doesn’t even curse…” Asher said, probably trying to wrap his head around this.
“Oh, yeah she does,” I said emphatically. Everyone was silent for a minute.
“My girl’s been trying to take that shit, just so you guys wouldn’t have to dump the girls you cared about.” Dylan ratted me out again. He was so getting burnt cookies for Christmas. Okay, no he wasn’t, but I liked the idea. “I just can’t fucking watch it anymore.” The guys were quiet for a minute, processing everything. My gut knotted tighter. They were going to choose. I took a deep breath and braced myself, just in case. Yeah, it was stupid, and I had no real reasoning for it. But fear doesn’t always listen to reason.
“Well, Faith’s going out the fucking door,” Ethan announced. Isaac was frowning as he nodded.
“So is Cece.” Isaac bit out.
“Trisha is… it’s way fucking over.” Asher announced. I let out the breath I had been holding. The tightness in my chest was disappearing, my stomach unknotted. That fear was shoved back into the dark corner it lived in, and I went limp in my corner of the couch for a full five seconds. Then I was looking around at the guys. My heart ached all over again; they liked these girls.
“It doesn’t have to go like that…” I began, everyone looked at me like I was nuts.
“Ally, they can’t talk to you that way.” Asher snapped at me.
“If they won’t even try to get along with you, then they are fucking gone.” Isaac joined in.
“I’m with them,” Ethan said, his voice was adamant. That feeling of being loved washed through me. I really did love these bastards. So, I had to try to make this work.
“Okay, I know that you know that. But do they fucking know that?” They looked at me with confusion written all over their faces. “You like these girls, right?” I looked at Ethan. “Ethan, do you have more in common with Faith than your other girlfriends?”
“Yeah,” Ethan admitted. I looked at Asher.
“How’d you feel about Trisha before you heard this shit?” I didn’t ask; I demanded an answer.
“I liked her,” Asher admitted. I looked to Isaac.
“Cookie Monster, you’ve been after this girl a long time. You finally got her. Don’t you want to keep dating her?” Isaac glared at me.
“If she refuses to be nice to you, she can fuck off.” Isaac snapped at me. I took a deep, smooth breath and decided to tell them my idea.
“Those girls don’t know that you guys would choose me over them.” I pointed out. “Make it clear to them.” The guys looked at me obviously wondering where I was going with this. “I’m going to be real busy for a couple weeks with... that project. So, I won’t hang out with you guys and the girls.” Isaac was already shaking his head. “We’ll still hang out without them. We’ll just schedule some friend time. It won’t be forever, just like a week? Enough time for it to sink in that I’m not the replaceable one here.” They were listening at least. “And that they can’t treat Miles the way they have been. Then we can all try again before school starts. We’ll go out, and do something as a group. If they can’t handle it then, you’ll have my blessing to dump the shit out of them.” The guys were quiet mulling it over. However, my boyfriend wasn’t.
“Too big a heart, Sunshine.” Dylan’s voice rang through the room. The guys nodded, agreeing with him.
“You’re really willing to give them another shot? After this shit?” Ethan asked, his brow drawn low. He didn’t look like he believed me.
“Yeah. I’ll let it go, for you guys. I want you happy.” I told them sincerely. All their faces softened as they
looked at me.
“You’re too fucking good to them, Red,” Isaac announced. The others nodded.
“What about you, Miles?” Asher asked. Miles' shoulders moved as he let out a big breath.
“If they can be polite, I’ll let it go also. But those three will ever be welcome here at the house.” Miles pushed his glasses back up his nose.
“Let’s make it real fucking clear to those girls that the only reason we’re not dumping their asses now, is that Red’s willing to give them a second chance. Miles too.”
“Ooh, I’m gonna,” Ethan said, voice boiling.
“It’s going to make it real clear.” Asher agreed, still fuming.
“Dylan?” I called sweetly.
“Still here, Sunshine.”
“You're getting burnt cookies for Christmas,” I informed him smiling. He chuckled.
“Worth it.” He chimed. I chuckled quietly.
“Thanks, Dylan,” Asher said lifting the phone.
“More than happy to stop this shit.” He said. “I’ll call you later Sunshine.”
“Ooh, you’re gonna,” I told him mimicking Ethan. The twins and Dylan snickered.
“Bye.” Dylan hung up. Then everyone looked at me. I was still in deep shit. I gave them a smile, hoping to ease some of the tension. It didn’t work.
“Okay, I should have said something sooner,” I admitted grumpily.
“You fucking think?” Zeke snapped at me.
“How did we not see this?” Isaac asked the group.
“How the hell did I not hear any of this?” Asher asked, sounding angry at himself now.
“They have boobs, and you weren’t paying attention.” I offered sweetly. “Boobs are powerful things, guys.” They all chuckled at that. “I’m sorry,” I said honestly. “I just, wanted you guys happy.” Ethan moved off the arm of the couch and walked on the cushions over to me. He dropped his weight on me. His arms and knees wrapped around me.
“We not gonna be happy if you're not happy, Beautiful.” Ethan pointed out his face in my hair. I smiled at that. Then Isaac walked towards me.
When the Dead Come a Knockin' Page 27