“Well, I’m not going to ask. I’m gonna be subtle.” I informed him getting to my feet. Miles looked at me. He was trying not to laugh. “I can be.... sometimes.” He was smirking now. “Shut up, Miles,” I grumbled.
“He’s in the living room with Hades.” He was laughing now. I left him to it. I could be subtle, well, subtle enough Zeke wouldn’t notice. I walked down the long hall and into the living room. Zeke was asleep on the sofa closest to the kitchen; Hades was curled up on his chest. I smirked as I pulled out my phone and took a picture. I was sending a copy to Riley when I heard the guys coming down the hallway. I was still snickering over the photo when the boys came in, it was the only reason that I didn’t remember. I leaned over the sofa a little and touched Zeke’s shoulder. “Wake up Tough Guy.” I had barely moved when his hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist. The sound of skin slapping skin echoed through the room. I jumped, my heart in my throat. Someone cursed. Everything happened fast. Zeke’s fingers squeezed my wrist.
“Baby?” He mumbled, his eyes were still closed. He was still mostly asleep. The guys surged around the couch. Asher held Zeke down by the shoulders, Miles, and Ethan were prying Zeke’s hand off my wrist, Isaac was holding his legs down. Still half asleep Zeke fought against them and tried to pull me over the back of the sofa. Miles arm around my waist kept me from going over while Ethan worked on Zeke’s grip. Hades jumped to the floor.
“That’s Lexie, Zeke!” Ethan shouted. Everyone kept yelling at him that it was me he was grabbing. It was chaos for a minute. Zeke let go of me. Miles instantly lifted me off my feet, he got me away from the couch and out of Zeke’s reach.
“I’m awake!” Zeke barked in his deep, gravelly voice. Everyone backed off, Miles put me down and let go. Zeke sat up and put his feet on the floor his hands running over his face. Everyone else relaxed. “Lexie?” His voice was rougher than usual. “Did I hurt you?” I looked at my wrist it was red where he grabbed me, but that was probably from the slap.
“Nah, I'm all right.” He turned to look at me, his eyes haunted. He crooked his finger at me to come over. I walked around the couch and stood next to him. He took my wrist gently and looked it over. His thumb made a small circle in my palm. “It was my fault, Zeke. I was distracted by the puppy.” He turned my wrist over again, examining it again. “I got a great picture of you and Hades taking a nap, though.” He looked up me his face drawn and hard. His eyes were running over my face the same way they had my wrist. “I might have already sent it to Riley.” I gave him my shit eating grin. Everyone walked off leaving me alone with Zeke. Asher scooped up Hades on his way out. “Lexie, you can’t wake me up I could have…” He exhaled hard. “I was going to hurt you.” I winced.
“I’m sorry Zeke. I just… forgot.” I admitted honestly. He sighed deeply. He looked at me with a baffled look on his face.
“I hurt you, and you apologize to me? Lexie...” He sounded like he was gathering steam.
“But you didn’t hurt me.” I pointed out. I shook my hand so he’d look at my wrist, the red was already almost gone. “See, you just grabbed me. And I knew I shouldn’t have woken you up; this is on me.” When he still looked like he was going to argue, I reached out and touched his nose. “Boop.” I gave him a big shit-eating grin. He snorted and shook his head. He was looking at me like he was trying to figure me out. Good Luck.
“Lexie…” He began again fighting a smile.
“Love you,” I said in my cutesy voice still smiling at him. He chuckled this time. Yes! I win.
“Love you too.” He grumbled back under his breath. I shook his hand on mine.
“Come on. I’m hungry.” I said impatiently. He snorted again and let me go. I headed for the kitchen, Zeke followed. We walked into the kitchen, Asher pointed to a spot at the breakfast bar. I hopped on the stool and found a big bowl of spaghetti. Ooh. Carbs. I dug in.
“Zeke, there’s pesto sauce for you,” Asher said as he picked up Hades again.
“Thanks,” Zeke mumbled as he got his own bowl and sat down next to me. Asher was scratching Hades’ belly; the dog looked like he was content.
“Did you really take a picture of me sleeping?” Zeke asked sounding like he was dreading the answer. I snickered, pulled out my phone and brought up the photo. I showed him. He groaned.
“I already sent it to Riley.”
“You’re fucking mean.” He said under his breath. I snickered. The twins came in and seemed surprised to see Zeke in the kitchen.
“Is Zeke done with his post ‘almost hit someone’ sulk already?” Ethan asked coming up to the counter. Isaac went to get a bowl of food. Zeke flipped Ethan off. Ethan chuckled before turning his attention to me. “How are you feeling, Beautiful?” I finished my bite before answering.
“Good, tired but good. Got all that feeling shit out.” I said. “Over the next couple weeks, I’ll be getting rid of those memories too. I am not holding on to that shit.” I mostly said that for Zeke, it was my version of subtle. I rolled noodles around my fork as I mumbled: “I have enough nightmares.”
“Sounds like a plan, Red.” I nodded my mind on other things. While everyone started talking about their plans for the week. I was wondering why my boyfriend wasn’t here.
“So,” I said during a lull in the conversation. “When did Dylan leave?” Everyone one of them looked to some degree pissed off. Asher was frowning, Zeke’s face was hard, Isaac’s face was drawn, and he was cracking his knuckles. Ethan’s face was dark, his eyes storming. Miles' face was blank.
“Around eleven thirty.” Ethan’s voice was boiling.
“Wow, he made it three hours. That's pretty good.” I joked. I didn’t know what I expected from Dylan last night, but bailing hadn’t even been on the radar.
“He froze, Lexie.” Zeke’s gravelly voice grabbed my attention. I looked at him an eyebrow raised. “He was the first in there, and Asher had to shove him out of our way because he froze.” That sucked, but it was a lot of blood. I shrugged.
“Last night was freaky, and he’s never seen anything close to that,” I offered. The guys all exchanged looks. “What?”
“We made a rule last night,” Asher said. “If you go out with Dylan alone, you have to wear your beads. No exception. Not until we trust him to take care of you.” I went still.
“You guys don’t trust him to do that?” This was news to me; it made me pause. The boys exchanged looks again. Zeke met my gaze.
“We did, he seemed fine with it. Then he froze last night.” Zeke explained. “There were other things last night that made us trust him less with you.”
“We all agreed you wouldn’t be left alone with him last night,” Miles said in his calm voice. I felt like I took a hit to the gut. That…. that was a huge loss of trust. They didn’t even trust him alone with me now?
“We wouldn’t let him climb in the bed with you either,” Isaac added. He met my gaze. His face was serious. “Not with you unconscious like that. Not that he tried.” Shit. What the hell did Dylan do? What could he do to make the guys not trust him this much?
“He sat in a chair next to you, holding your hand, though.” Asher grabbed my attention. “He was kind of pale, and he looked like he was thinking hard about something.”
“Did he call my phone?” I asked dreading the answer.
“No,” Zeke replied when everyone else hesitated. Okay.
“Did anyone call to tell him I was awake?” I asked.
“We thought we would leave that to you,” Ethan said giving me a half grin. I snorted.
“Okay, where’s my phone?” I sighed. Miles pulled my cell from his back pocket and handed it to me. “Thanks, I’ll call him before I head home.” I looked over at Miles. “When do you have to leave for the airport, hon?” Miles finished chewing before he answered.
“In about a half hour.”
“Damn Miles, you better get ready. We’ll clean and lock up.” I shooed him. Miles looked at the others.
“You’re sure?
” Everyone convinced Miles to get moving. All of us had finished eating by the time Miles brought his suitcase downstairs. I gave him a big hug as we all saw him off. I was going to miss Miles while he was in Nevada. The guys finished cleaning up, while I took a shower. Dried blood is a bitch to get out of your hair by the way. I packed my stuff and loaded up the Blazer. Zeke locked up the house and set the alarm while we all got in our cars. I put Hades in his crate between the two front seats where he could still see me; otherwise, he was grumpy as hell. I called Dylan while the truck warmed up.
“Lexie?” He sounded off. Like he had a cold coming or something.
“Hey cutie, just wanted to let you know I was awake and doing fine,” I said in a cheery voice. There was silence on the other end. “Dylan? Hon?” A tightness grew in my chest as I waited to hear his voice.
“Yeah, I’m here.” His voice was a little more normal. The tightness eased. “I’m really glad you're okay, Sunshine. That was…”
“Freaky? Yeah, I know. It was freaky even for me.” I admitted hoping to make him feel better. “That’s the worst one I’ve had in months, but I’m fine. You guys took care of me and got me back to Miles’ house.” There was silence again. Okay. “Are you in the middle of something? You can call me back later if you are.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I am in the middle of something. I’ll call you back tonight, okay?”
“Sounds good. Bye.”
“Bye.”
I hung up the phone and stared at it. A chill ran through me. That had been…. different. He had definitely freaked out last night. He was probably trying to deal with it by working on that science project again. I put it out of my mind, when the truck was warm enough, I drove home.
It was around three when I got home. I was just pulling onto my street when that chill ran down my neck. No, not ran, it was more took multiple punches down my neck. I had to pull over down the street from the house. Four ghosts were waiting outside Rory’s house. How the fuck? Then I spotted Carl and the McClain’s. There was a new ghost too. And one coming down the road. I couldn’t deal with these guys today. And knowing the McClains, they were going to be pissed. I flipped a fast U-turn and got the hell out of there. I was not going to deal with this shit today. I was taking the fucking day off from ghosts. I racked my mind trying to figure out where to go. Miles’ was out, he was on his way to the airport now. Fuck. I could only think of one place, the cemetery. But Hades needed food first. I ran through a drive through and headed for the cemetery. When I got there, I parked in a hidden corner and opened Hades' crate. The little booger made a beeline for the food. I set him on the passenger side seat and fed him his double cheeseburger, without the bun. He ate about half of it, and then he was full. When he was done, I picked him up and moved into the cargo area. I laid out my sleeping bag and slipped in, Hades climbed in and curled up on my stomach. I called Rory and let him know what was going on. He wasn’t happy, but he understood. Then I texted the guys to tell them what was going on.
Alexis: Went home to find ghosts camping outside the house, I turned around, and we are currently hiding out at the cemetery. If you need me, this is where we’ll be tonight.
I was petting Hades when my phone vibrated.
Isaac: Need anything?
Ethan: I’ll bring you out some books if you want.
Zeke: I’ll bring you dinner.
Asher: You sure about that Ally? Not exactly safe.
Zeke: I was going to check it out when I brought her food.
Asher: Oh, okay. Need anything?
Miles: I’m gone for not even an hour...
I just smiled at them.
Alexis: Food will be appreciated, I have a full charge on my phone, so I can watch movies. I’ll be okay. Got Hades, and planning to nap.
Miles: Go to my house, you have a key.
I cringed.
Alexis: Big house? Hiding from ghosts? That sounds like a horror movie plot. I won’t be okay there without you Miles. Sorry sweetie.
Miles: I understand. I don’t like it, but I understand.
Isaac: Don’t really like it either.
Ethan: If you need anything, call.
Asher: Just let us know you're okay.
Zeke: I’m still checking the place out. See you later.
I snickered at the guys. They were so sweet.
Alexis: Love you too, guys.
I put my phone down and snuggled into my sleeping bag. Time to catch up on years of sleep deprivation.
I jerked awake. There was a loud bang again. Shit! It was probably a cop, how was I going to explain this? As I was unzipping my sleeping bag, the back gate opened. Ethan and Isaac were standing there smirking at me.
“I think we scared Red!” Isaac announced happily.
“I think your right.” Ethan was smiling too.
“Shit guys, I thought you were a cop,” I grumbled opening my bag, Hades jumped off me and went to the edge of the gate to greet the boys.
“Hey Hades, aren’t you supposed to be her guard dog?” Isaac teased. Hades barked at him. I smiled. “A little late buddy.” Isaac picked him up and put him on the ground. “I’ll take him for a leak.” He started walking, and Hades followed. Ethan hopped up on the gate with me.
“Hey Beautiful, change your mind yet about Miles’ house?” He smirked at me. I shook my head.
“Nope, I don’t know how he lives in that house all alone. The place would creep me out.” I admitted. “Don’t tell him I said that.” Ethan chuckled
“Promise.” He showed me the book bag he brought. “We come bringing entertainment. There’s a Nintendo DS in there, fully charged. Games, and some books. Even a book light and some extra batteries.”
“Wow, you guys thought of everything.” I took the bag and started digging. “Ooh, Mario Brothers.” I cheered. Ethan chuckled.
“So, you're planning on staying all night?” He asked.
“Yep.”
“What if you... ya know...need to take a leak?” He asked seriously. I snorted.
“I’ll go to a gas station,” I assured him, still smiling. He shrugged.
“Oh, you have to hear this.” Ethan began eyeing how far away his brother was. “Cece called today, asking for Isaac to give her another chance.” I raised an eyebrow at that.
“Wow,” I said impressed. That took guts. “What did he say?” Ethan gave me an ‘are you crazy’ look.
“He told her to fuck off.” He said smiling. “He said he didn’t like bitchy liars, who treat his family like shit.”
“Wow.” Ethan nodded. “Lucky Miles didn’t hear him.” Ethan snorted.
“Miles heard us call them bitches, he just agreed at that point.” He pointed out. Then I thought about it. Miles had been there when there was name calling.
“Shit, how did I not notice that?” He laughed. Isaac was coming back with a running Hades.
“When it comes to you Beautiful, we’re all a bit protective.” He reminded me. Yeah, he had a point. “How is Dylan doing?” I sighed.
“We talked for about two minutes. He said he was in the middle of something and that he’d call me back tonight.” I confessed, it hadn’t gone well. Ethan bumped his shoulder into mine; I bumped back.
“Lexie, you're kind of awesome. If he gets scared off because of this one thing. Then he’s not good enough for you.” Ethan said, his voice was earnest. I smiled sadly at him.
“I know, doesn’t mean it won’t hurt,” I mumbled looking up at the clouds rolling in.
“You really like him, huh?” Ethan asked, his voice quiet. I looked out to watch Isaac play with Hades.
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “He… this sounds so fucking corny it’s not even funny.” Ethan’s eyes all but lit up. “Can you keep this to yourself?”
“For you? Anything.”
“He... is the first guy to... look at me and…” I continued in a mumble. “Make me feel beautiful.” I felt my cheeks turn pink. Ethan snickered at me.
“Wait, wait. I call
you beautiful all the time.” He pointed out.
“Being called beautiful and feeling beautiful are two different things,” I explained. “You know you like performing, but you feel it when you're up there.” Ethan thought about that.
“Okay, I see your point,” Ethan admitted.
“Doesn’t mean that I don’t love my nickname,” I said, just in case he thought I didn’t. He chuckled and smiled at me.
“Good, cause I’m not changing it.”
“Okay, Snoopy,” I said pointedly. He groaned. “What, you don’t like Snoopy?” He looked pained.
“No, it’s fine, I earned it.” He grumbled. “Just be on the lookout for another one.”
“Okay, you’ll have two,” I smirked at him. Ethan snorted at me. Isaac was almost back with Hades. “By the way, I think I gave Miles a date idea that is so going to get him laid.” Ethan burst out laughing, which I expected but when he kept laughing, I started to suspect he knew something I didn’t. Isaac reached us and handed me Hades then he pointed at his brother.
“What’s with him?” Isaac asked. I shrugged, at this point, I had no clue. Ethan’s face was red as he waved his hand.
“Beautiful here gave Miles a date idea that she thinks will get him laid,” Ethan said before bursting out laughing again. Isaac joined him. I just waited until they were ready to tell me what was so funny. Ethan was the first to recover.
“Oh, Oh, Lexie, he was going to see Autumn,” Ethan explained breathlessly. “Those two go at it like fucking rabbits.” My eyebrows shot up, my jaw dropped, and the boys broke out into another fit of giggles.
“Really?” I asked. I couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d said Zeke liked wearing dresses. Ethan nodded, still giggling.
“Oh yeah, those two barely see the light of day when they’re around each other,” Isaac assured me. “Once, she came up here for a week last summer, and we saw them both once. Right after he picked her up.”
“Okay, so they enjoy each other, what’s up with the on again off again?” I asked, looking from one to the other.
When the Dead Come a Knockin' Page 48