SweetHarts (5 Book Box Set)

by Kira Graham

  “That’s easy. Patrick Star is obviously a serial killer,” I say, watching her gape and sputter.

  “Are you insane? That cute, adorable little pink starfish is too brain-dead to be a killer,” she argues, her eyes going wide when we hear a low rumble coming from behind the couch and then watch her dog slink across the floor, his little beady eyes trained on her like a shark eyeing a tuna.

  Jesus, that dog is as creepy as fuck.

  “Go away, you little shitbag!” she screams, tossing a cushion at him so that he yips and bolts into Paris’s home office. “God, that dog is a nightmare,” she moans, letting her head fall back against the couch.

  “You got him. I told you, if you can’t judge a dog’s character before you get it, then it’s better off going to the pound.”

  She sticks her tongue out at me but then sighs.

  “Patrick Star isn’t a killer.”

  “He totally is. Think about it—he has the look, and he lives under a rock that no one else can fit under. I’ll bet he’s got a whole hoard of bodies stashed in there with him. Trophies,” I say sagely, grinning when she snorts and rolls her eyes.

  “Your brain don’t work right.”

  “You’re just upset that you can’t win this game.”

  “This isn’t a game—it’s madness, but it’s a kind of madness I need. Thanks for coming over,” she says softly, her mouth twisting when I shrug.

  “Nowhere I’d rather be, buttercup. I’m not allowed to go back to work until I’ve had some sort of therapy to prove to the partners that I’m okay, and honestly, I don’t blame them. I don’t feel okay,” I admit. “But we’ll dissect all of that later. What’s up with you?”

  Sin shrugs, but I can see the tension in her shoulders as she does it, which isn’t a surprise. Sin and I have always been tighter than tight. She’s been my drinking buddy, my partner in crime, and, more often than not, the rollercoaster ride that’s led us straight into trouble. Lately, though, she hasn’t been herself, and I don’t like it. I like when she’s bubbly and snide and throwing around her honesty like a weapon, not sitting on a couch day in and day out, just stewing in her own juices.

  “I dunno. I just…it’s been hard to adjust to everything that’s happened, and…I feel so guilty about Mindy, ya know? We were supposed to be friends, Tee. We were friends, and here I sit, on tenterhooks, telling myself that I hope she’s off on some island somewhere, sunning herself while she’s hiding out, but…”

  “But what you’re really thinking is, ‘I hope that bitch makes a move on me because I’m going to enjoy killing her,’” I muse, my face pulling into a grimace when she nods. “Me, too. Though I’m going to have to get over this panicky shit that’s got me in its grips. When I do, though, it’s on,” I assure her, sealing our unspoken pact with a fist bump.

  No one messes with our family and lives. I wish it could be some other way—really, I do, because I love Minds—but she crossed a line that I can’t ignore. Ares almost died saving Sin and me, and for that, Mindy will die. I don’t care how wrong it is. Now, if only I could stop sweating and wanting to hide at the thought of that crazy bitch coming back.

  “Good,” Sin says. “Now that that’s settled, I wanted to ask you…if you’re still offering rental on your womb.”

  I spit the sip of Coke I just took out about ten feet, my coughing bringing out a round of hysterical laughter in Sin, who apparently enjoys shocking me speechless. Coughing and snorting back the Coke that just cleaned out my sinuses, I turn to look at her, dumbfounded by her question.

  “What?”

  “Are you still okay with letting me use your womb to carry my eggs?” Sin asks, her eyes twitching when I don’t answer and just stare at her.

  Sin has PCOS and a whole host of other hormone bullshit that frankly flies right over my head when she speaks about it. Bottom line, she can have her own children, but she can’t carry them. Now, I’m not one to balk at the issue of surrogacy, because my own Aunt Honey carried Sin and Alex for her sisters when they couldn’t carry a pregnancy to full term. I get the whole thing, and yeah, I did offer to carry Sin’s offspring if she wanted any. I just never thought she would!

  “Uh…you want babies?” I croak, a little afraid to hear the answer.

  “Do I want babies? Hmm, probably? Look, I’m not getting any younger here, and I do want kids, so I’ve been talking to Paris about this, and he’s on board. We’re ready to give this a shot,” she says decisively, her eyes going soft while my insides curdle.

  I love my family, every single crazy one of them, and I would do anything for them. I’ve lied, cheated, stolen, hurt people, and a whole host of other offenses, in order to keep them safe and happy, and I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Because I. Love. Them.

  But Jeezus, I wasn’t thinking about carrying Sin’s babies in a serious way. It was just something I said to her to make her happy, and while I will still do it—oh, my God!—I’m a little shell-shocked by the suddenness of it.

  “Are you sure? I mean, this is a big step, Sinai. Kids are a real responsibility. They require all of your time. Love. Devotion. Care. Attention,” I say softly.

  Please, Jesus, let my words put her off a little longer! I mean, I’ll do it, but I don’t really wanna!

  My stomach goes tense, my pits start to pour, and I feel my insides curdle a little when Sin frowns and glances at me. She’s giving me the same look that she gave me the day I refused to tell her why Rosetta and I had gone “off the grid” two years ago. To this day, I haven’t told anyone that particular secret, and, as per my own request, I still don’t know what the hell was in that metal trunk. I did what needed doing, forgot the particulars, and that was that. I’m cool that way. Just like I’ve never told a soul that I caught my Aunt Honey in bed wearing lingerie and holding a vibrator, or that she was setting that scene for Uncle Jack.

  Mostly because I want to scrub my brain clean with bleach over that one. It’s a secret, and if I could carry a nickname with me through life, then Secrets would be the most apt. I help out, fix things, and then keep my mouth shut. Which is why my bury buddy is me.

  But I digress. Back to—gulp—child gestation of the unnatural kind.

  “Tee…don’t you want to help me?” she asks softly, her throat working a little. “You said you’d help me if I ever decided I wanted babies,” she reminds me, making me feel like garbage.

  “Yeaaaah. Ahem, I did. And I…sorta meant it?” I say, my voice dropping to a whisper that goes up a few octaves when she sniffles and her eyes grow wet.

  “You don’t want to! I can see it in your eyes, Nefertiti. You were just feeding me some bullshit about helping me to…to be a mother!” she wails, her hands coming up to cover her face.

  Shit! Shitcicles and crapsticks. I hate it when Sin cries. It’s ugly, for one, and it makes me feel ugly inside. I don’t like to feel ugly, and, what’s more, I hate the creeping slither of guilt that tries to break through my natural apathy towards other people’s feelings.

  “No! I—I wasn’t lying,” I say in a rush, sliding over to pat her back awkwardly. “I just…didn’t expect you to call in that favor quite this soon.”

  “It isn’t soon. I’ve waited months and months, and I’ve thought about it a lot. I”—sniffle—“thought you meant it. Now”—hiccup—“Paris is gonna be so disappointed! And we’re never going to be happy.”

  Shit! “Uh, no! No, no, that isn’t true. Paris loves you. He told you so, remember? And I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it, Sinai! Of course I will—”

  Her head shoots up abruptly, and she barks the word “Good!” at me before a beatific smile covers her face. It’s so sudden that I’m still blinking when she hugs me and gives me a squeeze.

  A satisfied sigh whispers over my ear. “I knew you’d do it for me, Tee-Tee. You always come through for me.”

  I mean…

  “Did you just play me, using your emotions?” I ask slowly, still a little bewildered by what just happened.r />
  Like I said, I will do it because I love Sin, and I don’t go back on my word. But if I hadn’t fallen for her crap, I could have bought myself some time on this. Precious time in which to drink alcohol, go skydiving, and do a little something I call living my life!

  “Totally! Cleo’s right. You’re scary, but you’re also soooo sweet,” she mumbles, cooing at me in a baby voice while pinching my cheeks.

  I should hit her. I want to hit her. Badly.

  “Fuck off!”

  “No. Don’t ruin this special moment for me. I’m so happy!” she crows, hugging me harder so that my face is mashed into her boobs.

  I’d protest, but honestly, what the hell would be the point? Sin is Sin, and what I mean by that, is that she gets her way. With me. All the time. Because I’m a freaking sucker with little to no brains, and even less emotional resilience. It’s my secret shame, and one I carry with a heavy heart, but I’m a softy for my family.

  “I really hate you,” I grumble, chuckling when she giggles, gives me one last tit-to-face squeeze, and then pulls back.

  “You loooove me,” she sighs, her grin going soft before it falls away and she starts to bite her lip.

  “You really want this, huh?” I ask, a lump forming in my throat because Sinai isn’t the kind of person to get all foggy-eyed for nothing.

  She’s smart and sweet but so fierce that she’s like a tornado ripping through life. And she’s asking me to do something for her, something that will change the rest of her life. Something that is life. I can’t say no to that, and, God help me, I can’t get a hold of the fear and panic, either.

  “So much. I know Paris, and I have a long way to go, Tee, and I know we aren’t even married yet, but…I want it all with him. Selfish. I know I’m selfish, and that even if we never have children, he’ll still love me just as much and be happy with me.”

  “But you want that connection,” I sigh, rolling my eyes away with an exasperated huff. “And you’re more than willing to fuck up my banging body to get it.”

  She giggles, and then I see that fierceness return, just as I wanted it to.

  “Totally.”

  “Sooo, how are we doing this, then? Do we go to the doctor and all that other stuff—”

  “Paris and I talked about it, and I…the thing is, I don’t know if I can handle the whole nail-biting and disappointment thing, so he, uh…he came up with this idea—”

  “Spit it out,” I rasp.

  “Well, Paris and I would do our part and give our…stuff to the doctor, but then that’s where you would come in, Tee. The timing would be up to you. You’d decide when to go in and get the procedure done. I’ve spoken to Doc Payne about all this already, and she’s on board. She’ll handle your care with whatever shots and stuff you’ll need, and then, when you’re ready, you’ll get inseminated. I don’t want you to tell me when, though. Just do it, and…and be pregnant, and when Doc Payne says that things are going well, then tell me,” she says softly, her face crumpling a little as if she’s going to cry.

  I get it, though. My mom told me all about how it had felt when Honey would go through this and then get her period. We talked about all that disappointment and fear and longing she’d had, and then she told me that when she’d felt like she wanted another child, she just couldn’t go through that again. So she and Dad adopted me, their special baby who completed their family.

  “You could ask anyone else to do this for you, you know,” I point out, chuckling when she rolls her eyes and loses the tears fast.

  “Oh, please. They’re all already knocked up because they can’t keep their legs closed, and besides, I do not want that mitochondrial DNA swimming through my kids,” she scoffs, snorting when I crack up just thinking about Rosetta’s evil genes forming a kid. “Rosetta is just…sheesh. And Cleo, well, she’s sweet, but she’s nuttier than a walnut tree. Alex is probably never going to have more than three kids, thanks to her whining about hormonal acne, swollen feet, and sagging boobs. So, you’re it, baby.”

  “Gee, thanks. And here I thought I was special,” I mutter, smiling when she grins and leans her head on my shoulder.

  “You are, dummy. You’re my bury buddy, my best friend, and the only person I know who’s stupid enough to do this for me without getting paid.”

  Christ. What a cheapskate!

  “Oh, you’re paying me,” I drawl, stifling a surge of laughter when Sin wrenches herself back and scowls down at me, her natural inclination to get everything for free so endearing that I don’t mention that she’s got an overdraft of a million dollars on the card that Paris gifted her with.

  My cousin is a shopaholic who can drop thousands on clothes and shit she doesn’t even want, but ask her to pay a dime for anything else, and she’s more tight-fisted than Scrooge.

  “But I don’t wanna. This is supposed to be about love,” she whines, her lip twitching when I meet her eyes, my own as dead and soulless as I can make them.

  “Oh, trust me, honey. It is. I don’t want money; I’m going to want a favor when the time is right,” I murmur, smiling when she frowns.

  “Fine. But you don’t get to switch favors with Cleo or Rosetta. The last time you let them use one of your favors, I ended up on a farm mucking out horse stalls for two days, just so that Rosetta could laugh her ass off,” she grumbles.

  “Nope. We have a deal. My favors are for me only. I can’t say that that’s necessarily a good thing, though,” I remind her, laughing when she grimaces at the memory.

  “You made me kiss a girl, you asshole.”

  “You liked it!”

  “What wasn’t to like? She had good breath, great tongue skills, and her lips were insanely soft. There were only two problems. I am not into girls, and my mom took to her bed for three days until I convinced her that it was just a dare.”

  “Well, whatever. This is my favor, and I’m keeping it.”

  “What for?” she asks, leaning over to grab a slice of cold pizza from the box on the coffee table.

  I do the same and bite into it with a moan before I shrug and let my mind wander, now that everything is sort of settled.

  “Dunno yet. I just have this feeling…”

  Chapter Six

  Ares

  I walk out of the elevator and scowl when I see two guys leaning up against the walls outside Tee’s apartment, their arms crossed against their chests as they stand guard and side-eye me. The only reason they don’t reach for their guns is that they know me.

  I hiss at the smirks they exchange and curse when I open the door using my key, only to find Nate sprawled out in front of the TV, dressed in a pair of loose-hanging shorts with his hand down his pants as he adjusts his balls.

  He looks up, his beer pausing halfway to his mouth, and then he smiles, pissing me off even more as he takes a slow sip, locks eyes with me, and keeps completely silent. Of all the guys I’m friends with on the teams, Nate is my favorite—and also my least favorite. He sees things that I don’t want him to see, and he’s silently smug about knowing those things.

  “Stop smirking, and get your hand off your balls.”

  “You here for a reason?” he asks, muting the game he’s watching and setting his beer bottle on his tight abs.

  For a guy with a prosthetic leg, he’s badass, and I take a minute to study him, wondering what will happen to him. A few months back, he broke up with psycho Mindy, and after he found out about what a sicko she is, he took a break from dating some doctor chick that Alex and Sin had set him up with. I know that right now, he’s taking some time, and that makes me wonder…

  “Checking in with Tee,” I say with a shrug. “How’ve you been lately?”

  Nate shrugs, but I see the way his eyes shift slightly before he clenches his jaw and sighs.

  “Taking things easy. Needed some time to get over the fact that someone I loved was trying to kill my family. I’m better now, though. Grange took me to his gym, and I got to hit the crap outta him. Pretty boy ain’t so fuck
ing pretty anymore,” he snorts, chuckling when I grin and run a hand over my bottom lip.

  “So, you’re good?” I ask, my chest going tight when he answers.

  “Not really. Brent…things aren’t looking good, man. I just got off the phone with Rosetta and Z a few minutes ago. The doctors are saying that it’s time to start saying goodbye, which fucking sucks ’cause”—he swallows, and I see the struggle in his eyes before he can pull himself together—“he’s a good man. Losing him is going to kill Rosetta.”

  I sigh now, and walk over to fall onto the couch beside him, my throat tight with emotion. Brent is a good guy, one of the best guys I’ve ever known, and losing him is definitely going to suck. He’s a part of our combined families, and someone I got to know thanks to Rosetta’s relationship with him. The man is a cocky SOB with a huge chip on his shoulder, but it’s a good shoulder.

  “It’s going to hurt us all,” I say softly, my eyes going to Tee’s door. “She know?”

  “Yeah. You know Tee, though. She just got up and closed her door. I expect we’ll find her in there staring at a wall or something like that, but that’s just her. She won’t cry for shit, but she looked torn up, man. Brent was her friend, too. They used to sneak past her team and go for coffee-and-donut runs at three in the morning. If he doesn’t wake up soon…”

  I get the message, clearly. Tee isn’t a crier—hell, when Sin almost died in a car accident caused by Mindy’s half brother, she sat in the waiting room alternately threatening to kill everyone and looking so lost that I couldn’t help but offer her comfort. She’s too strong, that woman, and as that thought crosses my mind, I realize that Chilli is right. Maybe I don’t know all that much about Tee because I keep sticking to surface things. Just because she doesn’t cry doesn’t mean that she isn’t hurting.

  “We’ll have to make sure he does, then,” I growl, whipping out my phone to dial a number that I was hoping never to dial again.

  When Beau picks up on the second ring, I have to grit my teeth together to hold back a curse.

  “Long time, hot stuff. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she drawls, her Texan accent making my already taut nerves turn to steel.