by G. Bailey
"My parents don't even try anything to get me to speak to them," I admit to them all, not that we ever talk about the past. It's all kinds of messy, and no one wants to bring it up first.
"Parents are shit, aren't they?" Garett comments after he finishes the first bite of his pancakes. "When I have kids, at least I know what not to do from them."
"You want kids?" I ask him as Griffin comes into the room, and he pauses, looking at us all strangely before getting his food as Garett answers.
"Yeah, a big bunch of them. Family is important to me, and I want to always have a big family around me," Garett answers, and I should have guessed that would be his answer.
"Makes sense," I say.
"What about you?" Gage asks, leaning closer to watch me for my answer. Griffin sits next to him on a stool, and then I find all three of them are watching. "In fact, what do you want for your future, Trix?"
"Until you guys came here, I only planned to finish university and then get a job. Save for an apartment in London, and that was it," I tell them because it is the truth. I've never looked further ahead than I thought I needed to. Now I look at them all, and how I feel for them, and it's confusing. Reverse harems might be normal in the book world, and maybe one day there will be a movie with this kind of relationship, but it isn't widely accepted everywhere. How do you plan a future without a single example of how that future should be? I need a guidebook titled "How to Plan a Future with Your Reverse Harem" or something.
"Now?" he asks.
"It doesn't matter," I quickly respond, because I'd really like to get off this topic. Damn, I wish I had more pancakes to shove into my mouth to stop myself from talking and messing this all up. I'm way too addicted to the Hallow brothers to fuck this up now.
"It does to us," Gage says.
"You have to admit we are unconventional. How long do you think we will last when there aren't many people like us in the world?" I ask them. "How do we plan anything in the future?"
"There must be more than the public knows. Love is boundless and confusing. I don't think we are that strange," Garett responds calmly and like he has really thought this all through.
"I never said strange...just different. Different isn't bad, I just don't know what to expect for a future with you all. Am I going to be enough long term?" I ask.
"Yes." All three of them say at the same time. I'm shocked quiet as they all carry on eating their food before Garett and Griffin head out for their meeting at the bank. I start cleaning up the plates with Gage, not sure where my head is at. This was always fun for us, and then at some point, it turned into something so much more than that.
"I love you. That's why I see a future with us all. I've never loved anyone as I love you," Gage suddenly tells me, and I turn to him, wondering if I just imagined him saying that to me, and sure as hell, I didn't. Gage takes the plate out of my hands and holds them in his, looking down at me. "We are different, but I think we are the right kind of different. I know we have had a rough time getting to this point, but now we are here, I hope it's endgame for us. It sure as hell is for me, Trix."
"Gage..." I whisper as he slides his hands into my hair. The words leave my lips just before he kisses me, and I don’t regret them as I should.
"I love you too."
I gasp as he picks me up, pressing me into the wall by the door, and breaks the kiss for a second to smile at me.
"One day, I will deserve you, Trix," he whispers, staring intently at me. I don't really know what he means by that, but as he kisses me once more, I forget it anyway.
It's too late now to doubt anything, I've already fallen for him, and he has me.
I just hope Gage Hallow isn't the one to break my heart.
Garett
”Garett, I need to tell you something," Griff shouts after barging into my room. "Gage, wake the fuck up as well. Girls, get out. Now!" His shouting makes the three girls jump out of bed and find their clothes before disappearing out of the room.
"Way to ruin the fun, bro," Gage says, sitting up in bed and stretching. "Those three were sisters and—"
"Shut the fuck up," Griff shouts, and as I really look at him, I see the tears burning in his eyes.
"What is it?" I ask, but I dread the answer. Griff never cries. Never.
"David is dead. He killed himself last night."
I gasp, pulling air into my lungs as I sit up in my bed, well aware that was a dream, but the shock and pain feels as raw as it did back then. I stare at the darkness of the room, the white door near the end of my bed, and try to remember that I'm here and not fucking back there. A small noise draws my attention to Trixy as she sleeps next to me in bed. Her long blonde hair falls across the pillow, and my white sheets are up to her waist, so I can see her soft satin pink nightdress she went to sleep in. I shouldn't feel this way about her, how every time I look at her I want to protect her and hold her close to me. I forget everything about David and the past when I'm with Trixy, and I hate that about her as much as I love it. Moments with Trixy feel like home, and they really fucking shouldn't. I'm on my brothers’ cases all the time to remember the plan and not to really fall for her, and then I'm looking at her like this.
"Are you okay?" she asks, waking up and sitting up to face me. Her soft hands go to my shoulders, and she gently rubs my arms as she looks worried.
"Bad dream," I tell her, moving closer and running my hand over her hair. "Make it better for me?"
"How?" she asks so innocently. I move closer and kiss her, telling her just what I need. She climbs onto my lap, her legs wrapping around me, and my cock presses into her like it knows it's the way home.
"Tell me how you feel for me, Trix," I ask her, running my fingers over her hard nipples pressing through the satin nightdress. She arches against me, moving my cock into position. Without another word, she slides herself down onto me, and I move one of my hands between us, finding her clit. I grit my teeth as she rides me, feeling utter fucking perfect with her wrapped like a glove around my cock. "I mean it, Trix, tell me."
"You tell me first. I know how you feel, I see it in your eyes all the time," she says, though her eyes betray her because she looks nervous. I spin her around on the bed and gain control of the situation as I thrust in and out of her, feeling her getting close to the edge. I run my fingers over her nipples, and she cries out my name as she comes around my cock. The mixture of her moans and her perfect, tight body pulls an orgasm out of me in moments. I groan as I come inside her, and her little body takes all of me. I breathlessly look down at her as she comes back to earth, and I know this is a losing game.
"I love you." The words feel like a betrayal to David the moment they leave my lips, but it's all too late. I mean them. I've fucking fallen for her.
"I love you too," she tells me and pulls me down on her. Holding her tightly, I just try to pretend she is a normal girl and not the one who killed my brother, because if I don’t, there is no way I'd be able to look at myself in the mirror.
“You said to dress up, what do you think?” I ask Griffin as he simply stares at me, quietly and lost after I opened my dorm door for him.
“Pink is your colour, Trix,” he mutters, before rubbing his chin as he blatantly checks me out. My pink dress is tight at the top, flowing out into a long floor length dress at the bottom which has several layers. The top has see-through lace in the middle of the top part, which meant I had to find a freaky looking bra that you can’t see under this dress. I borrowed the dress from my aunt’s friend who owns a pretty dress shop. I have to pay to have it dry cleaned tomorrow and returned, but I’m sure whatever Griffin has planned will be worth it. He looks like an actual model tonight in his tux with a small black bow tie. His hair has been cut and styled, making him look flashier than usual, and he smells sexy from here. I’m sure they put something in men’s aftershave to make women want to rub themselves all over them. Especially the expensive stuff that I have no doubt Griffin is using.
“Black is yours, G
riff,” I reply because his black tux makes his black hair more striking and his blue eyes that much brighter. Griffin holds his hand out for me as he steps back, and I happily take his hand as I walk out of my dorm room. We walk quietly down the corridor, where I see some of the students are watching and gawking at us as we head to the stairs. We pass Ariel's room, and she is there, leaning against the doorframe, smirking at us. I get the feeling she knows something I don't, but I'm not letting her ruin Griffin's and my date. We head outside the building, and there is a limo parked out front like there isn't a rule against cars on campus.
"Have you guys bribed the security to let you drive anything on campus?" I ask him as the limo driver spots us and opens the door.
"Possibly," Griffin answers, and it makes me chuckle as I get into the fancy limo. The seats are leather and white, and there is light music playing. Griffin gets in after me and closes the door after saying some words to the driver.
"Want a drink?" he asks me, leaning over and pressing a button which opens up a mini-fridge full of drinks.
"You choose for me," I suggest, and he nods, pulling out a bottle of champagne and two glasses. I hold the glasses as he pops the bottle open as the limo starts moving. The screen at the front is locked, and the glass partition is designed so we can see through it but not the other way around. Griffin pours our glasses to half full before putting the bottle back. He takes his glass and lifts it up.
"To us," he says, and I nod, clinking my glass against his before I take a long sip.
"Where are we going tonight then?" I ask, because I'm still confused. A limo, a tux and orders to wear a pretty dress I can dance in?
"The local high school prom. I always wanted to take you to prom, but we never had that chance. I hope you don't find it silly that I want to redo that mistake," he tells me, and it makes my heart warm with the sweetness of the date. It also makes me think back to my prom night and how it wasn't like most people’s.
"I didn't go to prom. I had a date, but David was sick," I say, remembering how he begged me not to go and threw up on my dress by accident. Now, knowing how much of a dickhead he really was, it crosses my mind it might not have been an accident at all. I never saw the jealousy until that last night, but I never did manage to have a long relationship with anyone else because of David being so controlling in my life. I used to think he was being a good friend and looking out for me. How stupid I was back then.
"You stayed with him. I remember him telling me," Griff tensely says, and I reach over, placing my hand on his arm.
"I love this. Thank you for planning such a sweet date," I tell him, and he nods, forcing a smile onto his lips. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything," he straightaway answers. I take another long sip of the champagne, liking the bitter aftertaste and the impact it has.
"Why did you pretend our first kiss was nothing and didn't happen? I really liked you, and I never understood what happened back then. Was I that bad at kissing?" I ask him, and god I'm nervous asking. He could very well tell me I'm all kinds of terrible at kissing, and I've just never known it. He smiles at me before he replies, sounding amused.
"You were and still are a brilliant kisser, Trix. That wasn't the reason."
"What was?" I ask him.
"David was in love with you. I didn't want to hurt my little brother," he admits to me, and then he really looks at me. I bet it's guilt I see in his eyes, but I'm not actually sure. Moments like this, I can't read his emotions, and it almost frightens me.
"Can we ever get to the point we can talk about the past?" I whisper. I shouldn't be asking this. Not unless I want to ruin what we have. The past will do just that.
"No." His answer is quick and cold and straight to the point. I nod and turn away, sipping on my drink as I look out of the window while we drive through London. Neither of us talks, not even when we get out of the limo outside the school and walk in together—after a teacher who personally knows the Hallow family let us in. The high school is set up in a sweet way with heart banners and a teenage band playing music. We look out of place here among the young kids, but that doesn't seem to faze Griff as he drags me over to the queue of people waiting to have their photo taken in front of the snowy backdrop.
"I'm sorry. I just can't talk about him with you. I want us to have a future, a real one. That can't be built on our past though. We have to build it on the here and now. On the memories we can make for us to look back and remember. Like this prom for example," he quietly says to me, moving his hand around my waist and resting it on my hip. I wish we could talk about the past, but I do understand his point and everything he is trying to do here. I don't get to answer him as we are next in line to have our photo taken, and we step into the bright light in front of the backdrop. I look up at Griff, thinking that would be a good pose, but Griff decides something else as he kisses me. The kiss is powerful, demanding and god, does it feel so good. The camera flashes, and Griff breaks the kiss, leaving me in a bit of a daze as the man gives Griff a card with a number on to collect the photo, and we walk away.
"Let's dance," Griffin suggests, but it's less of a suggestion and more of a description of what we will be doing next as he makes a beeline towards the dancers, with me at his side. Griff spins me around, making me smile before he pulls me back to him and places his hands on my back. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, linking my hands behind his head as I look up at him. He stares down at me, much in a way that really throws me. I could spend forever protecting my heart from these Hallow brothers, and it wouldn't matter. They had it from the moment they wanted it.
I'm theirs.
"I love you," I tell him, even though my heart beats loudly in my chest, and I can barely hear my nervous blurt out of my feelings. I shouldn't love them, not them of all people. But I do love them more than I ever loved anything in my life before. Griff pauses, making us stand dead still in the middle of all the dancers, both of us frozen as we look into each other's eyes. He very softly places his hand on my cheek before leaning down and pressing his lips to mine in the sweetest kiss.
"I love you too. More than I ever wanted to." I smile at the words whispered against my lips and how sweet he says them. Griffin Hallow is a sweetheart at times. He kisses me once more before he pulls away, and before I can ask where we are going, he is tugging me through the dancers and to the back of the hall. After pushing open a door, we are in a long corridor, and Griff walks us right down to the bottom of it before trying a few handles until one opens. He leads me in before shutting the door to the classroom behind him, locking it.
I step back until my butt hits a desk, and I'm trapped like prey as Griff looks at me like the hunter. I'm frozen as he walks to me and kisses me harshly. The kiss brings me to life with how much I want him right now. I pull at his tux until I get his shirt undone, and I run my hands over his rippled chest before sliding my hands down to his trousers. I free his erection, stroking him as he groans into my ear.
I chuckle as he pulls my dress up, and I edge myself onto the desk. Pushing my thong to the side, he lines himself up and easily slides into me. I moan as he pushes me back on the desk, and with one hand, he pulls the top part of my dress down, revealing my breasts in the strange bra. He doesn't care as he rips it away, and honestly neither do I, while he thrusts in and out of me. Griffin controls my body, hitting the right spot with every controlled thrust and making me lose my mind until my orgasm crashes through my body. I cry out in pleasure, and Griff thrusts a few more times before stilling and coming inside me, making the orgasm last a little longer. He picks me up, pressing me to his chest, and kisses me so hard my lips sting when he pulls away.
"I'm never letting you go, Trixy Ansley. I fucking love you."
"I love you too, Griffin Hallow." I smile as he kisses me once more, and in this moment, I couldn't be happier.
I bite my lip, glancing up to see if Lottie is back from the toilets yet before looking back at the last text Gage sent me.
Gage
- I'm in your room, waiting for you to come home. I've never seen you in this black bra before. We are going to need to correct that problem before I take it off you.
Me- You've been going through my underwear drawer?
Gage- I was bored. You've been gone ages. Does shopping really take that long?
Me- I could leave the underwear store and the tiny black thong I was looking at if you want me home?
I say that, though I already have bought the thong and fully plan to tease him by wearing it tonight.
Gage- Never mind. Come back soon. I want to be inside you and hear those moans I fucking love.
"You ready?" Lottie asks, nearly making me jump as I stare intensely at my phone. Noah is with Aunt Linsey for a few hours so Lottie can get him some Christmas gifts. I can't believe the months have gone so quickly, I swear it was only summer not long ago. Now I have to wear my thick coat out everywhere just in case. The Hallow brothers are winning match after match, and it's only a week until the final match of the season, right before Christmas. I grin at her and slide my phone in my back pocket before hooking my arm through hers for an answer.
"I told Garett, Gage and Griffin I love them," I blurt out to her, because I honestly need to get that off my chest because every time Lottie has asked how things are going with the Hallow brothers, which she asks a lot, I've avoided the answer.
"Oh I'm not surprised. I knew you'd fall for them, and honestly? It's been a long time if they are still playing a game and have no feelings for you. I've been thinking a lot recently. Look, let's go and sit down to talk," she says, nodding her head towards the water fountain in the middle of the store and an empty bench in front of it. We sit down, and I place my bag between my feet before facing her.