Chaos at Westbrook High (The Kingston Brothers #3)

Chapter 34

“Stop panicking,”Wren whispers as he leans into my side.

We’re all sitting at the kitchen island while the police are talking quietly with Elijah and Kai by the fire in the living room. I can’t hear what they’re saying and it’s making me nervous.

“Are they going to arrest him?”

“No.”

“What if they do?”

“I just told you they won’t,” he says, laughing under his breath when he feels my knee bouncing uncontrollably against his, my thumb rubbing my daisy tattoo. “Will you relax?”

“I’m relaxed.”

He snorts. I ignore him and keep my eyes on Kai. The boy looks pretty relaxed considering he’s in trouble for breaking someone’s nose. Elijah looks the same way he always does, perfectly put together and in control. He doesn’t once let his demeanor slip, but I’m almost sure he’s furious. With Kai or the situation? I can’t tell.

“Why are you wearing my hoodie?”

“What?”

“This is mine,” Wren tells me, pinching the fabric at my waist.

I frown at him. “Why was it in my room?”

“I don’t know,” he says defensively. “It’s not my fault you won’t let housekeeping there.”

“You can’t pick up after yourself?”

“Why would I do that when I have people to do it for me?”

“You’re a spoiled little shit, you know that?” I mutter, but there’s no real bite to it.

He grins and wraps his arm around my shoulders. I tense for a couple beats before I relax like he told me to, my fingers wrapping around the iced coffee he slides toward me.

After what feels like ages, Elijah passes a check to one of the officers and shakes their hands before leading them to the elevator. As soon as they’re gone, without my—Kai in handcuffs, I breathe a sigh of relief.

Kai comes over to us and cuts his eyes between me and his twin, his lips twitching as he sits down on my other side and presses his lips to my ear. “You were worried about me.”

I huff. No point denying it.

“What happened on the beach?” Elijah asks as he stands in front of us.

We all say nothing, thank God. Even Derek, who looks like he wants to tear me a new one before locking me in my bedroom until I’m thirty.

“How many times do I have to say it?” Elijah says slowly, his nostrils flaring as his gaze travels over the seven of us. “No…fucking…fighting.”

Silence follows for a moment before Wren lets out a laugh, covering his mouth with his hand as Kai starts laughing too.

Elijah glares at them. “What?”

“You sound like Tommy Shelby,” they say at the same time.

Elijah’s eyes darken with fury. “Who?”

“He’s the guy from Peaky Blinders. Cillian Murphy.”

“You kind of look like him too,” Kai squints at his dad. “I never saw that before.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Do you see it?”

“I do now.”

“I hope we look like that when we’re old?—”

Elijah bangs his hand against the marble.

“Older,” Kai says. “I was going to say older.”

Elijah pinches the bridge of his nose.

As if approaching a wild animal, Callie carefully slides the tray of brownies she made earlier toward her father-in-law. He looks at the tray, then her, his eyes narrowing.

“What? There’s no weed in them this time,” Callie says. She doesn’t say why there’s no weed in them, but we all know. I don’t miss the way Derek drops his eyes.

Elijah blinks at her. Picking up one of the brownies, he takes a bite and looks at Kai. “You were right about the boy from the coffee shop. Wyatt.”

My head snaps up at that. “What about Wyatt?”

“James had one of the guards follow him from Valerie’s tonight. He ended up at Kingston Manor.” Maverick’s house.

Kai seethes. “Motherfucker.”

Later that night,I’m laying in bed, staring at the balcony doors in my room, unable to shut off the thoughts running wild through my head.

Wyatt’s supposed to be my friend. I’ve known him for years. Why would he do this? Is it for money? Is he being threatened? Why is Kai just staring at me? Why hasn’t he said anything?

I can feel him watching me, leaning back against the wall next to the door. He’s been there for a while. An hour? Maybe two?

“What are you doing?” I whisper into the silence.

“Waiting for you to fall asleep.”

I let out a quiet laugh. “You might be there a while.”

I hear him inch closer. “Hailey.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you still mad at me?”

“A little bit.”

He hesitates, then asks, “Are you okay?”

I nod, then shake my head, squeezing the pillow to my chest.

“Baby, come here.” He peels the blanket back, taking my waist and pulling me up into his arms.

I go willingly, wrapping my legs around him and burying my face into his warm neck. He carries me out of my room and down the hall, stopping outside Wren’s bedroom.

“Is this okay?”

I nod against him. He quietly steps inside the dark room, the door clicking shut behind us. I hear movement on the bed, Levi wrapping his arm around Wren’s body and pulling him closer into his chest, making room for us. Kai sets me down on the bed and climbs over the top of me, laying in the middle between me and Wren. Still wearing Wren’s hoodie, I curl up into Kai’s chest and close my eyes.

Just as I’m drifting off with his hand in my hair and his fingers drawing circles on my hip, the bed dips behind me. Callie lies down beside me with Damon wrapped around her.

I fall asleep surrounded by five people I never thought I’d feel safe with.