Chapter 23 Kaylor
KAYLOR
Ihad been pretending to be productive for the better part of an hour.
My laptop screen glowed in Kreed’s dimly lit room, notes scattered in what appeared to be a neat, organized halo around me but were actually completely useless.
My focus was shot. I kept seeing Jesse’s face, his words going round and round in my head.
And the damn profoundly quiet house wasn’t helping.
I needed noise to override my thoughts. Kreed had left twenty minutes ago for one of his runs.
At least one of us was clearing our heads.
I was slightly jealous. I had nothing like that, nothing I could lose myself in except for Kreed, which couldn’t be healthy.
A shadow crossed the doorway. Maddox sauntered into the room, and the mattress dipped as he collapsed onto the opposite side of the bed, settling in alongside me.
“Where is everyone?” he asked, kicking his long legs out.
His dark hair was slightly damp as if he’d just showered, and he smelled like body wash and trouble.
I raised my brows. “By everyone, do you mean Kreed?”
“Well, you are currently occupying his room,” he pointed out reasonably, stretching one arm above his head as he leaned back, the white T-shirt hugging his defined chest. We wore nearly identical sweatpants. I’d stolen mine from Kreed.
I tried not to think about the fact that I was in bed with Maddox. I didn’t want to make it weird. We were just hanging out. It didn’t have to mean anything. “He went for a run.”
Maddox snorted. “I don’t understand how he actually enjoys the torture. If Coach didn’t force us to run conditioning laps for football, I’d never voluntarily touch a track, let alone run for recreational fun.”
“It clears his head, I guess,” I offered with a shrug because I was with Maddox. Running sucked. Unless my life depended on it.
A mischievous grin crossed his full lips. “You know what else clears your head?”
“If you say sex, I’m kicking you off the bed.”
His lips twitched, but he tipped his chin toward the nightstand. “Gin on the rocks. Much more civilized. Less sweating involved.”
I rolled my eyes hard. “That does the exact opposite of clearing your head. It’s called avoidance through intoxication.”
His grin spread wider as he ducked his hand under the bed, fishing around blindly for a moment. When his arm emerged, he was holding a bottle, the amber glass flashing under the lamplight. He dangled it in front of my face like forbidden contraband, eyebrows waggling.
“How did you even—” I started, reaching for it automatically.
He shrugged, looking far too damn pleased with himself.
“Never mind. Just pass it over.” I held out my palm, waiting.
The glass bottle landed in my hand. The label was smudged, half of the gin already gone. I twisted the cap and took a cautious sip. The burn slid down my throat like liquid fire.
“You’re absolutely my kind of girl, menace,” Maddox said approvingly, settling back on his elbows and getting comfortable.
“You’d better hope to God Kreed doesn’t come home and find us drunk together in his bed,” I muttered, but I took another sip before passing the bottle across the space between us. “He’ll murder both of us. Me for the betrayal, you for the audacity.”
Maddox winked. “I’m actually hoping he does catch us. The look on his face would be absolutely priceless.” He tipped the bottle back and took a long pull before passing it back to me, his throat working as he swallowed.
“I really needed this.” My neck rotated from side to side a few times. “It’s been the longest week of my entire life.”
“Tell me about it.” His expression shifted, his brows drawing together thoughtfully.
“I’m trying to decide if I just say ‘fuck this entire semester and fuck my summer plan,’ or if I actually put legitimate effort into salvaging my grades.
It’s hard as hell to focus when Crusty Rusty is still out there plotting God knows what. ”
My lips twitched upward at the ridiculous nickname. “We could study together,” I offered, thinking it would be nice to have someone hold me accountable, but I wasn’t sure Maddox was the right person for the job. “Make it less painful. With the gin as motivation, obviously.”
He tilted his head slightly, considering. “I like the way you think, menace. Let me grab my laptop from my room.”
He was gone for less than sixty seconds, his return marked by a completely ridiculous little slide across the hardwood floor, one arm spread wide for balance, the other clutching his computer, socked feet gliding as if he’d been watching Footloose one too many times.
He flopped back down onto the bed with zero grace, springs protesting, and set his computer on his lap.
“Is Mason home?” I asked, wondering if we should get him in here too and make a night of it. We could order a pizza.
“Nope, you’re stuck with just me. Good thing because I’m not about to share my time alone with you. Or this bottle of gin.”
“You do realize I’m in love with your brother,” I threw out casually because the alcohol had made my tongue reckless and my filter nonexistent.
“Which one?”
I rolled my eyes, my finger circling the rim of the bottle. “Take a guess.”
“Does he know?” he asked.
I drew my legs up slightly on the bed so my knees were steepled. “Yes. Unfortunately, I let it slip out.”
“And?” he prompted for details, leaning forward.
I shrugged with nonchalance that meant anything but actual indifference. “And what?” I took a drink of gin to swallow the lump in my throat, but it didn’t really help.
“He freaked, didn’t he?” He shook his head, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Such a classic Kreed move.” Maddox leaned forward and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear with surprising tenderness, and something unclenched in my chest.
I blinked, frowning. “Don’t you dare suggest I fell for the wrong brother.”
He shot me a smug smirk of pure trouble. “I’m just saying it’s not too late to reconsider your options. I’m significantly less emotionally damaged.” He took the bottle.
I sighed. “Sorry to say, my heart is permanently set on him.”
“Pesky organ, the heart, but if he breaks yours, I’ll systematically break both his legs.”
“I’ll probably help you do it,” I admitted, smiling despite myself.
“And this is exactly why you’re our girl, menace.” He drank from the bottle, and I realized as the warmth of the liquor swirled within me, neither of us was going to get much studying done at this rate.
“So you no longer hate me?” I asked because I wanted the unfiltered truth, and Maddox would be straight with me, especially with alcohol involved.
“I hated that I didn’t hate you,” he admitted.
Pretty sure Kreed had said something similar.
My phone buzzed on the bed, vibrating against the fabric. Carson’s face filled the screen, and I just stared at the picture.
“You going to answer that?” Maddox asked, watching my face carefully.
I pulled my gaze from my phone and shook my head. “Not right now.”
“Do you want me to tell him to stop calling? If he’s bothering you—”
“Don’t touch a hair on his head. This is a problem I need to deal with on my own terms. Alone,” I added.
“What are you going to do about Carson? If he’s talking to Rusty…”
“You’re supposed to be studying,” I reminded, doing my best to effortlessly avoid the question and any further probing about my relationship with Carson.
His shoulder brushed mine as he sank deeper into the pillows propped behind us. “Turns out you’re way too distracting anyway.”
I sighed, closing my laptop with a soft click. “I’m still figuring out what to do about Carson.”
He set the bottle between his thighs. “Well, I have several ideas we could discuss.”
I threw him a gnarly glare. “Absolutely not. I saw firsthand how you and your brothers dealt with Jesse. That’s not happening.”
“That kid got off incredibly easy, all things considered.”
A streak of lightning cut across the sky outside the window, a quick zip brightening Kreed’s room.
Gloominess had been lingering in the sky most of the day, and the wind had started to pick up over the last hour, battering against the windows.
Dark clouds pressed against the glass, purple-gray masses roiling with barely contained violence.
Apparently, we were in for the first thunderstorm of spring, and of course, Kreed thought it would be a fabulous time to work out his calves.
“He’ll be fine,” Maddox assured, reading the concern that descended into my features.
I dragged my gaze from the window, softening the frown on my lips. The lights in the bedroom flickered.
Fuck.
If the power went out…
“Don’t worry. We have a backup generator. The security system will only be down for ten seconds or so.”
I didn’t want to think about what Rusty could do with ten seconds. He couldn’t plan a storm. He had no way of knowing if the house would lose power, not unless it was cut.
Maddox’s head lifted to the door, and my gaze quickly followed.
Mason leaned casually over the threshold, one shoulder propped against the frame, arms crossed over his chest as he watched Maddox and me with a smirk, trouble and mischief written all over him in equal measure.
“What exactly is wrong with my bed?” he asked, his eyes volleying between his twin and me.
“And why wasn’t I invited if we’re having a sleepover? ”
Maddox snorted, his muscles returning to their relaxed state. “Yours smells like a combination of gym socks, old takeout, and profound regret.”
“That’s rich coming from you,” Mason shot back without heat. “At least mine doesn’t smell like Kreed’s perpetual brooding and emotional constipation.”
Before I could roll my eyes at their endless sibling bickering, thunder boomed directly overhead, shaking the house.
It was immediately followed by a blinding flash of lightning so bright it turned the room to negative exposure for a heartbeat, every shadow inverted.
All three of us jumped, bodies reacting before our brains caught up.