Chapter 21 #2
Jaxson scoffed. “Good riddance to bad rubbish. Who cares about him, when you have us. Your dad can continue being a butthead, but at least you gained brothers and sisters.” Then a mischievous smile curved his lips. “And two connections.” He creepily raised his brows up and down.
For a moment Victoria seemed touched by his inference that we were her new family. Then he had to ruin it by mentioning her connections. She gave him a deadpan expression before tonelessly replying.
“Yay. I’m so lucky.”
Micah gently bumped his shoulder into hers. “Come on. It’s not all that bad. You even said that Pops has shown more interest and been more involved in your life than your dad ever was. You’re not losing much. Even with gaining Jaxson as a brother-in-law—eventually.”
It was hard to believe that the same young man that pined over his best friend was the same one that stood before us now.
Now that Shiloh had entered the scene Micah and Victoria had fallen into the roles of best friends minus Micah’s crush.
I was happy to see how he now understood why Shiloh was chosen for him.
They were becoming friends and just seemed to click. Luckily, Shiloh wasn’t the jealous type and didn’t demand any time or attention from Micah. She was content with slowly getting to know him and didn’t begrudge his closeness to Victoria.
“Yeah, because Kade is going to wake up one day and discover I’m the love of his life.
” Victoria clutched her heart and dramatically batted her eyelashes before she snorted and rolled her eyes.
“Maybe by then I can become step-mommy to the kids he’s going to be popping out left and right especially if he continues hooking up with—”
Victoria immediately snapped her mouth shut as if she didn’t mean to say that much. She looked over at us guiltily while Micah had a wide-eyed look. Rick and Tyler attempted to hide their laughter, before Rick muttered.
“Busted.”
I first I stood in disbelief. I really hoped my brother wasn’t hooking up with anyone. He was only sixteen. He shouldn’t be dipping his wick in anyone, especially knowing he had a connection. Plus, I wasn’t certain if any of the men had “the talk” with him or if his parent’s had.
I knew it was perfectly “normal” for teenage boys to be horny and want to explore, but I wasn’t comfortable with him indiscriminately hooking up.
He needed to realize his actions would and could affect his future with Victoria.
He already knew how much Victoria hated knowing about his flirting and “dates.” I didn’t want him to do any irreparable damages to their relationship.
I whirled on Jaxson to see how much he knew.
He immediately held up his hands in innocence. “I know nothing!” Jaxson immediately proclaimed.
“Umm, Blake, he is a teenage boy. He’s just exploring.” Troy vainly attempted to excuse Kade’s actions silently.
I opened the conversation so Troy, Jaxson, Lincoln, and I could talk to each other silently.
“We all did it.” Jaxson shamefully admitted.
“I don’t know if I would have if I knew Blake back then,” Lincoln smugly informed them.
“You weren’t like twenty when she was marked at eleven. Plus, you were hooking up with other women, knowing she was jumping you,” Gavin mischievously inserted himself into our conversation.
Troy and Jaxson snickered at Lincoln’s expense.
“It’s rude to have silent conversations while we’re standing right here.” Tyler jokingly whined.
Lincoln shot Gavin with a look of annoyance. “I didn’t know about connections and wasn’t aware of why I was marked.”
“I am upset if he is hooking up with another girl, knowing he has a connection, but I’m more concerned about whether or not he’s being safe.
Have any of you discussed protection? Did his parents have that conversation with him?
Should we assume that they did or discover our mistake after he knocks a girl up and becomes a teenage dad? ”
“Oof.” Gavin said aloud with a wince.
“Secrets don’t make friends!” Rick exclaimed, inserting himself in the middle of us.
Lincoln, Troy, and Jaxson exchanged panic looks, and it was evident that they hadn’t even thought about that. In fact, I wondered if Micah should get the “talk” as well.
Troy popped up off his chair before saying. “I think I need to find our wayward teenager,”
“Don’t. I was just playing!” Victoria practically begged.
“Is he alone with a female right now?” Lincoln inquired.
Micah and Victoria exchanged panicked looks, and we got our answer.
“Just as I thought.” Troy nodded. “Don’t worry. He’s not going to get in trouble, but I think we need to have a small discussion.”
Victoria hung her head. “Please, don’t. He’s just going to call me a tattle tale and have another reason to believe I’m just a kid.”
“It’s disrespectful to you, if you discovered his dalliance,” Ben grunted before strumming a few strings on his guitar.
“Yeah, let’s get back to practice.” Gavin pursed his lips. “Guys mind if we run through one song real quick.”
Micah and Victoria were whispering frantically to each other.
I knew they were attempting to do damage control, but it was too late.
I felt bad that Victoria would feel the brunt of Kade’s anger.
I hoped he realized she didn’t intentionally rat him out.
With any luck Troy could figure out a way to keep her out of the crossfire.
I wanted to comfort her, but Lincoln draped and arm around my shoulder. He then kissed my temple before quietly whispering in my ear. “Troy will protect her. He won’t narc on his source.”
“From the top,” Ben nodded at me.
I nodded at him in return, hoping Lincoln was correct.
η
“That was really good,” a soft timid voice said from the doorway.
I was placing my violin in its case when Jemmy’s voice broke through the ribbing and joking my other bandmates were engaging in. We all seemed to freeze in mid-motion and our heads snapped up or around to look at her.
Jemmy looked almost sheepish as she stood there looking more beautiful than I had ever seen her, despite her weight loss.
She didn’t have a trace of makeup on, and her clothing was the most casual I had ever seen her in.
She wore a simple white-tee crop top and a low-slung boyfriend sweats.
Her hair was thrown back in a casual messy bun.
Overall, she would never have been caught dead in public appearing the way she did then.
“Umm, thanks.” Gavin finally muttered after several awkward moments.
He never attempted to visit her since she had thrown him out of her room. He had inquired about her recovery but made no further attempts to see her. So, her presence here was a mystery to me.
Drake slid past Jemmy to pull me into his arms and hold me close. He telepathically murmured. “I missed you.”
I sunk into him, thankful I wasn’t the only one noticing the distance between us.
I knew it was silly considering I still saw him at most of our meals.
I guess in a way I was feeling a little needy.
It seemed as if every day that passed, I became more and more restless.
Our apartment walls seemed to be closing in, and I knew my instincts wanted me to “nest,” but I was unable to in our borrowed space.
“I missed you too.” I silently responded. “What’s going on? Why are you guys here, not that I’m complaining about seeing you.”
He understood my implications. I didn’t know why Jemmy was here. I didn’t think it was an accident that they had come here. I was glad she was back, but in all honesty I didn’t want her to hurt Gavin any more than she already had.
Drake winced slightly. “Jemmy realized how bad she messed up.
Unfortunately, she realized Tracey had lied about her intentions too late.
When she attempted to escape, Tracey along with Horatio detained her.
She remembers running from the house, but when she woke, she was in her altered state.
She said there were moments of consciousness when she realized she needed to leave but seconds later, she would forget the reason why.
“She finally agreed to see Dr. Wong, but she also once to reconcile with Gavin. She realizes now that she belongs with him and she’s willing to work on their relationship. She knows accepting Mercedes presence in their lives is going to be a struggle, but she wants the opportunity to try.”
I gave him a deadpan expression. “I think it may be too little, too late. I think she has a lot of work to do before Gavin even entertains the idea. She burnt a lot of bridges from the beginning of their relationship. She acted out when he met Sierra. Then she tried to flirt with Lincoln when she discovered I was connected to him. When he returned, she treated him like crap.”
Drake grimaced. “I said as much, but instead of her normal obstinate reactions, she seemed almost resigned. She didn’t want to give up on their connection without trying.”
Any further conversation was cut off when Gavin walked past us with his guitar case in hand.
“I don’t know Jem. I’m going to be a father soon.
We’re busy with the builder regarding the house we’re building on the outside.
I don’t know if I have the emotional or mental bandwidth to deal with everything right now. ”
Jemmy had a crestfallen look before stating. “I started therapy again. I know I have a lot of work to do on myself. I know I hurt you.”
Gavin paused beside the door and turned slightly. “Good. I’m glad to hear that.”
I didn’t need to use my empath gift to feel Jemmy’s heartbreak.