Chapter 64
***Cass***
Walking into Sam Ford’s house after what we’d done the last time we’d been there brought a blush to my face. One look at the smirk on West’s face told me he was thinking the same thing.
He slid his hand over my hip and flexed his fingers over my ass. “Good memories?”
I should’ve pushed his hand away but I needed their comfort, in any way I could get it.
I was so nervous that I was shaking. I wanted to give them what they wanted and be good with Savannah but after everything she’d said when the stories about me came out, I had a feeling she was going to be out for blood.
A sudden thought had me turning into West and grabbing his shoulders. “She knew I was coming, right?”
He shrugged. “I figured Sam told her. It was his idea, after all.”
“Fuck.” I was sure that Sam hadn’t told his daughter a thing. That seemed like just the shitty kind of thing he’d do.
Hayes took my hand and pulled me into his arms. “You’ve got this.”
When he looked at me like he was I did feel like I could do it. I took a deep breath, nodded, and then felt like all the air had been knocked out of me when I heard a voice I hadn’t expected to ever hear again.
“Cass? What the fuck are you doing here?” Cole. Cole was in Sam’s house.
I might’ve actually never turned around if I hadn’t sensed Cash’s fury from beside me. I twisted in Hayes’ arms and reached out to touch Cash’s arm. Then I looked up and saw the four of them standing there, staring back at me with matching looks of shock and anger. Cole, Jax, Ryder, and Savannah.
“Why the hell are you here?” Savannah crossed her arms and glared at her brothers. “Why would you bring her here?”
Cash was vibrating with anger. “Are you kidding me, Sav? You brought these assholes here! What the fuck were you thinking?”
“Don’t talk to her like that.” Ryder, dangerously calm as always, ripped his gaze from Cash to look back at me. “What is this, Cass?”
I was frozen. Not seeing them had dulled the grief of losing the three people I’d once considered my best friends.
Seeing them brought it all crashing back, especially when they were looking at me like I was a monster who’d just kicked their puppy.
Under all that grief was shame and anger.
Shame that I’d once been so convinced that Cole was my person that I’d been willing to do anything for him and anger because the Ford brothers had shown me that the men in front of me had never cared for me the way I’d cared for them. In any way.
“What does Cole need to say to you to make you understand that he’s not interested in you, Cass? Using my brothers, sticking around like this? It’s pathetic.” Savannah wasn’t going to pull any punches, it seemed.
“Why the fuck would you bring them here? They nearly ended my career, Savannah. While I was in the hospital wondering if I’d ever play again, they were laughing about it in interviews. How could you bring them here?” West stepped forward. “This isn’t going to fucking work.”
“You know I’m with them! They’re not going anywhere.
You’re going to have to figure out how to get over it.
I love them and they love me. What about Cass?
She’s just here to try to carry out some sick revenge plot.
Why would you let her do this to you? She’s making a fool of you.
And now you’ve brought her here, just where she wants to be, feet away from Cole. ”
“This shit is weird, Cass.” Cole shook his head. “Even for you, this is extreme.”
“You guys need to stop being little bitches about your accidental injuries and let your sister live her fucking life.” Jax wrapped his hand around the back of Savannah’s neck and shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re really doing this, Cass.”
I finally found my voice. “Extreme, even for me? Wow. I’m not here for any other reason than being with Cash, West, and Hayes. No matter what you all think of me, not everything is about you.”
Hayes wrapped his arm around my waist and splayed his hand across my stomach in a move that soothed some of the jagged edges I was feeling. “Cass has every right to be here with us.”
“Little bitches. Little bitches?” Cash growled. “You’re here crying over a girl caring about you in the past and we’re the little bitches?”
I gripped his arm tighter and shook my head when he looked at me. I lowered my voice and held his gaze. “This isn’t one of the moments I’d find your fists hot.”
“Oh, my god. She’s got her hooks in deep. This is crazy! She came here to use you to get back at me!” Savannah stomped her booted foot and I was thrilled that I hadn’t shown up in boots, looking like a generic version of her.
“That’s enough, Savannah.” Hayes’ voice was hard as he gently passed me to West. “You don’t know a fraction of what you think you know about this.”
“I know-”
Sam cleared his throat from behind Ryder and clapped his hands when we all went quiet and looked at him. “I need everyone at the dining room table. Without shouting at each other like this is some sort of white trash reunion, please.”
Since I already felt like my brain had been thrown into a blender I just shrugged. “Why not?”
He grinned at me and moved closer. “There’s my favorite girl.”
My filter gave out completely. “Get fucked.”
His eyes flashed as he looked at me and then over my head at West. “She’s still mouthy. Didn’t you tell her I said to be on her best behavior?”
I didn’t like the way he was looking at the guys, like there was a hidden threat in his words. I felt like there was an anvil hanging over my head and I hated it.
West held me tighter. “Didn’t I tell you that Cassidy would tell you to go fuck yourself?”
Savannah groaned. “Cassidy? Really?”
“Everyone just go to the table and sit the fuck down!” Sam’s painfully loud shout at least got us moving towards the dining room. It did nothing to kill the tension, though. There was no way things weren’t going to just get uglier.
Sam pointed us each in the direction of a seat and then stood at the head of the table.
Seconds of silence passed before the sound of heels came closer, along with a high-pitched, forced cheerful voice.
With the flair of a reigning princess Kelly Dunn strolled into the room in a sleek white dress and two men surrounding her with cameras.
“Oh, my gosh, guys! It’s time for me to meet the family!! Look at them!” She slashed an angry finger at the cameraman in front of her. “Show them the table, Mike!”
The camera turned on us at the table and we all just sort of froze. Sam forced a laugh. “Hey, everyone! These are my children and their partners. I couldn’t be happier to be introducing them to my new wife.”
Kelly gasped but it was clearly fake. “Daddy! You weren’t supposed to tell everyone yet! You ruined the surprise!”
I looked at West sitting next to me and mouthed the word ‘daddy’ at him. He shuddered and shook his head before leaning over to me. “I’m no longer interested in you calling me that. I may not even want children anymore… Wait. Did he say wife?”
“Fine! Since he ruined the surprise, I’ll just tell everyone at the same time!
” She was still talking into a camera and I was worried we were watching a mental break.
“We got married! I’m sorry I kept it from you guys!
You know you’re all my besties and I would normally never keep a secret from you but we wanted to tell you guys and my new stepkids together!
Can you believe it? I’m a stepmom! A hot stepmom! ”
“Who the fuck is she talking to?” Cash scowled at the cameramen and then at Sam. “You married a child? And she calls you daddy? That’s a new fucked up corner of the family bingo card, don’t you think?”
“Sammy…” Kelly shot a nasty look at Cash and then brightened her smile like it’d never happened. “We have one more announcement, too! We’re pregnant!”
“What kind of fresh hell is this?” Savannah sent a pointed look at me and then at Kelly. “There are snakes in the grass all over the place!”
“Don’t call your new stepmother a snake, Savannah!” Sam’s smile was quickly turning strained. “She’s teasing. You’re teasing, aren’t you? Honey, we’re live.”
Hayes snorted. “You two clowns decided to live stream telling your children that you haven’t mastered safe sex at your old, old age, Sam? Brilliant. Truly.”