Chapter 45
FORTY-FIVE
The scene before me is pretty hilarious. Hunter is standing there with a bare chest and only a towel around his waist. North is leaning against the kitchen counter, fuming about something, and it looks dark outside.
How long was I gone?
“What the fuck do you want, North?” Hunter asks in an agitated tone I’m not quite used to from him.
What did I miss?
“Let’s wait on Nash,” North tells him just as the guy in question strides into the room, letting himself fall into one of the chairs next to the table. “Great, now that we’re all here—”
Oh, if he only knew.
“What do you want, North?” Nash interrupts. “I’m tired, man. Today was long. The ocean is getting rougher.”
I see Hunter shudder in my peripheral.
“Well, fine, let’s dive right into it, shall we? What I want to discuss is her,” North tells them, nearly spitting the last word.
Wait, where is Slo?
Last I remember, she was killing me with her heart-to-heart with Hunter.
“Why? What’s with her?” Hunter asks, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly.
I swear to God, Thundercunt, if you kick her out of here, I’m going to haunt your ass for eternity.
“It’s not what’s with her. It’s about the matter of fucking her.” North’s tone and gaze are icy as he shoots Hunter a glare.
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait.
What?
But it seems Nash hasn’t seen the glare directed at Hunter because he just shrugs. “Fuck off, North. I was a good boy. I haven’t fucked her in days. Even if I wanted to,” he states, muttering the last part.
Well, that’s at least some good news.
But that means I was gone longer than I thought.
“Yeah, but Hunter just did,” North spits out, and Nash’s and my head turn to Hunter so damn quick that it’s a good thing ghosts can’t get whiplash. “They had a little fun time in the hot tub.”
I’m so shocked that if my heart was still beating, it would skip a beat. As it is, it’s like I can feel my heartbeat in my throat.
Is there such a thing as a phantom heartbeat?
“Liked what you saw, brother? I didn’t know you were into voyeurism,” Hunter shoots back just as cold.
“If you wanted privacy, you shouldn’t have fucked her in the open where everyone could see it. Lio could have walked in on that.”
Hunter is about to retort, but Nash now stands too. “Can we put the Lio matter on the side for a second and talk about the fact that Hunt just fucked my girl?”
“She’s not your girl,” comes from Hunter, North, and me in unison.
“Oh, what would you call it then? I picked her up from a bar the old-fashioned way while you stole her out of my bed!” Nash accuses Hunter, but he just pushes out a laugh.
“She’s not your fucking girl. You just fucked her. Everybody knows you don’t give a shit about the girls you fuck,” Hunter mutters.
Well, true.
“Good to know that you know what I care about and what not since we talk so much. Since you care,” Nash shoots back. His voice has so much emotion and hurt that it makes us all pause.
Does he give a fuck about her?
And why is he hurt?
“Anyway, we need to talk this shit out,” North states, getting back to business. “This isn’t going to fester and get between us.”
She has already gotten between them, given how they are glaring at each other.
“Why do you even care?” Hunter asks, but it sounds like a challenge to my ears.
He knows something.
“Because I kissed her,” North declares, and all of our heads spin to him, eyes wide in shock. “So she’s at least kissed all of us now.”
Not all, but I’m working on that one.
“Why would you even do that? You call her a gold digger most of the time,” Nash states, fuming. “You don’t even like her!”
“Yeah, well, maybe I was wrong.” North’s statement is followed by dead silence.
Did Thundercunt just admit that he was wrong?
And that he likes somebody?
Am I in a different dimension?
Can ghosts switch dimensions?
Since no one talks, North continues, “Maybe she’s just in a shitty situation and needs help.”
“That’s exactly what this is and what I’ve been telling you from the start! And she wanted to go back to that shitty situation rather than stay here because she thinks her staying here is a catastrophe in the making.” Hunter pulls his hair while his other hand grips the towel.
She’s hurting, and I wasn’t here.
Fuck, I hate myself.
“Why would that be a catastrophe in the making?” Nash asks, leaning forward.
That’s what I would like to know.
“She’s falling for all of us. She told me,” Hunter states, his tone softer, and I can practically see how he’s thinking about her.
She’s falling for all of them?
Does that include me?
Or was my absence too long, and I hurt her too badly with it? Fuck, would she have turned to them if I had been here? Or would I be the one she’s falling for now if I had found a way to stay?
“All three of us?” Nash furrows his brow, his expression mirroring my own.
“All of us. Even North, who can’t seem to manage to be decent to her just once,” Hunter states, shooting North a glare.
“And what are we doing about that?” North inquires, deciding to sidestep the accusation.
“She’d be good for all of us,” Hunter relents. “If we took this seriously with her.” His gaze flicks to Nash, who just flips him off.
“Fuck off, Hunter. Just because I don’t want a relationship doesn’t mean I don’t care about her.”
“So, you don’t take it seriously.” Hunter shakes his head.
I mean, what did he expect? It’s Nash.
“I take her and her feelings more than seriously. That’s why I don’t want a relationship.” Nash glares back at Hunter.
Now, North and I scoff simultaneously.
You’re just a little chicken, Nash.
“Fine, whatever, but then keep your hands off her,” North tells him, making Nash step up to him, chest to chest.
“Or what? You gonna fire me? Kick me out of the house? Treat me like I don’t belong? Oh wait, you already do that part.”
Huh?
Did Nash just grow a backbone?
“Guys…” Hunter steps between them, and it’s comical because he’s still in nothing but a towel, “… I’ll tell you what I told her.
I’m not afraid of a little competition. She’s worth having to fight for her attention.
And I’m up for the challenge. Why not keep it like we did when we were younger and let the best man win? ”
Oh no, are you fucking kidding me?
The glint in his eyes tells me he thinks he will win this without a problem, and he may be right.
But still…
“We all try to woo her, and she decides in the end?” Nash furrows his brows again, and his fiddling from foot to foot tells me he’s not into that idea at all.
“What? Afraid you’ll lose? I thought you didn’t want to have anything serious with her anyway?” North mocks him.
“Do you?” Nash shoots right back.
“So, it’s decided. She chooses, and until she does, all is fair game. As soon as she decides, the rest step back and keep their hands off without being butthurt,” North announces, holding out his fist.
You idiots are not fucking serious right now?
Not only is this basically making her a trophy, but she wants them all, and they want her to choose?
Idiots. I can’t believe I’m related to these fucking idiots.
“Hunter, you know better, man. This is only going to hurt her,” I tell him, but like always, nobody can hear me.
I would give them all a piece of my mind if I could right now, but I can’t.
Because I’m not truly here.
Hunter holds out his fist, making me question his place as my favorite brother before he and North look at Nash. Nash grumbles, but in the end, he gives in, holding out his fist.
Fan-fucking-tastic.