Chapter 6 Zander
Iroll over, tossing my arm over my eyes, too lazy to move yet. After a few minutes, I reach over and grab my phone. At least I’d been smart enough to plug it in on my nightstand before I hopped in the shower last night. Or was it earlier today?
It’s just after six at night, meaning I slept through the whole day. Considering the fact that I woke up on my own, I’m guessing the guys slept all day, too. If not, Rick would have been here to ensure I was up.
“Boys.” I hear Clair call for us through the house. I guess I didn't wake up on my own after all. That makes more sense, actually. I’m usually the last one up.
I go to stand and quickly realize I’m still in just a towel.
Yeah, I must have been more tired than I realized.
Dropping the towel, I go to my dresser, grab a pair of sweats, and throw them on.
I decide against a shirt. It’s hot as hell in here.
Not that it matters to me. I'd walk around naked if Rick wouldn’t threaten to chop off my balls.
The thought alone makes me cringe, and I cup my junk as I make my way to the door, ensuring they’re still there.
I start down the hall towards the kitchen, where I’m pretty sure Clair is calling us from.
As I pass by Spencer’s door, it swings open, and he stands there looking like he’s fresh out of bed, too.
He’s in basketball shorts and one of his signature black tees, but his hair looks like a fucking bird's nest, and I can’t hold back a laugh.
If looks could kill, I would be a dead man one hundred times over, but Spencer doesn’t scare me. Not that he’s not a scary fucker, I just know he wouldn’t ever actually murder me, no matter what I may do to deserve it.
He follows my line of sight. With a grumble, he realizes his hair must look mess and quickly runs a hand through it in an attempt to tame it.
It does help a little, but he would probably need to get it wet to get it down now.
He moves his hand away, and the piece he had just worked down sticks right back up, causing me to double over in laughter.
“Shut the fuck up. You don’t look much better, asshole.” He shoves me as he moves to walk past. I stumble a little, but keep my balance even as I continue to laugh at him. He can say my hair is crazy, but we both know I don't care. He, on the other hand, does.
“And if you're going to play with your balls, I suggest you go back to your room to do it before Rick sees,” he yells back down the hall to me as he turns the corner and disappears. I look down, and sure as shit, my hand is still on my junk.
Great.
“I wasn’t playing with my balls!” I shout after him as I jog down the hall to catch up. “And don’t go saying that shit so Rick can hear you.” I follow him down the hall, calling after him, as I card my finger through my hair to ensure it’s not all standing up like his.
I expect to chase him down and explain because if Rick thinks his mom called me and I was playing with my junk, he’ll cut them off for sure.
Instead, I round the corner and run right into Spencer, who has stopped dead in the doorway for whatever reason.
I slam into him so hard that I stumble back a few steps, but the fucker doesn’t even budge.
“Bro, what the fuck?” I shout as I catch myself and rub at my nose, which had made a solid impact with his back.
Again, I’m ready for an argument, or at the very least for him to tell me to watch where the fuck I’m going, but he says nothing.
He doesn’t even turn around to look at me.
He just stands frozen in place, staring dead ahead.
Curiosity gets the better of me, and I walk up next to him to see what’s got his undivided attention. The second I move around him, it makes sense.
Jade is sitting at the dining room table, like the girl we just saved from sex traffickers earlier this morning.
She’s obviously had a shower, no longer covered in dirt, and her blonde hair is braided back from her face on each side of her head, the color even brighter now that it’s clean.
Her clothes are also clean and fit much better, though they still don’t seem to be her exact size. Something about her shirt pulls at my mind, though I can’t place why.
I feel my jaw fall open and all but hit the floor as she sits there, looking back at us with confusion apparent on her face and laughter in her eyes.
It only lasts a moment before she smiles, and a laugh slips past her lips.
She quickly covers her mouth with her hand as if she can use it to hold in her laughter.
It doesn’t work, but man, she looks adorable trying.
Holy shit, her laugh is like a melody. My mind goes into overdrive as I try to think of a million different ways to make her laugh so that I can hear it again. Clearly, she finds our banter funny, or maybe it was our reaction to seeing her sitting here. Either way, I can work with that.
She drops her hand after a moment, though her smile remains. “Hello.” Just that one word, and my heart feels as though it literally skips a beat. What the fuck is happening to me right now? How can one girl I barely know have me in so many knots without us so much as even having a conversation?
I’ve fucked girls and felt less for them.
I’m pulled from my thoughts by the sound of glass breaking. We turn towards the sound and find Rick standing in the doorway opposite us, which leads in from the kitchen.
“What are you doing here?” His voice is low so as not to draw the attention of anyone who’s not already in this room. But the volume doesn’t disguise the fury that drips from each word.
Oh shit, this won’t be good.
I glance at Spencer to see his reaction, but he just looks from Jade to Rick and back again before his gaze finally rests on Jade. Apparently, he’s decided to see how this plays out. I guess we can always step in if it gets out of hand.
“Um, I was invited.” Jade’s voice is also low, but her words come out strong, which is impressive considering that I have seen grown men cower at Rick’s fury before. Shit, I’ve been on the receiving end of it more times than I can count, and it’s not pleasant.
Spencer lets out a huff and moves towards the table, taking the seat opposite of her. I didn’t notice until now that the table’s set for dinner, and seeing the food reminds me that Clair wanted us all to have a meal together. I guess I should have grabbed a shirt after all.
Jade watches Spencer as he moves. Once he’s seated, her eyes jump from me back to Rick as if keeping track of everyone in the room. The moment I have that thought, it makes sense. With her past, that’s probably exactly what she’s doing.
I make my way to the table and sit next to Spencer.
Throwing a lazy smile on my face as she watches me, hoping she’ll realize I’m not a threat, at least not to her.
After my ass hits the seat, her attention snaps back to Rick, who still stands in the doorway, broken glass surrounding his feet.
He makes no move to clean it up or go to the table, instead watching her as if he could will her away if he stares hard enough.
It’s like he’s frozen in place.
He opens his mouth to say something, but Clair walks in behind him before he can.
“Oh, Roderick, what happened?” she asks as a piece of glass crunches under her heels. She looks at the remains of his glass scattered on the ground.
His jaw clenches, but it’s the only sign that he’s still angry. At hearing Clair, his face falls back into its usual neutral mask.
“The glass slipped. Don’t worry, I’ll clean it up,” he tells her, turning around to head back for the kitchen. Clair’s hand comes up to catch his elbow before he can disappear.
“No need, dear. I’ll have Jasper come down and clean it up.
Have a seat, your father, and I wanted to talk to you boys.
” She inclines her head towards the table in a silent plea for him to go sit down.
He looks like he wants to argue for all of two seconds before he gives in and stalks over to drop down on Spencer's other side.
Jasper is in the doorway with a broom and dustpan a moment later, and in no time, it’s as if the mess was never there. Clair sits at the far end of the table, and James sits at the head of the table. Once we’re all seated, the air is thick with tension, and I have to fight against fidgeting.
Usually, I would be going to my knife right now to calm myself, but seeing as we're at the table with Rick’s parents and I left it in my room, that’s not an option.
So I pick up my fork and fiddle with that instead.
Jade’s eyes snap to the movement before she looks back up at my face, and something like understanding washes over her features before she turns her attention back to Clair.
Weird. I don’t know if I’ve ever had such a hard time figuring someone out, but I’m up for a challenge.
“Boys,” Clair says, pulling everyone’s attention to her. She gives us each a smile before she turns her attention back to Jade. “This is Jade, and she will be staying with us for a little while. I would appreciate it if you could help her get to know some people and maybe show her around a bit.”
“We’d be happy to, Mrs. Spade!” My response is automatic and way too enthusiastic, like an over-eager puppy.
I bite back a groan knowing that’s probably exactly how it sounded to everyone else.
The side eye I get from Rick also lets me know I just volunteered us for something he absolutely did not want to agree to.
But when I look at Jade, her smile is even more radiant, so yeah, Rick can suck it.
Rick’s evil eye goes from me to Jade, and I wish I had sat next to him so I could slam my elbow into his ribs. Not only does she not deserve that, but if Clair sees him looking at her like that, she will rip him a new one.