Chapter 1
Chapter One
Zac
Had anyone told my ten-year-old self that I’d have the family I had now, I would have thought they were crazy. But here I am, living through years of hell, and having the most devoted people in my corner.
Daxton, Oliver, Luna, and Jace are my brothers and sister, and with that came Bree and Aurora, and who could forget Piper. My life may not be whole, but it is full.
Through the good and the bad, we had each other. We fought, we laughed, and at the end of the day, we were solid.
Daxton started Deranged Ink when he and Oliver found their way to Beer Creek, escaping the hell of Chicago. They found each other after fighting over a girl that wasn’t worth either off their time, and soon after came Jace, Luna, and myself. I’m not a spiritual or religious guy but in my heart I truly believe the five of us were meant to find one another. The hell we’d each gone through, either from birth or later in life, we needed each other. We balance out all the darkness, we keep one another afloat.
Every year Beer Creek holds a music festival, hundreds of bands come together to create one hell of an event. It was that event that led Bree and Aurora to Deranged Ink. Daxton lost his shit fast over Breanna. He’s acted like an ass, treating her as if she hadn’t just knocked the wind from his sails. They struggled, and things got rough for a while, but in the end, they are here, together, married with a sweet baby. Living above Deranged Ink, raising their daughter and giving us all inspiration to find our own happiness.
Aurora is a girl with fire, and Jace was instantly burned. He tried to deny it, hell he even tried to run away from it, but through a lot of chaos they’ve come out on top. He and I even had our own falling out when he thought I wanted his girl but truth is, Aurora is like another sister to me. She is the female version of Jace in my mind, a best friend, someone I know I can trust. It was never more.
Luna and Oliver danced around one another from the first day she started at Deranged Ink. She’s got talent through the roof, a badass that fought literally to come out on top. She is amazing, and Oliver knew it from the start, and it terrified him. But today they are completely inseparable and no one can walk into a room and not see how much Olly loves her.
Each one of them is my family and they hold a special place in my heart.
As I sit on the barstool looking around my place, I feel content. It’s hard to believe that the place I now call my home was once a deserted warehouse with broken windows and rusted car parts piled in every corner. I smile to myself remembering the first day I brought Jace into the space. He thought I was insane, but I knew the second I stepped inside I wanted it. I had a vision, I knew it would take time and money, but I couldn’t wait to get started.
After years of blood, sweat, and even a few tears, it was more than I ever envisioned. All the windows are replaced with a reflective coating allowing light to fill the space, but maintaining my privacy. It has an industrial feel, masculine and rugged, but it’s homey. Iron railings surround a decent sized landing about half the size of the space below making the perfect bedroom overlooking the rest of the living space. There’s two full baths and a huge kitchen with a center island handmade and crafted by a local guy that captured the warehouse feel perfectly. It’s stainless steel with a deep earthy tone, and the original brick restored to its original beauty.
The space is open, huge, and inviting. It’s the perfect bachelor pad, with large video games and a pool table, bar, and a couch so big it fits everyone comfortably.
All my family is in one place, laughing and enjoying themselves. Well, almost everyone.
Presley, Aurora’s cousin, still trying to find her way in the group, sat quietly on the couch, staring down at her wine glass. I noticed long ago she hadn’t even taken one sip.
I don’t know her well, but I know the girl I first met wasn’t the one that was here at my place tonight. In fact, the last several get-togethers we’ve had she has barely spoken a word and hides more than she interacts.
I try not to take it personal, but how can I not.
Several weeks ago, after a night where she and Aurora forced me to be their chaperone while they got tipsy and danced in a club, things changed. The night started out with two sassy women determined to have a good time. Jace showed up, took Aurora home, and I volunteered to take Presley home to her place. Problem was she couldn’t find her keys.
We ended up back at my place, but everything shifted fast. So fast that when she was on her knees before me with her hands fisting my cock, I’ll admit I may have lost a few minutes. Because I’m a guy and come on, it felt incredible. She looked gorgeous, and she was really good with her tongue.
One thing led to another, she was on me like she was crazed, and again, it felt way too fucking good to stop. The next morning when she didn’t act any different, I thought we were okay. We’d both gotten off, we had a night of hot sex to remember and we were adults. No need for anything to be weird.
I was wrong.
Shit got strange and now it’s almost like she’d rather claw out her own eyes than be in the same room as me. I’ve held on to my irritation, I’ve kept my comments to myself thinking that it would all pass, but here we are again. We are all relaxing and having a good time at my place, and I find myself wondering why she even showed up tonight. She can’t even fucking look at me and the tension it is creating has me hanging on by a thread. A thin, weak, thread that is shredding slowly. I’ll admit I don’t know Presley all that well, but she never had an issue with me prior to the night we were moaning out each other’s names.
Laughter echoes down the hallway, and I look up just in time to see Jace and Aurora emerging from the hallway they disappeared down more than twenty minutes ago. The assholes literally escaped to my bathroom where I know without a doubt they fucked. The noises they were making confirmed my suspicion.
I make a mental note to sanitize every inch of the space later.
They are both smiling, hand in hand, stopping only a few feet from everyone else.
“She said yes,” Jace states proudly and Oliver chuckles.
“No fucking shit, we all heard her scream it.” Luna smacks him in the gut, and he makes a humph sound. “What?”
“Ass.” Aurora rolls her eyes but she is smiling so we all know she’s not offended. “I said yes when he asked me to marry him.” She shrugs and suddenly Bree is on her feet, squealing and rushing forward toward her best friend.
We all are offering our congratulations and in the moment I couldn’t have been prouder to call Jace my best friend. It was a life-changing moment because he was finally accepting that he deserved something good. Aurora is good, she is the glue that holds him together, she is perfect for him.
I’ve seen the guy perform a one-eighty in a short time and it’s staggering.
Everyone is happy, smiling and then I look at Presley, just in time to catch her rolling her eyes.
And I snap. That thread breaks, and I react without being able to gain control.
"What the hell is your problem?” Everyone freezes turning around to look at me. Only I’m looking at Presley who is now glaring back at me.
“You show up with an attitude, you piss on everyone’s happiness. You won’t talk to anyone so none of us can try to even attempt to help. So what?” I throw my hands up in frustration. “What is the fucking issue?”
“Zac,” Oliver tries to intervene.
“No.” My emotions have taken over. I push Olly out of my way and take another step in her direction. “You’ve had an issue since that night. But you fucking jumped me, I didn’t take advantage.”
“Oh, I jumped you!” She finally reacts, pushing against my chest. I’d never seen her angry, until now. Maybe it’s a dick move, maybe I’ve changed and taken on the asshole roll that Jace once carried, who knows. But I’ve had enough!
“You dropped to your knees without any hesitation.” Presley swings to smack me but I catch her hand before she makes contact.
“You can turn this on me all you want.” I hold her stare, not caring that everyone around us is hearing and seeing this all unfold. “Day after fucking day you walk around acting like I forced myself on you and then tossed you aside. I didn’t trick you into doing anything you didn’t want to do. So drop this wounded animal act, face your shit. Quit trying to flip this all around. We were both there! We both participated willingly and we both got off.”
“You’re an asshole.” She pushes against me, but I don’t give in and let her pass.
“Fine.” I shrug. “I’m the asshole, but you know it’s true.”
I wait for her to argue, but she doesn’t. She doesn’t say anything.
“So what is the deal? What the hell is the problem?” I ask again.
“Leave it alone.” Her nostrils flare.
“Come on, guys,” Jace is the one that tries to intervene this time.
“No, we are getting through this shit here and now.” Presley wants to keep this bullshit going, but I’m done. “We fucked; it happened.” My voice is much lower, and I am staring directly in her eyes, forcing her to see me. “Deal with it or get the fuck over it.”
“I can’t!” Her voice cracks.
“Why?” Her eyes shine with tears and for the first time since I snapped, I do feel like an ass.
“Because I’m pregnant.” She shrugs and I slowly release my hold on her, stunned. Yeah I’ll go with that. Shocked, stunned, my fucking legs wobble beneath me. “So this isn’t something I can just pretend didn’t happen. I wish I could, but it’s not going to just go away.”