20. Evelyn
20
Evelyn
I t was New Year’s Eve.
The twins had invited me to their parents’ party. They even extended the invitation to Alister, which surprised me. However, I didn’t want to leave the others behind, especially with the new semester starting in a few days. Therefore, I declined the invitation. Alister agreed and made plans for our group to spend the evening together.
I wanted to cherish these moments; it felt like the calm before the storm. Morgana was surely plotting her next scheme, and we all needed our strength.
As for Adrien and Felix, they were off spending time with Maggie, so it was just me and the boys.
We were gathered in our strategy room, playing games on the TV.
Chad was teaching Rafe and me how to kill zombies. It was harder than it looked—the controller never behaved the way I wanted it to, and I ended up pushing every button, getting myself killed over and over again.
“What’s the point of this?” I huffed in irritation.
“To have fun,” Chad replied with a wink. “And it’s relaxing.”
“Relaxing? This is the complete opposite. I’m seriously stressed out and want to throw this damn controller out the window.”
Rafe, who was much better at this than I was, just chuckled.
“Maybe we can find another way to relieve your stress, little witch,” Chad suggested, winking at Rafe.
“What did you have in mind?” Rafe asked, surprising me.
“How about…” Chad’s eyes gleamed mischievously as he suddenly pounced, flattening me against the sofa. His strong hands pinned my arms above my head as he straddled my waist.
“Err…what’s happening?” I asked, feeling all his glorious hard edges pressed against me.”
“A tickle fest.”
“What? Don’t you dare! You know how ticklish I am.” I squirmed beneath him, already feeling breathless from his closeness.
Chad’s fingers danced across my sides, tickling me mercilessly as I writhed and laughed uncontrollably. “Stop! I can’t breathe!” I gasped between fits of laughter, my face flushing from the exertion and our intimate position.
“Never!” Chad declared dramatically, his eyes twinkling. “This is for your own good, little witch. Laughter is the best medicine, after all.”
Rafe, usually so calm and collected, surprised me by joining in. He stood over me, leaning down to tickle my exposed neck and collarbone. “It’s true,” he said, his fingers leaving trails of tingles on my skin. “Laughter releases endorphins. Very beneficial.”
“Traitor!” I managed to sputter, trying to wriggle away from their relentless assault.
Ryker, who had been silently observing from his spot on the armchair, suddenly stood up. For a moment, I thought he might come to my rescue. Instead, he moved to the other end of the sofa and grabbed my ankles, effectively pinning my legs.
“Ryker!” I wheezed, tears of laughter streaming down my face. His response was a low rumble that might have been a chuckle. It was hard to tell with Ryker sometimes.
“Nooo!” I howled with laughter, tears now freely flowing down my cheeks. My body was trapped between the three of them, pressed into the soft cushions of the sofa. “I hate…all of you!”
“No, you don’t,” Chad sing-songed, finally easing up on his assault but keeping me pinned beneath him. His face was inches from mine, and I could feel the warmth of his breath. “You love us.”
I had to admit he was right.
These idiots had somehow wormed their way into my heart, becoming the family I never knew I needed. “Okay, okay,” I conceded, still catching my breath and very aware of Chad’s body against mine. “Maybe I don’t hate you. But I will get my revenge.”
“Lucien!” I yelled, spotting him reading at the far end of the room. “Help…me…” I pleaded.
Lucien looked up, considered for a moment, and then sighed. “Only because all of this screaming is interrupting my reading.” He approached the tangle of limbs on the sofa.
Chad reluctantly moved off me, allowing Lucien to bend down and scoop me up. I wrapped my arms around his neck, relishing the unexpected feeling of safety.
“My hero,” I said breathlessly, hugging him tightly and planting a big kiss on his cheek. My lips lingered a moment longer than necessary, and I felt him tense slightly.
I blamed my overly affectionate reaction entirely on my frazzled senses after the tickle assault.
Lucien carried me across the room to the armchair Ryker had vacated and dropped me onto it as if I had the plague, then mumbled something about investigating why it was taking Alister so long to select the wine.
“It all tastes the same,” he added dismissively.
“Don’t let Alister hear that, or you’ll be in big trouble,” I teased, just as Alister walked in, raising an eyebrow. “What in the world is going on here? I could practically hear Evelyn laughing all the way to my soundproof cellar.”
Soundproof cellar?
Yep, I’m just going to ignore that.
“Stress relief,” Chad explained cheerfully.
“I see,” Alister said, his lips twitching in amusement. “And how’s that working out for you, Evelyn?”
“Well, I guess I’m not as stressed out anymore,” I said, smoothing down my hair, which had become a mess during the tickle attack.
“See? Endorphins,” Rafe added his smile widening
“Don’t think this is over,” I warned playfully. “I’ll have my revenge when you least expect it.”
“Looking forward to it,” Chad smiled.
“So, what’s the plan for tonight? It is New Year’s Eve, after all,” Lucien asked.
“Well,” Alister began, uncorking a bottle of wine at the minibar, “I thought we could have a quiet evening in. Watch that weird ball drop on TV, have some champagne, and eat good food.”
“A quiet evening in?” Chad groaned dramatically. “That’s what we do every single night!”
Ryker grunted. “Quiet’s good.”
“You would say that,” Chad teased. “But fine, I guess I can behave. For now.”
Lucien’s eyebrows shot up. “Behave? That’ll be a first.”
“Hey!” Chad protested. “I can be good when properly motivated.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
I felt my cheeks heat up. “And what exactly would motivate you, Chad?”
“Oh, I have a few ideas.” He grinned suggestively.
Alister cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should keep those ideas to ourselves, shall we?”
Rafe, looking slightly flustered, added, “Yes, let’s…hum, focus on the evening plans.”
“Fine. As long as I get to sit next to our little witch during the ball thingy.”
“Why do you get to sit next to her?” Alister asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Because I called dibs,” Chad said triumphantly.
“That’s not how it works,” Rafe interjected softly.
“How about we all squeeze onto the big couch?” I suggested.
Ryker’s lips twitched in what might have been a smile. “Dibs.”
“What?” Alister exclaimed. “Sorry, but you’re just too big. There’ll be no room for anyone else. I got the large chair, especially for you,” he finished, pointing at the large armchair farther away in a corner.
Ryker eyed the chair, then suddenly moved with surprising speed. He grabbed me then flopped onto the sofa and pulled me onto his lap, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me to his chest, all in one fluid motion.
“There’s room now,” he rumbled, his deep voice vibrating through me.
I laughed, settling comfortably against his broad chest. “Well played, big guy,” I said, patting his arm.
Ryker leaned down, his lips brushing my ear as he whispered, “Couldn’t let Chad have all the fun.”
His rare show of playfulness made my skin tingle.
“I guess that settles it,” Chad said, grinning as he squeezed in next to us. “Scoot her over so she can be on both of us,” he told Ryker.
“She’s mine,” Ryker growled, squeezing me tight.
Chad raised an eyebrow. “You know, sharing is caring.”
Ryker sighed. “You can have her hand.”
“Oh wow, a whole hand! How generous,” Chad teased as he grabbed my hand.
I muffled a laugh at Ryker’s possessiveness and glanced at Alister, half-expecting to see those red eyes of his. But he was all smiles, so I relaxed into Ryker’s embrace.
The rest of the guys settled onto the couch, and we were all squished together.
It was perfect.