Chapter 9 ~
Maverick ~
A pencil hitting the ground has me waking for the third goddamn time. Whenever my brother nods off, the pencil meets the hardwood, waking us both. I am so fucking done.
I rip Mason's notebook from his hands.
"Hey," he growls, snatching it back.
"Get up," I tell him. "We're going to sleep with Rory."
"What?" He grunts, looking at me like I'm a lunatic.
"You're not tired for the first time since Mum died. You actually slept last night with Rory. Let's go." I don't give him any room to argue.
He scrambles to follow me as I stomp down the hall. I slowly open her door and walk in.
Her blinds are open, letting the moonlight in, giving me a clear view of her.
"Are you sure about this?" Mason hisses quietly.
"Fuck no," I murmur, keeping my eyes trained on Rory.
Her lips are parted slightly as she breathes, still sleeping. The blankets are bundled below her waist. Her pyjama shirt is hitched up, revealing a sliver of her stomach.
Fuck, she's beautiful.
Mason turns the fan on and climbs into bed. I do the same on the other side of her, not before pulling off my shirt and chucking it somewhere behind me.
I gently touch her shoulder. "Rory, baby," I murmur.
She scrunches up her face. "What?" She mutters into her pillow, annoyed.
"Can we sleep with you?" Mason asks quietly. “Is it okay?”
"Yes, now shut up.” She groans, rolling towards me.
Mason chuckles and I silently laugh. I pull the sheets up over us and lay on my back.
It doesn't take me long to drift off and this time, nothing wakes me up.
. . .
Rory ~
My hand runs up smooth skin before stopping on someone's chest. I sigh contentedly when someone nuzzles their face into my neck in front of me.
A hand travels from my thigh to my hip, leaving goosebumps on my skin. Pressed up against my back is the outline of a hard body.
Kisses trail from my neck down to my collarbone waking me further.
My eyes leisurely flick open and my hand curls around to the back of their neck, sliding through their dark brown hair.
"Who's who?" Someone purrs in my ear, the kissing on my neck muddling my brain.
I lick my dry lips. My hand trails from the back of their neck to their bare chest. "Maverick."
I push back feeling the hard, firm body pressed up against me. "Mason," I murmur huskily, tilting my head back to meet his eyes.
Maverick slowly pulls his head out of my neck. He props his head up with one arm, watching me with lazy eyes. Feeling confident, I lift my hand to his face. My fingers trail across his five o'clock shadow.
"Your irises are lighter," I tell Maverick.
I roll onto my back, giving me a view of Mason. "The blue around your eyes is slightly darker," I say to Mason sleepily.
"Shit, I didn't know that," Maverick says surprised. Mason agrees.
"I only just realised." I yawn, dragging the blankets up to my chin. My hand brushes against the smooth skin of Maverick's chest. I pull my arms out and rest them on top of the blankets.
I briefly contemplate trying to go back to sleep but decide against it. I’m awake after that.
I realise a very important question that should probably have been the first words out of my mouth.
"I think I remember you waking me up last night but why did you need to sleep in my bed?" I question them.
They share a look above my head. This whole secret thing is gonna get old real fast.
"I have…trouble sleeping," Mason says reluctantly. The look in his eyes tells me there's more to it.
"Mase, she let us sleep in her bed without question. Be honest," Maverick says sternly.
"Fine," Mason growls. He turns to me. "I don't sleep. A few hours at the most. The day before last was the most I've slept since our mum died. Then it happened again last night." He looks at me expectantly.
"Ok?" I say, more confused than before.
"She doesn't get it." Maverick chuckles.
Mason sighs. "Angel, I'm sleeping at night because of you."
My mouth pops open. "Oh."
"I don't know why, but it works, Rory." Mason watches me for my reaction. I can tell by the faint lines on his forehead, he looks nervous, worried.
"Okay," I tell him.
"That's it?" Mase says incredulously.
"If I help you sleep, Mase, for whatever reason, then it's fine," I reassure him.
"You're awesome, baby," Maverick tells me before snuggling into me. Mase puts his arm around my waist, making sure it's not on my ribs.
Wrapped up in warmth and comfort, I drift off.
. . .
"Is this becoming a habit?"
I jerk awake.
"S'okay," Maverick mumbles, his fingers brushing my jaw before his hand falls limb onto my collarbone.
Mase is evenly breathing into my neck. The smell of spices and evergreen tickling my nose as they keep me tucked in their hot twin sandwich. I fight sleep, but don't even attempt to move out of the twin's embraces. I’m not that strong.
My sleepy gaze moves to the doorway where Jace and Luc are standing.
"This is a habit?" Jace asks Luc. He looks a bit more normal today. Jeans and a v-neck shirt with a chain tucked into his shirt. It suits him.
Don't get me wrong, the suit was hot but this seems more naturally Jace. I wasn't lying when he said that he never planned on having to wear a suit before his funeral.
"It's the second night in a row," Luc responds, shrugging. He's still in his pyjama bottoms with yellow ducks on them saying things like 'duck off' and 'don't wake me motherducker.'
"Morning," I mumble into my pillow or pillows, still half asleep.
"Morning, Ro,” Jace says with a soft smile gracing his lips.
"Good morning, Butterfly. Are you sure you're good with this?" Luc says, concerned.
"Luci. Stop stressing. If it helps Mase sleep, then it's fine. Besides, I get cuddles." I smile at the twins. They grin in response, their eyes still closed.
Maverick's thumb tickles me as his hand stretches out across my side. At some point while we've been sleeping, his hand has moved under my pyjama shirt to rest on my hip.
"Luci?" Jace chuckles.
Luc whacks Jace's chest with the back of his hand. J isn’t even phased.
"Only Butterfly gets to call me.” Luc scowls.
"Mm-hmm." I close my eyes again.
A weight drops down on the end of the bed. I open my legs to accommodate Jace who's now laying between them.
Maverick grumbles and shifts his hand from my side for Jace who puts his head there.
My eyes flick open and I crook my finger at Luc who's standing at the door still like he doesn't know whether to come in or not.
"C’mere, Luci."
His lips curl up in a lazy half-smile. He sits on the other side of Mason, not before leaning over and pressing his lips to my temple.
I notice the guys have all gotten extra touchy-feely since yesterday. I don't know, but I think I'm more comfortable around them, especially with Jace here and it probably makes me more confident. I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing yet.
On one hand, it's good I'm comfortable around them. On the other, it's super fucking bad because I'm finding it hard to control myself.
Jace asked me if anything was going on between me and the guys. Obviously, there is. Or at least I think, but no matter what Rylan said, this isn't a romance novel.
Suddenly there are fingers on my forehead. I realise Mason's pushing away the frown lines on my head.
"Stop thinking so hard," he murmurs. I give him a faint smile.
"What's the time?" I ask Jace.
"Almost ten." He grins.
"What?!" Mav, Mase and I say at the same time.
"When did you come in last night?" I ask the twins, shocked I slept that long.
"About eleven, maybe." Mason shrugs, throwing an arm over his face.
"I wouldn't have come in if I didn't think it would help," Maverick tells me. "When he doesn't sleep, I don't sleep."
I put a hand on his chest, careful not to let my eyes linger for too long.
"Maverick, it's okay. I don't mind. It’s not like I was sleeping that well anyway. There's just one thing though." Mav's face drops. I hesitate before blurting it out. "Are you guys naked?"
The twins burst out laughing. Jace and Luc quickly follow. I scowl at them.
Maverick pulls down the sheet, giving me a glimpse of his tight black boxers. Mase does the same.
I quickly rip my eyes away. Fuck, they're hot. I am not going to survive being in this house of good looking guys.
"Sorry, babe. I didn't think about what we were wearing when we came in last night." Maverick chuckles.
"We aren't naked so I guess that's a bonus," Mason says, grinning at my red face.
"You two are idiots," Luc informs them. They nod like that’s fine by them.
"So, we're homeschooling?" I ask Luc and Jace. They seem like joint leaders in this odd bunch of guys.
Jace nods. "Yeah, I called the school this morning. All your teachers are going to email your work each day."
"Awesome!” The twins respond. I can't help but grin.
"Breakfast!" Dominic yells out from somewhere in the house.
"You let Dom cook?" Mase looks at Luc in horror.
Jace chuckles. "No. We, being Luc and I, cooked then came in to wake you. Dom's on coffee duty."
"Thank fuck," Maverick says, shuddering against me.
"He can't be that bad." I try to stand up for Dom.
The guys give me horrified looks.
Jace says blankly, "Yeah, he can."
We eventually get up, get dressed and have breakfast. The guys, minus Luc and Alec, have a heated conversation about a football game. I'm not that interested in football, so Luc, Alec and I get into a debate on our Psychology assignment.
Eventually a phone rings and Alec, Jace and Luc disappear.
The twins, Dominic and I get all our school stuff and sit at the table.
Occasionally, I hear raised voices from Luc's room where Alec and Jace are. When that happens, the twins and Dom are always watching for my reaction. I ignore it and go back to whatever subject I'm working on.
Honestly, it’s hard to focus. I get into a rhythm and then my mind wanders off. I’m mainly thinking about Jace. That he’s here. That I’m here.