Chapter 15 #2
“Shut up,” I chuckled, raking a hand through my hair. “I’m bad with emotions, okay? I’m angry at Rory, and you guys got hit in the crossfire.”
“You should try therapy,” he said lightly, and I knew he was being serious.
“Is it helping you?” I asked, knowing I should check in with him more. Just because his mother was away from him, didn’t mean she wasn’t still haunting him.
He shrugged, sitting up a little. “Some days. Other days, I’m back to square one. Lately, it hasn’t been great because Mom’s been trying to contact me.”
“What the fuck for?” I scowled, wanting to strangle the bitch. If she fucked up his progress, I’d pay Skeeter to kill her or something.
“The reports about Jense and I. Her friends are probably all gossiping about it. I haven’t answered any unknown calls, but that’s who I’m assuming it is, anyway. It all started when the articles went out about us.”
“Have you told Mom?”
“No, and I’d rather you didn’t either. She doesn’t need to worry about it, I’m just not answering.
I’ll change my number again if I have to,” he answered, motioning to Jensen.
“Clive called Jense and asked him about it. Said at least he couldn’t knock me up, then hung up the phone.
He thankfully doesn’t give a shit about it. ”
Tyler sprawled out on the floor with a loud sigh. “Look at us all getting along. I can feel a circle jerk coming on.”
“Fuck off, idiot,” Lukas scowled, flipping him off. “Play with your own cock.”
“I won’t have to soon. Skeet and D found out who the witness to Max’s murder is and went to the Devils’ warehouse last night to tell them. I have no idea who it is, but Hunter’s going to start planning.”
“Skeet’s helping?” I asked with surprise, and Tyler shrugged, pulling his phone out to text.
“Diesel was the one to do it, Skeet was just there. I walked in at the tail end of their conversation. He stomped off when Hunter told us about Rory and Lexi though.”
“What about them?” Jensen asked dryly, obviously not knowing either.
“They’re banging,” Tyler replied, his face lighting up as his phone rang. “This is early. Hey, baby. We were just talking about you.”
Lukas and Jensen were still processing the whole Rory and Lexi thing, Lukas giving me a what the fuck look. Tyler put the phone on speaker, my heart thumping harder as Rory’s dry chuckle hit me.
“All bad, I bet. Who are you with?”
“Luke, Jense, and Caden. You’re on speaker.”
She was quiet for a second before answering, her voice soft. “Happy Birthday, Holloway.”
She knew my birthday? Had the guys reminded her? I wasn’t even sure I’d told her, so maybe Mom had?
Tyler kept eyeing me, waiting for me to answer her, but I kept my mouth shut.
“Tell us about your new girlfriend,” Tyler joked to try and ease the tension that was forming, making her curse at him as he dissolved into laughter.
I didn’t really want to hear about someone else fucking her. It only soured my mood more.
“She’s not my fucking girlfriend,” she hissed.
“Prison wife then? Oh! Scissor sister? Sounds less formal,” Tyler stated, making her snort.
“Stop talking. Luke, mental health check. How are you?”
He smiled slightly, leaning into Jensen more.
“I’m good. Jense and I are coming to see you on Thursday.”
“Ty? Are you coming with Hunter and Marco on Tuesday?” she asked, my frustration getting worse.
How could they be so casual about their relationship when she was seeing other people?
Dragging the Devils in was one problem, but she was going to start a damn war with the Reapers over Lexi.
Archer didn’t like anyone touching her from what I’d heard.
“Sure am. Mark might have to come up Friday, he’s not sure yet. I’ll definitely be there with Hunt though,” Tyler answered, and I hated how easily he spoke about them.
What if they were taking advantage of him too? He was so easily led, and I’d left him vulnerable.
“I’m free on Wednesday if you get bored, Holloway,” she said lightly, letting me know she was fine with it if I wanted to see her.
“Don’t count on it,” I scoffed, and Tyler shot me a warning glance. I wasn’t going to pretend to be nice to her. She’d made her bed.
The guys talked about random shit with her while I tried to zone it out. I’d been glad to come here and start moving on from all the bullshit, but was it even possible now? She was still in their lives, even if I didn’t want her in mine.
“What’s wrong?” Skeeter asked as he dropped down beside me as the party thumped around us. I was bored as fuck. None of these people were my friends, and the ones that were had been huddled in the kitchen half the night avoiding Skeeter.
“Nothing.”
“You look like someone pissed on you. Why are you tense?” he asked, leaning back to sip his beer.
“Aurora wants me to visit on Wednesday. I declined, but she talked to the guys on the phone for ages. Put a damper on my mood,” I grumbled.
He scrunched his nose, looking irritated. “She’s fucking Hendricks’ wife.”
“I heard.”
“The guys will want to get her tested before shoving their dicks in her when she’s out. Lexi’s probably got the entire fucking alphabet of STDs.”
“If you’re still mad, why’d you help find out who the witness is?”
“I didn’t fucking help. D did all the digging, I was just with him. You think I have time to run around helping her?” he bit out, and I rolled my eyes.
“Just asking.” I eyed Tyler as he downed whiskey across the room, laughing to himself as he danced to the beat. “I thought you cut him off?”
Skeeter’s eyes slid to where I was looking, and he sighed. “I did. He’s probably been hooked up with the Devils’ shit.”
“Is it safe?”
“No drug is safe, but as far as I know, the Devils don’t cut their drugs for a profit. Hunter’s pretty strict on quality like we are,” he answered, narrowing his eyes. “The fuck is he doing here?”
I couldn’t see what he was looking at, but then Marco appeared near Tyler, draping an arm around his shoulders to talk in his ear. A smirk tugged at his mouth as Tyler kept dancing, sliding his arms around him to try and make him dance too.
“How did he get in? Your guys are on the door,” I said with a scowl.
“Because they’re cockroaches who don’t use doors,” Skeeter muttered, not seeming surprised when Hunter dropped down onto the couch beside us.
“Evening,” he murmured, his eyes on Marco and Tyler too.
“What do you want?” Skeeter asked, finishing his beer and crushing the can in his hand.
“Me? I’m supervising Mark. He said he had to go out, so I followed him. I had a feeling he was coming here. Couldn’t have him getting himself into trouble,” he tsked, keeping his eyes out for problems but speaking to me. “Happy Birthday, by the way.”
“You guys aren’t invited,” I reminded him, but he suddenly stood and walked off, making me frown. “The fuck is his problem?”
We watched as Hunter approached Marco and Tyler, telling them off for something and not liking Marco’s response from the way he grabbed Marco’s chin in a firm grip.
“Guess there’s trouble in paradise,” Skeeter chuckled as he stood to find out what was happening, and I trailed after him.
Hunter was already dragging Marco towards the stairs, and I caught the tail end of the conversation when we caught up.
“No, I fucking told you to stay away tonight. You think hanging out here with Ty while he gets fucked up is a good idea? Are you high too?” Hunter snapped, and Marco shoved him off.
“I had a joint on the way here. Back off, man. I’m not working, so why can’t I be here?”
“You’re causing trouble. We have enough of that already.”
“It’s not my problem if Skeet’s an uptight prick.”
“This is why he punches you every time you go near him. Stop it.”
“Make me.”
Skeeter scoffed, drawing their attention as they got to the top of the stairs.
“You two are ridiculous.”
“Hey, baby,” Marco purred, yelping when Hunter smacked the back of his head firmly.
“Get going. I mean it. I don’t need this fucking shit tonight, man.”
Skeeter walked the rest of the way up the stairs and scruffed the back of Marco’s collar like a naughty cat, glaring at Hunter.
“You stay with Holloway. I need to talk to Marco.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea, and Hunter looked skeptical too, but he let Marco go and turned to me. “So, good birthday?”
Skeeter dragged Marco off to his room, and I cringed. “I’ll get back to you on that once everyone’s safely in their own beds.”
Thankfully, Hunter was more than happy to head down to Diesel to hang out while we waited, so at least he wasn’t sneaking around my damn house like a snake.
Skeeter
“Hey, at least kiss me a little first. Foreplay’s important,” Marco chuckled as I dragged him into the room Josie had given me and shut the door, shoving him back against it and jabbing a finger against his chest.
“You’re not cute, asshole. Stop being a nuisance. What the fuck are you doing here?” I demanded, swatting his hand away when he tried to grab my jacket to bring me closer.
“You think I’m adorable. Are you jealous I came to play with Ty? Aw, I can play with you too.”
“Marco, enough.”
“I love it when you fight me. Makes me so fucking hard,” he answered, not hesitating to cup my junk through my jeans. “Looks like you like it too.”
“Knock it off,” I growled, grabbing both his wrists and pinning them to the wall beside his head. “You’re lucky I don’t put a bullet in you.”
“You can put something else in me,” he smirked, arching his body towards me. “Go on, spin me around. You know you want to.”
“You don’t know shit.”
“No?” he chuckled, his tongue darting out to lick my lip, telling me I’d leaned closer at some point without realizing.
“I think I do. You want to hate-fuck the hell out of me. You’re angry and turned on at the same time.
That pisses you off more, doesn’t it? Knowing one look at me makes your cock happy. ”
“This isn’t a game. You can’t fuck with my life then stroll back in like nothing happened. You’re nothing to me, you made sure of that,” I spat, letting go of one of his wrists to grab his throat. “You’re not going to win whatever you think this is.”