Chapter 23
LEAH
"Think about what we said, okay?" Jacob Ferguson wasn't quite as forceful at getting his opinion across as his son, but he expected to be obeyed.
"Yeah, I'll think about it," I said, if only to appease them so they'd leave. This whole conversation was uncomfortable. In the corner of my eye, I saw the guys approaching. Each looked less impressed than the last. Josiah hung back, while Connor and Riley strode toward us.
"Is there a problem?" Connor's jaw was tight.
"No problem, son," Jacob said. "Just having a little chat with Miss Kent." He patted his son's shoulder before nodding to Henry. "We should get going, we have plenty to do." He gave Josiah openly hostile look before stalking past, in the direction of the pub.
"Dad," Riley started.
"Like he said, we have plenty to do," Henry said. "I'll see you at the shindig?"
"Are you a hundred years old?" Riley asked, his tone lighter than the look in his eyes. If he thought something was going on, he wouldn't hesitate to act on it. He still wasn't sure if he shouldn't, if the doubtful look he gave his father was an indication.
Henry laughed. "It feels like it sometimes. You lot stay out of trouble, okay?" He also glanced at Josiah before heading off down the street.
"What the hell was that about?" Connor demanded as he herded all of us inside.
Josiah hesitated, his hands pressed close to himself, but he followed anyway.
I rubbed the heel of my hand across my forehead. "They came to warn me about spending time with all of you. Apparently people are talking."
"Fuck people," Riley spat. "I should have—" He turned away and stepped towards the door.
It was Connor who grabbed his arm and stopped him. "What are you going to do? Strangle your father and bury him in a bank of snow?"
"If I have to." But Riley sagged and ran a hand over the back of his neck. "Where does he get off?"
"The same place my father does," Connor said darkly. "What else did they say?"
"They told her to stay away from me," Josiah said.
I wished I could tell him he was wrong, but he wasn't. "Yeah, they said that too, but they also hinted that people were worried I was dating Brooks as well."
"Because you are," Brooks said. "I don't give a shit what they think."
"Even if you lose your job?" I asked.
"I'll get another one. I'm not giving you up for anything." Brooks placed a hand on my hip and pulled me to him.
"He won't fire you," Connor said. "I won't let him. I'll talk to him. Tell him to mind his own fucking business."
"I'll do the same with my father," Riley said.
"I don't want to cause problems with your families," I said.
"You didn't." Connor placed his hands on my cheeks, almost hitting Brooks in the face. "They did that. They're small town, mountain men with small town, mountain men ideas. It's time they caught up with the rest of the world." He pressed his forehead to mine. "Okay?"
"Okay," I whispered.
"If it makes you feel any better, my father is a hypocrite," Connor said. "I know for a fact he's been unfaithful to my mother. But this—" He lifted his head and glanced around. "None of us is going behind anyone else's back. If he wants to throw stones, he should throw them at himself."
Riley made a confused sound at the back of his throat. "Do you think my father is projecting?"
"I think my father dragged him into this," Connor told him. "I wouldn't be surprised if they were the only ones who had any problem with this situation. No one else seems to give a crap."
I thought about that for a moment. "Right. Everyone else has been lovely." At least, they were to my face.
"Everyone else loves you almost as much as we do," Riley said. "I think we should get ready for the party and go down there and show our fathers we won't be intimidated."
"That's exactly what we're doing." Connor had a bag dangling from his arm. He reached into it, his eyes on me. He handed me a white dress with long sleeves. "I brought your costume."
I took the dress and shook it out. It fell to just above my knees, the skirt flaring out.
"Go and put it on," he said. He exchanged cagey looks with the other guys, so I knew something was up, but I wasn't sure what yet.
"Okay," I said slowly. "I'll be right back.
" I disappeared into my bedroom, deliberately closing the door behind me.
I stripped down to my underwear, before putting the dress over my head and tugging it down into place.
A glance at my reflection in the mirror showed an almost innocent looking version of myself.
A woman waiting for four bad boys to corrupt her.
Or maybe she wasn't so innocent and she was waiting to corrupt them.
Either way, I grabbed a jacket, slipped my feet into boots and stepped back out of the bedroom.
I let out a squeak of surprise, seeing four men dressed entirely in black, their faces covered in masks.
"I've just stepped into a video." I looked from one to the other, taking in the different details on their masks. Silver, red, gold and black. Mysterious, and hot enough to melt my panties.
"Is this where I start running?" I asked. It might be worth enduring a flare-up.
"After the party," Connor promised. "We have some business to take care of first. We'll show them we're together and we won't be messed with. Then we'll come back here and mess around." Speaking so firmly, with the mask over his face, made my nipples tighten.
These men were a pure fantasy come to life and they were all mine.
"Okay, but no throwing anyone into a snow bank," I said.
"I make no promises," Riley said. "If I do it, no one will know it's me with this on." He gestured at his mask.
"Except us," Brooks said.
"Yeah, but you're not going to say anything," Riley said. "Don't tell me you wouldn't help dispose of the evidence."
"I could be convinced," Brooks said.
"If those masks are going to turn you into homicidal maniacs…” I started.
"We should wear them more often?" Riley suggested.
"That wasn't where I was going with that." I shrugged into my jacket and grabbed up my bag and phone.
"Of course it was." Brooks placed his hands on my shoulders and ran the pad of his thumbs over the back of my neck. "What girl doesn't want four masked, homicidal maniac boyfriends? I've seen you read plenty of books like that before."
"There's a difference between book boyfriends and real boyfriends," I pointed out.
"Yeah, real boyfriends are real," Riley said. He took my hand and pulled me towards the door and out onto the street. "Real boyfriends look after you when you need them to. And real boyfriends stand up for you when their fathers decide to be dickheads."
"Exactly," Connor agreed. He took my other hand and we walked side by side in a line, all the way to the pub. We stepped through the door together, Brooks and Josiah shuffling so we'd all fit.
The place was warm and packed, smelling of wood smoke and bourbon. Everyone in the place was wearing a costume, some with masks, many without.
I half expected silence to fall when we appeared, but all we got were a few glances and greetings before everyone went back to chatting and drinking.
"See, no one cares," Riley said. "Except them." He nodded to where Jacob and Henry stood beside the bar. They didn't seem to have noticed our arrival. Not until Connor marched up and tapped his father on the shoulder. He pushed his mask up to the top of his face, so his anger was visible.
"Ah, you made it." Jacob's smile didn't meet his eyes. They narrowed when he looked at me, then took in each of the guys one after the other.
"Where else would we be?" Connor asked. "This is the party of the year. Of course we'd bring our girlfriend here." His voice was laced with barely controlled fury.
"Our…" Jacob sighed as though he was frustrated at dealing with a child. "Connor, I know you think—"
"You have no idea what I think," Connor snapped. "This is how it is, whether you like it or not. What exactly is your problem anyway?"
Jacob's face turned red. "Don't take that tone with me. I just want what's best for my boy."
"I'm not a boy anymore," Connor said. He opened his mouth to say something else, but shook his head. "You know what, I'm not having this conversation. This is my life and this is how I'm living it. With Leah, Riley, Brooks and, yes, with Josiah. Whether you like it or not."
"I should have insisted you take over this place," Jacob said. "It's past time you stopped playing around. Grow up and do a real man's job."
All of us were silent while those words sunk in. None of us quite believing what we were hearing. All of us tense we waited for Connor's response.
"Running my own business is a real man's job," Connor said coldly. "This place is your dream, not mine."
"Life is more than dreams," Jacob said. "You need to wake up to reality. Do you really think you can have a relationship with a woman who's involved with three other boys?"
"No," Connor said. He lifted his chin and stared his father down. Completely unflinching. Unbending.
My heart skipped a beat. For a moment I was confused, then Connor spoke again.
"I can have a relationship with a woman who is involved with three other men. Look at us, Dad. Do any of us look like a boy?" Dressed all in black, even with a mask on top of his head, there was nothing boyish about Connor Ferguson.
Thankfully he'd chosen that costume and not something frivolous, like Mickey Mouse. That would have made this whole argument a lot less convincing.
"You should both calm down," Henry said, stepping between them. "Connor, you know this isn't good for your father's heart." He raised his hands to either side, trying to placate both men.
He looked like an older version of Riley. Of all the guys, he was the one most likely to laugh and crack jokes to break the tension, rather than swinging punches. I suspected those would be a last resort, but by no means off the table.
Honestly, I wasn't sure he was completely joking about the snow bank thing. Only as a last resort though. Hopefully, it was no resort at all, not really. I didn't want to be an accessory to murder.
Connor grunted. "He should have thought of that before he picked this fight. But you know what, I'm ending it. This isn't about Leah, it's about me taking over the Frosty Brew. Correction, me not taking it over. I'm going to live my life, not his." He started to turn away.
"Maybe I should leave the place to your sister," Jacob said.
Connor turned back. He spread his hands to either side. "Be my guest." He slammed his mask back over his face and stalked away.
I gave both Jacob and Henry a long look and a tentative smile before I followed Connor into the crowds.
I didn't want to be the cause of any friction, but I got the impression that existed long before I was on the scene. I knew Connor loved his father, but he wasn't giving up the business he was building with Riley. I hoped, in time, Jacob would accept that. And accept me in his son's life.