Gifted Connections 1

Troy visibly swallowed as he pulled out his phone. “Go into the house, Misty. I’ll take care of this.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked tenaciously.

“Blake, Princess, please just go in,” he rubbed a weary hand over his face. All traces of the joking, fun-loving man gone.

Noah and Jax came running up to the pool house. “Hey, what’s up?” Noah asked.

“We have some cleaning up to do,” Troy muttered. “Jax, can you make sure Misty gets to her room? Stop in the kitchen and make sure she drinks some water and gets some Tylenol first.”

“I want to stay,” I said belligerently. “She has no right to hurt Drake. He doesn’t deserve it.” At Noah and Jax’s mystified expressions I blurted, “Rose is in there screwing some guy.”

Jax looked around and shushed me. “Blake, shhh, keep it down. There’s no way,” he whispered urgently. “I saw Drake walk her to her car, like an hour ago, before he went up to bed.”

Troy looked over at me with a raised eyebrow.

“I know what I heard,” I said stoically. “I know her voice.”

“Blake,” Noah said hesitantly. “Is there a chance it just sounded like her? She loves Drake. Is there a chance you imagin

ed it because you’re mad at her earlier comments?”

I gaped at him, not believing he would think I was petty enough to accuse someone of cheating because I didn’t like them.

“What’s going on?” Remy asked as he came up to us. “Troy, I thought you were going to put her to bed?” He said sternly.

“I am,” Troy said, grabbing my hand. “Let’s go, Misty.”

I yanked away from him and stumbled back, falling hard on my rear. “No. You guys don’t believe me, and I know it’s her!” I winced in pain.

Remy gently picked me up. “What the hell is going on?” he glared at the boys.

Jax looked uncertain for a moment. “Blake thought she heard Rose in there with another guy, but I saw Drake walk her to the car over an hour ago.”

“I know what I heard,” I said through clenched teeth. “I don’t give a shit if she called me damaged. I am. Hell, I’ve had worse things said about me and to me. I lived in a damn trailer with a stepmom that was a crack whore who liked to beat me, burn me, and didn’t give a shit who hit me. She let her boyfriend’s come into the house and molest me after my father, or should I say, uncle, died and goodness knows what happened to my real mother.” I wiped angry tears from my eyes. “Let Rose talk,” I said quietly. “She can’t hurt me, and I wouldn’t want to hurt someone I care about by seeking retaliation over her petty words. I wouldn’t spread lies about her because I know if they weren’t true they would hurt Drake.”

Remy, Troy, and Noah looked at me in stunned silence. I looked over at Jax questionably. I had assumed they would have known about me by now. He had been my confidant for so long, I would have thought he would have told his best friends, his brothers.

Jax had a pained expression on his face. “I never told them,” he said quietly. “They weren’t my secrets to tell.”

I wanted to break down in embarrassment.

Remy gave me no time to run off as he gathered me into his arms and quietly walked me into the bathroom. He sat down on a lounge chair with me, tension radiating from his body. I tried to squirm off his lap, but his arms were like steel bands. The other guys came into the room and took positions around us just as Collin came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, followed closely behind by Rose.

Her eyes widened. “It’s not what it looks like,” she stammered.

“The hell it isn’t,” Remy said in one of his deadly quiet voices. “I let you get away with this years ago when you tried to climb into bed with me. You won’t be able to get away with it this time.”

“Are you going to tell Drake?” she began bawling. “You can’t tell him! I love him! It was a mistake! I swear I won’t do it again!”

Collin looked uncomfortable as he put a hand behind his head, clutching the towel with the other.

“Get out of here,” Troy said coldly as he threw Collin’s wallet, shoes, and clothes at him.

“It’s all your fault,” Rose said, pointing at me as Collin ran out of the room, not bothering to don his clothes or shoes.

“It’s not her fault that you cheated on our brother,” Noah stated.

“She wants him, she wants all of you! Can’t you see she’s a whore?” Rose hissed. “I’ve known you guys for years. I love your brother and she just met him. You can’t tell him.”