Scars (The Triad 1)

Sebastian grabbed my hand and took me to the one he claimed had the best chips and gravy out of all of them. I asked them to add cheese and watched in sheer drunken delight as they drenched the entire plate of chips with thick brown gravy and topped it with white shredded cheese. My mouth watered at the savory smell. When Sebastian handed me the steaming plate, I shoveled as many in my mouth as I possibly could.

“Think you’ll finish that entire thing? Should I get my own?”

I scowled at him. “Over my dead body will I share my food.”

He held his hands up in mock surrender and ordered himself the same thing. Tristan and Elliot walked up with extremely greasy burgers in their hands. I had almost finished my entire plate of chips, but my stomach still growled at the thought of having one of those.

“Oh my god, where did you get those? I want one.”

“I just saw you literally destroy an entire plate of chips and gravy and you want to shove a burger down your throat?”

“Don’t shame the girl, Elliot,” Tristan said as he waved another burger in front of my face. “I figured you’d want one as soon as you saw we had one. So, being the caring gangster I am, I made sure I got you one.”

I shoved the last couple of chips in my face and threw it away before ripping the burger out of Tristan’s hand.

“I honestly might bust right the fuck out of this dress if I eat this, but I don’t even care. It smells so good.”

Elliot rolled his eyes, but Sebastian just laughed and threw his arm around my shoulders.

“None of us, not even Elliot, are going to be angry about that dress falling off your body, babe. And those moans you make when you eat…fuck.”

“Let’s get back to the car before we get hit by another shitstorm, please,” Elliot grumbled, trying to shuffle us all back the way we came. The driver had at least pulled the car a bit closer to where we had wandered off, so I didn’t have to walk much further in the heels. The other guys were dismissed by Tristan as we walked up to the car.

“I swear to god I have twin food babies. I think I’m going to explode.” I was so full I felt sick. Tristan opened the door for me, and Seb was right behind me, his hands resting around my neck.

“I honestly don’t know where you put all the food you eat.”

I rubbed my hand over my full belly, letting it stick out and showing off my cute little bump. The satin dress stretched over it way too tightly. I made a note to myself to wear something with a little more give next time. He gave it a soft poke, and I groaned. I needed to get home and get this stupid dress off.

I crouched over and climbed into the car. Seb and Tristan both gave my ass a hard smack, and I heard Elliot sigh.

“You guys are so pussy whipped and you haven’t even sampled the goods.”

I sat down on the seat, fully prepared to throw a sassy retort in his direction, when the unmistakable sound of fabric ripping filled the silence. I looked down at my dress and saw the slit that had previously stopped at my hip now reached all the way up to the underside of my boob. I looked back up at the guys and saw them all staring at my bare skin, drooling like dogs for a meal.

I started laughing. That uncontrollable belly laugh that takes over your entire body just poured right out of me. Part of it was the alcohol, and the other part of me just found it so fucking funny that the dress had been so tight that I had been able to rip it just from eating. Tears started rolling out of my eyes, and my stomach hurt from laughing so hard. I lay down across the seat, trying and not really succeeding at keeping the dress closed, as Seb shuffled his way in to sit down and lay my head on his lap.

“Someone’s got the giggles,” he said as he brushed my hair out of my face. “But I will say I’m a fan of the new look. Much easier access than before.”

I grabbed his arm and tucked it under my chin. His hand gripped my shoulder, and I closed my eyes, finally coming down from my fit of giggles. I took a deep breath.

“I killed someone tonight.”

I could’ve cut the tension in the car with a knife at that point. No one said anything, but Seb just kept tracing circles on my shoulder with his thumb.

“If you stick with us, it’s not going to be the last time you kill someone.” Elliot’s deep voice took me by surprise, and I turned to look at him. “You have good aim,” he said on a sigh like it physically pained him to compliment me.

“Her hand didn’t shake. She didn’t hesitate. It was an amazing shot right between his beady eyes,” Seb said.

Tristan’s eyes were glued back to his phone screen, but he took a second to look up at me and give me a wink. “You did good.”

Seb grabbed my jaw and made me face him next. “If you had chosen to just maim the bastard, I wouldn’t have let him walk out of that club alive.”

“I know, you crazy fuck.” I laughed and rested my hand on his arm that I kept tucked beneath my chin.

They started talking amongst themselves, and between the massive amounts of food and the alcohol in my system, the comforting hum of the car began to lull me to sleep. I don’t know what it said about me or them that I felt comfortable enough with them to sleep all the time, but I just didn’t feel threatened.

Well, maybe a little threatened by Elliot. But the other two were cinnamon rolls. I felt protected and somewhat welcome. Especially after what had gone down in the club. So, I didn’t question it. I accepted my circumstances and let myself sleep soundly for the first time since I’d run away from home, knowing no one was going to come and kill me in the middle of the night.