I squeezed my eyes shut as the memories came like a flood.
I grabbed a towel and quickly wrapped it around my waist and then went into my bedroom to grab some clothes only to find both Ash and Breaker sitting on my bed like they owned the place.
“Um, hi?” I dropped my towel.
“Bro.” Breaker burst out laughing. “Cold shower?”
Ash shoved him. “If that’s shrinkage, you should only be so thankful. Also, stop staring at his dick, it’s weird.”
“Almost as weird as a super long shower with Serena?”
I burst out laughing; it was harsh, on purpose, because what choice did I have? God, I was strung as tight as physically possible, wasn’t I? “Yeah well, it’s fun taunting her. Besides, she knows that the last thing she’ll ever get to taste is this.” I winked.
“Gross.” Breaker shuddered and then made a big motion of covering his eyes like my nakedness offended him.
Ash let out a cough.
“Wow, glad we know where we stand then because I was just stopping by to ask if I could suck your dick, damn it, how embarrassing would that have been?” Serena sauntered into my room, fully clothed.
And there I stood, towel-less and ashamed. “You dressed fast.”
“I was motivated.” Her eyebrows arched.
Was she talking about me?
The minute I let the thought get out there, Ash tossed her a Snickers.
With lightning reflexes, she lifted her hand, and the candy bar slapped into her palm.
Ah, so candy bar trumps naked Junior, nice.
Ash cleared his throat. “Could you maybe put clothes on so we can talk about tonight?”
“Tonight?” I casually walked over to my dresser, feeling someone’s eyes on me. Maybe the Snickers wasn’t satisfying? With a smirk, I grabbed a pair of ripped jeans and turned around in time to see Serena eying me like I was the candy bar. “Serena, put your tongue back in your mouth, I’m a person, damn it!”
She scowled. “Is that a rash?”
“I hate you,” I grumbled as I pulled on my jeans commando and crossed my arms. “So, tonight?”
Ash gritted his teeth. “Look, Claire wants to have everyone over as discussed; I don’t know what the hell’s going on but—”
“She wasn’t born into this like us,” Serena said softly. “We kind of gave her a shove into the mafia pit and went ‘survive’!”
Ash let out a snort. “I know but, we love each other; it should be… easier.”
“Love doesn’t make things easier, man.” I shook my head. “If anything, it makes things hurt more, it makes things harder, it makes you question everything, and it makes you wish you were dead at least half the time you experience it. Love, if anything, isn’t a blessing, it’s a curse.”
All eyes fell to me.
Shit, I’d said too much.
I didn’t know how to recover.
“Been in love before, huh, Junior?” Breaker snickered.
I looked down at the hardwood floor of my room, then to the black area rug next to the guest bed. “Once, but it was doomed before it even started.”
“You’re Junior Nicolasi. If you’re doomed, we’re all doomed.” He snorted like he didn’t believe me.
“Yeah, well.” I ran my hands through my hair. “I’m just saying that sometimes it’s not. Ash, if she wants normal, we can try to play it that way while we do some research. Sergio hasn’t found any trace of chatter on the black market or in the underground, no hits, none of our names mentioned, but make no mistake, there’s a reason they’re trying to make it look appealing to go to college next to us.”
“Bait,” Serena muttered. “We’re bait, which means they are too. Actually, anyone who hangs out with us is.”
“Shit.” Ash got up and started pacing. “All right, no need to go to the bosses. We can deal with being bait; we were basically born little worms.”
“Does that make us fish now?” Breaker wondered out loud.
Each of us gave him an annoyed look and then ignored him.
“All right, so we have our normal time with Tank and Annie tonight, watch a movie, popcorn.” Serena stopped talking as her eyes narrowed. “Wait, do we have to leave our weapons in the room?”
Breaker busted up. “Serena, normal doesn’t mean bringing your knife and then throwing it to impress guests.”
She pouted.
I had to laugh. “We have enough men outside on the property, and inside, we’ll be fine. It’s two people, and even if they did get through—well, we have Bone Crushing Breaker.”
He did a little bow.
“Angry Ash.”
I got flipped off.
“And Sexually Repressed Serena.” I winked. “Perfect.”
She scowled.
I kind of liked that she didn’t deny it.
And then my heart reminded me that it didn’t matter, did it?
“Cool.” Breaker stood. “So, they’ll be here in the next hour. I’m going to grab some candy, order some pizza. And Junior, make sure you put on a shirt. Wouldn’t want Annie having a heart attack.”
“I wouldn’t worry about her watching Junior.” Serena laughed. “She only had eyes for Ash.” She fluttered her eyelashes while Ash visibly paled.