by Amy Sumida
Bishop whooped. “Yes! This means we don’t have to run away to join the circus.”
Matt pointed at Bishop. “Jaidon.”
Jaidon reached up from his seat beside Bishop and smacked him in the back of the head. Bishop rubbed his head and scowled at Jaidon, then Matt.
Alex scooted his seat closer to me and threw his arm around the back of my chair. “What did Principal Green say when you told him you weren’t going to make us stop seeing each other?”
“He implied I was a bad role model, what with my alternative lifestyle and all. I obviously didn’t see how you boys were learning your deviant behavior from me. Plus, I needed to consider how allowing Joey to live with you all would drag her down to the bowels of hell with the rest of us.”
I gasped.
Daniel placed his fists on the table. “He didn’t say that.”
Joshua huffed, pissed again, the bulging vein made another appearance. “He might as well have. Basically, I’ve been put on notice. The school board was willing to hire a gay teacher because it made them seem progressive. But, they won’t be willing to put up with a teacher that corrupts the morals of his students.”
“But… you’re not!” I jumped to his defense.
“I know, dear.” Joshua reached across the table to pat my hand. “But some people in this town think of my being gay as a black mark against me. My approving of a polyamorous relationship involving my five sons and the girl living under my roof isn’t going to help matters.”
“There’s a word for it?” My brain sidetracked for a second. It sounded kind of cool... polyamorous. It sort of rolls off the tongue. I shook my head. “Doesn’t matter. Is there anything we can do to make this easier on you?”
He squeezed my hand. “Just be your normal sweet self. Let everyone see you’re a good girl, and my boys were raised right.” He glanced at the guys and smiled. “People will realize you’re not having a nightly orgy while worshiping the devil soon enough.”
Bishop coughed. “About the nightly orgy.”
This time, Stetson pointed. “Jaidon.”
Jaidon reached up and smacked Bishop’s head again. Bishop clutched the back of his head and shot a glare at Jaidon. “Seriously?”
Jaidon shrugged at him.
I brought my eyes to Daniel. “Will this affect your work?”
Daniel waved me off. “Joey, I’m a writer. We’re expected to be eccentric. Don’t worry about Joshua’s job. He’s a great teacher, and he’s not doing anything that can get him fired. If they try, they can deal with our lawyer.”
Joshua stood to kiss Daniel’s cheek. “My protector.” He stepped back from the table. “Okay, what’s for dinner?” He started walking toward the fridge.
Six different voices all told him he wasn’t allowed to cook it.
Chapter Six
Fallout
During dinner, Alex announced we would be playing twister tonight. I didn’t know how to respond to his statement, so I nodded. I’d never played twister in my life, and the guys were in way better shape than me. But, Alex was adamant. So, after dinner, we found ourselves in the basement spreading out the white tarp with all the colorful dots.
Stetson volunteered to work the spinner. The rest of us stationed ourselves around the mat. Stetson flicked the spinner. “Right hand blue.”
A blue dot sat right in front of me; I could do that.
“Right foot yellow.”
Okay, this would be moderately difficult.
“Left hand green.”
Sweet Jesus, what had I gotten myself into?
Within ten minutes, I was twisted up like a pretzel. Although, I did feel a sense of accomplishment for staying in this long. Holding myself above Alex, I tried my best not to knock into Bishop who held himself above me. Surprisingly, Matt was killing it. Like a human bendy straw, he flowed from one movement into the next with almost no problems. Jaidon got kicked off the mat about two minutes into the game; he didn’t possess the coordination needed to play with so many people.
Things got more interesting when a song we all loved came on the radio. Now, the mass of bodies on the mat bounced as well as being twisted up.
Alex tilted his head back and sang to the ceiling. “I can’t feel my face when I’m with you!”
We all joined in. “But I love it!”
Bishop laughed so hard he fell, leaving Alex, Matt, and me bobbing our heads and shaking our butts in the air as we tried to reach our right foot to blue. Alex reached out with his foot and tried to push me over. I growled at him.
Matt reached out with his foot and kicked Alex’s arm out from under him. Alex crashed to the floor, laughing. “I guess I deserved that.” He crawled off the mat, settling himself against the couch.
Matt smirked in my direction and raised his eyebrows. His eyes clearly said, it’s just you and me now sweetheart. I lost myself in his eyes for a minute before I put my game face on. I tossed a saucy wink his way. “Bring it.”
Matt won about three minutes later, but I was laughing so hard I didn’t care.
My phone rang; still laughing, I answered it without looking. “Hello.”
“Joey.” I stopped laughing, my dad’s voice chilling my bones and freezing my voice, the same effect he always had on me.
I almost hung up, but years of training to listen and obey kept me on the line. “What do you want?”
“Drop the charges and come home.” By now, the guys realized something was wrong and surrounded me. Matt kept reaching for my phone, and I swatted his hand away.
“Speaker,” whispered Stetson.
I put the phone on speaker and took a deep breath. “I’m not going to do that, Dad. Any of that. You might have killed me if Stetson hadn’t stopped you. I’m not going back home, and I’m not dropping the charges.” I hoped he didn’t notice the tremble in my voice.
“Listen to me, you little—” He growled into the phone, then stopped. “Joey, sweetie,” he tried a coaxing tone, “I was drinking. I wasn’t thinking straight. You know that.”
I reached out and grabbed Jaidon’s hand for support. “You weren’t drinking every time you hit me for the past four years. I’m not going to do it.”
“I can make you.” His voice went scarily quiet.
Stetson spoke into the silence of the room, “No, you can’t. She stopped me once. If you go near her again, you won’t be so lucky.” He had his phone out, recording the conversation.
Matt walked up behind me and wrapped me up in his arms. Bishop grabbed the phone from me, so he could take my hand in his.
“Alright, you little shit,” Dad started, but Alex interrupted him.
“No. We’re done here. You listen to me. You don’t come near Joey. You don’t think about her. You don’t call her. If you do, you’ll deal with me, and I promise you I’ve got people who will make you wish you were dead.”
I never pictured Alex as scary before, but between the stone cold glare on his face and the emptiness in his voice, I was frightened. For the first time, I was reminded Alex had a different upbringing than the rest of us. I wondered how many of his dad’s friends he could still get in touch with.
I let go of Jaidon and Bishop and walked to Alex. He didn’t even glance at me. He glared at the phone as if he would be able to make my dad’s head explode if he willed it hard enough.
“We’re done, Dad,” I said quietly as I stood in front of Alex. I gestured for Bishop to hang up. I reached up on my toes and wrapped my arms around Alex’s neck. He still stared off into his past. “Alex, come back to me,” I whispered and kissed his lips gently.
He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me to him. “I’d do it,” he said into my hair. “I’d go back to that, to them, if it meant keeping you safe.” I could feel the shakes he was trying to suppress as he vibrated against me.
I remembered the desk story and how my sweet boy played the violin. I shook my head viciously. “No. Promise me, Alex.” Even I could hear the desperation in my voice. “
Swear to me you won’t get mixed up in that. It’ll break something in you. Something that’s beautiful and kind. Something I’m beginning to love, and I don’t want to lose that part of you.”
He squeezed me tighter and kissed me. It didn’t escape my notice he didn’t promise.
Bishop, for all his playfulness, kept a serious expression on his face as he stepped up and put his arm around Alex’s shoulder. “Alex, if you get involved with them, you’ll be putting her in the middle of it. You’ll be exposing her to a new kind of threat.”
Alex lifted his head out of my hair. I gazed up at him as he nodded at Bishop. He peered down at me. “All right.” He gave me a soft kiss. “I promise.”
Jaidon called from behind Alex, “We need to tell the dads what happened.”
I blew out a sigh. So much for a relaxing night.
We headed upstairs in silence and found the dads in the living room, watching the news. I stopped in front of the couch. The guys fanned out behind me.
Daniel groped for the remote and turned the television off. “What happened?” He and Joshua must have noticed the mood because they both sat up and reached for each other.
“My dad called.” I held up my phone.
They froze for a split second, then they jumped into action. Daniel came to me and held out his hand. “Do you mind if I take your phone in tomorrow and get the number changed for you?”
“No, that’s fine.” I handed it over.
Joshua headed to the phone. “I’m calling the lawyer. Joey, you’re getting a restraining order.” He shot his eyes to Daniel over his shoulder. “Should we call the police?” he asked.
Daniel tilted his head to the side in thought. “See what the lawyer says.”
Joshua nodded, then started dialing.
I guided Alex to the couch and sat next to him, taking his hand. I was still a little worried about him. I leaned into him and curled my sock covered feet up on the couch.
The rest of the guys found a spot near us and grabbed a seat. Daniel sat on the coffee table in front of me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
He raised an eyebrow.
I blew out a breath. “Okay, no, not really,” I muttered. I met his eyes. “But I will be.”
He nodded and glanced at Alex, then to Stetson, who gave him a subtle shake of his head. Daniel sat up straight. “Okay, now I have orders for you all. Don’t let this get you down. Go out tomorrow after school and do something fun. Don’t be stupid, be safe about it, but don’t let school and Joey’s dad keep you from living your life. Got me?”
We nodded at him, and he walked over to Joshua who was just getting off of the phone. He wrapped his arms around Joshua as he hung up. Joshua leaned back into Daniel and turned to us. “Okay, usually a condition of bail is that the attacker has no contact with the victim, so he’s probably already broken that. We need to go in to the police station after school tomorrow and file a complaint, then make an application for an official restraining order.”
Daniel kissed the back of Joshua’s neck. “That works. Then the kids can go do something fun in town to get their minds off everything, and you and I can grab a bite to eat.”
I relaxed. It was nice having people who would shoulder some of the burden. It even made breathing easier. Plus, I’m pretty sure Daniel and Joshua being those people helped immensely. Something about how confident they were with their actions and how in tune they were with each other rubbed off on me and made me feel protected. I snuggled deeper into Alex. He loosened up and sunk deeper into the couch, breathing his own sigh of relief.
We finished the late news with the dads, then headed up to bed. I washed my face and brushed my teeth, then stared at myself in the mirror for a while. My bruises were almost gone, and the circles under my eyes were finally disappearing. Being here is doing me good. I refused to let my dad ruin this.
As I stepped out of the bathroom, I found myself confronted with a line of guys. “Sorry.” My face heated, a little embarrassed. “We might need to work out some kind of bathroom schedule.”
Jaidon leaned in to kiss my cheek. “Don’t worry about it, there are other bathrooms if we’re in a hurry. Take your time.”
“Okay, goodnight guys.” I gave them all a hug and headed off to my room.
An hour later, I stared at my ceiling. Sleep wasn’t about to happen tonight. I rolled out of bed, planning on going down to the kitchen for a glass of milk or whatever I could find, but on the way, I noticed light coming from beneath Stetson’s door. I walked over and knocked quietly.
Stetson answered the door, and my jaw dropped. He wore only a pair of navy blue boxer briefs. I blushed bright red and jerked my face up to the ceiling. “Sorry. I saw the light on in your room, and I couldn’t sleep.”
“Come on in, babe. I’ll throw on some sweats.” He stepped back into the room and I took a step in, keeping my eyes on the ceiling for about two seconds. I needed to look at his butt. It was basically screaming at me. My eyes skimmed his back and made their way down to his firm butt. My hands itched from wanting to touch it.
He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of black sweatpants. “You done ogling?” He glanced over his shoulder at me and winked.
I almost swallowed my tongue.
He slid into the pants and came over to me, wrapping his arms around me. “I’m just teasing.” He kissed my hair.
I pulled back and peered up into his eyes. “What are you doing still awake?”
“Just sketching.” He smiled at me. “It helps me focus on what’s important.”
“Can I see?”
He walked over to his bed and picked up a really nice sketchbook, not the one from class. He sat and patted the bed next to him. I walked over and cuddled up to him, then gazed down at the page.
It was filled with smaller sketches. My face, laughing, hair falling all over the place. Obviously, a scene from when I was playing twister. Matt gazed off the side of the page, smiling a little at something, his eyes seeming to twinkle. Alex, serious and still, the way he appeared when my dad called. Daniel, kissing Joshua’s neck, his arms wrapped around Joshua, holding hands with the man he loved. My dad’s face, battered and bloody, his eyes rolling back into his head. A little girl’s face, laughing, her pigtails flying behind her as she ran. I touched her picture and glanced up at him.
“My sister, Lily.” He cleared his throat. “My mom’s boyfriend…” He stopped, choking on his emotion. I moved the sketchbook out of his hands and crawled into his lap, pulling his head to my chest. Wrapping my arms around him and holding him as tight as I dared. “He killed her. He beat me bloody one night, and I took off. He got drunk and beat her the way he usually beat me. She got a concussion so severe it killed her.”
My eyes dropped down to his tattoo. I reached out and traced the lily clutched in the dragon’s claw. “You know it wasn’t your fault, right?”
“I know that in my head.” He pulled back to meet my eyes. “Sometimes my heart tries to argue the point.”
I put my forehead on his shoulder and squeezed him again. “I wish there was something I could do to make you not hurt.”
“You’re already doing it.” He held me to him like I was his lifeline.
He reached up and grabbed my face, bringing my lips to his. His kiss wasn’t soft or sweet but demanding and powerful. The only thing that mattered in the whole world was my lips on his. I twisted so I was straddling his lap. My hands went into his hair, and I held him to me as I kissed him back desperately. I couldn’t fix the past, but I could keep him here with me in the now.
He leaned back onto the bed, and I found myself laying on top of him. My hands flowed down his body, massaging his muscles and gripping his biceps as his hands ran down my neck and over my back. I broke the kiss to run my lips over his neck to his ear. My teeth found his earlobe, and I bit down gently. He groaned. I ground myself against him as he arched off the bed.
He rolled over, pinning me to the bed. H
is lips trailed down my neck to that perfect spot where my neck met my shoulder. He bit me, not too gently. His tongue ran over the bite, taking the sting out of it. I jolted when his hands ran under my tank top. I wrapped my legs around his hips as he pushed against me. His hands traveled up my stomach and found my breasts. He squeezed them, and my head rolled back.
Without conscious thought, I lifted off the bed letting him remove my top. I pressed myself against him. Loving the caress of his skin against mine. His lips found my nipples, causing electric pulses to course through me. I grabbed on to him, trying to extend the sensation. My hands clutched at the back of his head, holding him to me. Rubbing himself against me, I could feel the bulge of him through my thin pajama shorts. My head rolled back while his lips worked their way across my chest to my other breast. His hands cupped the one he left, rolling his thumb over my nipple. Pulling at it.
I didn’t know what to do. I wanted everything, but I didn’t want to stop what we were doing. He kissed my lips, his heart pounding against my chest. Our breaths mingled between us as he ran his hand down my stomach and into my shorts. He cupped me, and I gasped.
“This okay?” His whisper boomed in the quiet of the room.
I couldn’t speak so I nodded.
“Tell me if you want me to stop.” His fingers crept under my panties, and he moaned as his fingers trailed through my hair. He found my slit, and his head dropped to my shoulder. He kissed my chest, my neck, my cheek. His lips found mine as his finger rubbed my own moisture over a spot that made an electrical shock run up my spine. Another finger entered me gently. He pushed in slowly but deeply. My head spun at the sensation.
When I found myself again, I ran my hands down his chest to his sweats. He stopped me before I could reach under them. He met my gaze with an expression of shocked pleasure.
“You don’t have to—”
My kiss halted him. “I want to. Let me.”
