by C. R. Marcum
“Enlighten me then.”
“Because, if Ty hadn’t been meeting us, he would have been meeting some other girl. I doubt she would have put him in her backseat and drove him home, so the way I see it, you owe us a thank you.” She said matter-of-factly.
Drake stood stock still and stared at Raylynn. The expression on his face was one of exasperation. He stared for only a moment before turning his attention back to his brother. Raylynn could see the mix of emotions on Drake’s face, the love for his brother was the most recognizable.
“The doc said he’d be here as soon as he can, but there was a shooting a couple blocks from here that he has to finish with first.” Lucas said as the tension in the room started to ease up. “He said to clean him up, make sure there’s nothing in the cuts and stuff.”
Raylynn decided to make herself comfortable and moved to sit in one of the oversized chairs that sat across the room. Paisley, having calmed down, refused to move very far from the door. She sat on a fold out chair that was situated along the wall next to it. She hadn’t spoken very much since the shove. Raylynn however had been talking to the guys.
“So, how do you all know each other?” She asked Jax.
“We’re brothers,” Jax said motioning towards Syn. “And Drake was best friends with our older brother. When he died, Drake kinda took over that big brother role ya know. And Lucas over there just kinda showed up one day and never left. He’s kinda like a stray dog ya know, we fed him once and he wouldn’t go away, and he smells.” Jax said as he threw a small pillow at Lucas.
Lucas jumped up and started towards Jax. He looked like he was going to start throwing punches. Jax smiled brightly and stood. Paisley’s gasp and squeal were the only sounds in the room. Jax turned and looked at her before he burst out laughing.
“Relax would ya, we aint gonna hurt ya.” Jax said when the laughter died down. He took a good look at her before turning to look at Raylynn. He noticed the blood that covered the girls’ clothes for the first time.
“You guys want a t-shirt or something? I mean, won’t your folks flip their shit if you two come home covered in blood?” He asked looking at Paisley.
“No, I’m fine in my own clothes thank you very much.” She replied shaking her head.
“Ok, suit yourself, what about you?” He asked turning to face Raylynn.
“Sure, I’ll take one, a clean one preferably.” She answered with a slight grin.
“You’ll get what you get.” Jax said as he flashed her a big smile. “C’mon, unless you’re gonna change in the middle of the living room.”
When Raylynn returned from the bathroom after having changed into one of Jax’s shirts, she found everyone gathered around Ty. He was awake, well, more awake than he had been at least. The Doc had arrived and was working to stitch up the gash above Ty’s eye. Raylynn walked over to Paisley and sat on the floor next to her. She laid her head on Paisley’s knee and they waited together to hear the news from the Doc.
Within a half hour the Doc had finished and was packing up his stuff. He closed his bag and turned to address the room.
“He will be okay, but it’s going to take some time. No school for a couple weeks at least. He has three broken ribs, a sprained wrist, and a concussion for sure. Without taking him to the hospital, that’s all I can know for sure. He also has a bad road rash on his lower back that will need to be cleaned and have ointment put on it. You can buy that over the counter. These are for him, one pill every four to six hours for his pain.” The Doc said as he handed Drake a bottle of medication. “Make sure he takes those with food, unless you want to clean up puke.”
“Thanks Doc,” Drake said, taking the pills from him, and putting them in his pocket. His hand came out holding a large wad of cash. “For your troubles.” He said handing the doc five bills.
The doc smiled and took the money. He turned and walked out the door. The girls looked to one another and back at Ty. Raylynn stood and walked towards the couch. She looked down at her friend and then to Drake.
“I think we should go. We’ll bring him his homework and stuff at the end of the week.” She said.
“Thanks, I appreciate it. I’ll make sure to tell Ty that you got him covered.” Drake replied before turning his attention to Ty. “Jax, Syn, Lucas, walk them out, Imma take little man to his room.” With that Drake bent down and carefully cradled his brother and lifted him with ease. When he disappeared into the hallway the other’s stood.
“Come on Pais, let’s go home.” Raylynn said as she took her hand.
Paisley stood and looked towards the others. “Yeah, I really want to get home.”
The guys followed them to the car and watched as they got in, before turning and disappearing into the house.
Raylynn started the car and looked over at Paisley who was unusually quiet. “You okay?” She asked.
“That was…the scariest few hours of my entire life. I can’t believe those guys are Ty’s family. They’re all so scary looking, and Ty is just…well you know…Ty.” She said. It seemed as though she had finally stopped holding her breath.
Raylynn giggled as she put the car in drive. She took a look in the backseat and sighed before pulling back out onto the street. “Thank god for leather seats, otherwise that blood would be a bitch to get out.” She said as she headed home.
5.
The next day at school, the girls started gathering homework and notes for Ty. Raylynn covered second period, and Paisley did the rest. By the end of the week, the girls had collected all of the assignments and notes. Sitting on Raylynn’s bed they started comparing them and putting them in order to take to Ty.
Raylynn was shocked by the complexity of Paisley’s notes. She had pink, yellow, blue, white, and purple sticky notes all over the papers. Everything was color coordinated by due date and test subjects. She had placed everything in its own color folder and labeled them by period. She had them all placed in order in a three inch binder. The notes were so detailed that she thought Paisley had written down everything the teacher had said. She couldn’t help but giggle as she handed Paisley the five pages of notes that she herself had taken.
“That’s it? Seriously that’s all the notes from the whole week?” Paisley asked shaking her head and looking through the pages Raylynn had handed her.
“Not everyone takes notes like you Pais; you are one of a kind.” She said with a yawn.
She hadn’t slept in two nights. The memories of Ty had brought her nightmares to a new level. The blood and chaos was still the same, but now Ty was the one on the bed. Even the meds weren’t helping now. She knew she needed to talk to a doctor, but telling her uncle why was a bit scarier than the nightmares. So, she had been dealing with everything in her own way. She looked to Paisley and smiled. Paisley was her center, but this was something she couldn’t even tell her.
“Well, that’s part of who I am. I’m a very detailed person. I mean, if you’re going to do something, you should do it right.” Paisley said as she placed Raylynn’s portion of notes in the folder marked ‘2nd period’.
“You know, some people might mistake that philosophy for OCD.” Raylynn said lying back on the bed.
“Well, let them think whatever they want. I’m fine.” Paisley retorted before sticking her tongue out at Raylynn.
“I’m just saying, you even wear your bracelets in the same order, from biggest to smallest. I think you would benefit from some sort of therapy.” She replied with a grin.
“Well, if I end up in a loony bin somewhere, I look forward to having you as a roommate.” Paisley giggled. “And I wear my bracelets like this because it makes sense.”
Raylynn stared at her and couldn’t help but laugh. “Pais, you are something else you know that?”
“One of a kind, you said so yourself.” She said as she gathered the binder and headed towards the door.
Raylynn waited until the door was fully closed before she got up and headed to her closet. She looked through the hanging clot
hes and grabbed her black skinny jeans with the holes all the way up the front. The ones that Paisley had picked out. She looked around her closet one more time before finding a t-shirt and pulling it out too.
She made her way downstairs and found Paisley already in the kitchen. She was putting the finishing touches on the cookie basket she had been working on for Ty. She had started baking the night before and had made four different types of cookies. The smell alone made Raylynn’s mouth water. She hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast the day before.
“What do you think?” Paisley asked while pointing at the picnic basket filled with cookies. She had also gotten some coffee and an insulated cup and added it as well. She had finished it off with a huge pink and yellow bow.
“It looks great Pais, but did you really need to make four dozen cookies?” Raylynn asked as she pulled herself up onto the center island.
“I bake when I’m nervous, sue me.” She replied.
“Yeah, I know. So are you ready to go Betty Crocker, or do you need to change?” Raylynn asked as she looked into the basket.
“Of course I need to change, I look a mess. While I’m doing that why don’t you try a cookie, I swear Coop, you’ve lost at least ten pounds since you got here.” She said handing Raylynn a cookie, before turning and walking away.
“Thanks.” Raylynn said quietly to the empty kitchen.
She stared at the cookie for a while before putting it back in the basket and closing the lid.
When Paisley came down the stairs, she looked perfect. Her hair was pinned back on one side and her perfect blonde waves fell just past her shoulder. She had changed into a pair of jean Capri’s and her tank fell just shy of the button on them. She had done her makeup to perfection and every curve of her body was perfectly highlighted. Paisley had a knack for showing off her curves without showing off her body. She never had to show skin in order to get attention, she was beautiful by nature.
Raylynn on the other hand had decided on the more natural approach. Her typical black on black had changed slightly as she was wearing a white t-shirt today, the skull on the front was black and it had a v-neck cut that dipped down just a little too far for her so she had added the safety pins up the front. It still fit a bit tight and hugged her breasts, but it seemed as if that was all she could find in California. She wore no makeup today except for a bit of eyeliner, and her hair was pulled up into a messy bun. The two girls were the picture of night and day.
When the girls pulled up to the house, there wasn’t a sole in sight. It looked as if nobody was home. Raylynn put the car in park and grabbed her phone out of the holder and dialed Ty’s number. It rang twice before he answered.
“Hey Ray, you still coming over?” Ty asked sounding a bit better than he had.
“Yeah, we are actually here already, but we didn’t see the car so we thought maybe nobody was home.” She replied.
“Drake had some things to do today, so the guys are stuck on babysitting duty.” He said with a tad too much sarcasm.
“Kay, well tell one of them to open the door would ya.” She said as she motioned for Paisley to get out of the car.
“Sure thing. See you in a second.” Ty said before hanging up.
Paisley grabbed the basket and the binder and came around to meet Raylynn. The girls opened the gate and made their way to the porch.
Jax
Jax was sitting on the couch watching TV when he heard the sound of the car doors. He turned slightly and peeked out the window. All he could see was the nose of the car, but he recognized it immediately.
“Those girls are here with Ty’s homework and shit, you gonna get the door?” He asked his brother who was lounging on the overstuffed chair.
“Nope little brother, that’s all you.” Syn replied and went back to looking at his phone.
“Fine, I’ll get it, wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.” Jax said standing. He opened the door just before the dark haired one knocked.
All he could do was stare. The dark haired girl had the biggest deep brown eyes he had ever seen. He typically didn’t pay much attention to eyes, but hers were beautiful. He let his gaze travel to her nice full lips, and then down to the top of her collarbone. His eyes traveled downward to her perfect tits. Her shirt clung just enough to expose exactly how big they were. He lingered there for a second before his eyes followed the curve of her hip down to her leg. She was a knockout. He wondered how he hadn’t noticed before. He had just started his travels back upward when he felt a hand squeeze his bottom jaw and quickly lift his face back upwards.
“What the fuck are you staring at exactly?” She asked with a look of annoyance on her face. “Last time I checked, my eyes were above chest level.” She finished as she let go of his chin.
“Raylynn right?” He asked.
“Got a genius on our hands here Pais.” Raylynn said sarcastically as she turned around to face Paisley.
Her movement allowed him to catch a quick peek of her nice round ass. He straightened up before she even noticed.
“Yeah, that’s right; you’re the one that pushed Drake.” He said focusing his attention for the first time on Paisley. He noticed that she was carrying a binder and a basket with a huge bow on it.
“Yeah, I guess that’s me.” Paisley said meekly.
“Yep, you really are as little as I thought you were.” He laughed.
“While this is great and everything, we didn’t come over to hang out on the porch with you.” Raylynn said. He could see that she was getting impatient.
“Well, seeing as how you brought a gift, I guess I can let you in this time.” Jax said as he stepped to the side to hold the door open.
The girls stepped inside and Jax could smell the cookies coming from basket.
“Oh, what’s in the basket?” Jax asked Paisley.
“Huh, oh I made cookies. I tend to bake when I’m upset and nervous, or even mad. I bake a lot, but anyway I made four different kinds. There’s oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, double chocolate chunk and sugar cookies. They are still warm if you want one. I mean I made them mostly for Ty, but I doubt he will eat them all anyway.” Paisley said in her typical bubbly fashion before holding the lid open.
“Don’t mind if I do.” Jax said reaching in and grabbing a few cookies before turning to face Syn. “Looks like we got a girl scout on our hands bro.”
Syn looked up to see the girls and looked back at Jax. “She looks like one.” He said before looking to Raylynn “She doesn’t though; she looks like one of us.”
“Great, thanks for saying I look like a slob, don’t you boys ever clean up?” Raylynn replied taking a seat on the couch.
“Our maid called in sick today.” Syn replied staring at her.
“She probably got hepatitis from this place.” Raylynn said casually leaning back and kicking her feet up.
“Ok, that’s enough of that, where’s Ty?” Paisley asked obviously getting nervous.
“He’s in bed, ya know, broken ribs and everything.” Jax replied with his mouth full of cookie. “I’ll show ya.”
Jax started towards the hallway, but Paisley hadn’t moved an inch.
“Raylynn, are you coming?” Paisley asked.
Raylynn was still staring at Syn with a slight grin. “Not yet.”
“Um, but you have to tell him about second period, I can’t explain your notes.”
“You go ahead; I’ll be there in a few. You should get started explaining your first set of notes.” She replied.
Jax noticed that his brother and the hottie hadn’t taken their eyes off of one another. He secretly hoped his brother didn’t want her because he knew he sure did.
“C’mon girl scout, Ty’s been waiting on you.” He said.
“Okay, I’m coming.” Paisley said sweetly before following Jax out of the living room.
Jax returned a second later with another handful of cookies, and one hanging out of his mouth. He looked at Raylynn for a second longer than he should have, a
nd then turned to his brother.
“You have to try one of these. They’re delicious.” He said as he tried to hand one to Syn.
“Naw, I’m good. You eat all of that girl scouts cookie you want though.” Syn replied before standing and patting his shoulder. “I mean girl scout cookies.” He said as he walked into the kitchen.
Jax looked over and saw Raylynn sitting on the couch laughing. He walked slowly toward her, admiring her curves. The way she was sitting gave him a perfect view of her cleavage.
He couldn’t help but imagine undressing her. He would pin her against the wall and give those perfect tits the attention they deserve. He could almost feel her silky skin under his rough hands. He could only imagine what she tasted like. He could imagine her soft hands on his bare chest, her fingers tracing the lines of his abs, before she slid down the wall and freed him from his jeans. He couldn’t help but imagine her mouth taking him in and her tongue swirling around the head of his…
“You just gonna stand there staring, or what?” Raylynn asked, snapping him out of his daydream.
“Yea, I was just thinking about something.” He replied sitting next to her on the couch. He had leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees to conceal how tight his jeans had become in the last few minutes.
“So, we really don’t know anything about you. Ty won’t shut up about Paisley, but all he says about you is that you like music and you’re a good friend, so tell me something about yourself.”
“Not much to tell really. I was raised in Chicago, moved here a couple months ago.”
“Why?” Jax asked.
“Family shit, that’s all.” Raylynn replied with a shrug.
“Alright, so what kind of music you into?” He asked.
“Alternative rock mostly, I like some heavier rock, but I only listen to that when I’m pissed.”
“I take it, Avenge Me is you favorite.” Jax said nodding towards Raylynn’s shirt.
“Yeah, they are. Have you heard any of their stuff?” She asked.
