Ares’s eyes close heavily, and when they reopen it’s on a slow blink, his lashes lifting to reveal that the whites of his eyes are completely obscured by inky blackness. In the depths I see myself, mouth faintly parted, my eyes torn wide as I gaze back at him.
Ares gives a barely discernable shake of his head, squeezing his eyes closed. Dante steps forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You were going to show us her mark,” Dante reminds Ares and me. I’ve been so lost in the last several moments it was easy to forget how I ended up in his arms in the first place.
With his eyes still closed and his teeth grinding, Ares grates, “Back of the thigh… high up.” Assuming my weight is causing the discomfort, I push off his shoulder with my hands and wiggle a bit, so he knows to set me down. The arm around my back tightens and my breath leaves in a wheeze. “Just look, please,” Ares demands.
Turning my head, I peer backwards at the mirror. I squeak and reach for the hem of the shirt, trying to pull it down when I realize the bottom of my butt cheek is visible, but I freeze. There, just below the swell, is a messy dark blot. I run my fingers over the marking, expecting to feel some difference, a rough texture or a slight raise, but it’s as smooth as the rest of my thigh.
I rub harder, imagining the color will smear away. I certainly don’t expect for Dante to grab my wrist, freezing me. I look down at him, he’s bent down low, examining the mark closely.
“When did you see this?” his fingers reach out to touch the spot he just stopped me from touching. When his hand makes contact, it elicits a completely different feeling. My body melts and until that moment I hadn’t realized how rigid I was in Ares’s hold. My head drops to his shoulder, and his other hand comes up to my head, cradling me into his neck.
“After the shower, I caught a glimpse when she was putting her clothes on the chair.” Ares’s voice is soft, completely different from the tight words a few moments ago. I’m scarcely aware of the others surrounding us. The feeling of comfort is unfamiliar, but not unwelcome. I feel like I just luxuriated in a warm bath, then had the best nap of my life. There’s no doubt or worry in the moment. I grab on with both hands and pull the feeling of contentment into my center. A tug on the bottom of the shirt reminds me I was a little more exposed than I’m used to, probably about the same amount most girls let hang out in a short pair of cut-offs, but still not usual from me. I’m still not bothered enough to unwrap myself from Ares, as a matter of fact my legs start to lift so I can wrap those around him too. He grunts removing his hand from my head to push my knee down. My feet hit the ground in the same second.
Ares releases my back, but holds on to the top of my shoulders, good thing too, I’m feeling a little unsteady. “Cara?” I blink at him lazily, listing toward Dante.
“I think I’m like Ollie.” My voice is slow and low, the words barely a breath. Ollie’s head peeks over Dante’s shoulder, his nose wrinkled. “I feel like a gummy bear.” I try to shake out my hands, but they barely wiggle. Milo shoulders his way past the others, his face close to mine like he’s inspecting me for something.
I’m not sure if he found what he was looking for, but one hand goes around my back as he leans down and scoops me up bridal style. I let my head lull on his shoulder taking a deep inhale, he smells good, a light sugary cologne. The protest I was building dies when he stalks out of the bathroom and deposits me gently on the bed, tugging the covers over me. My lips curve up. “You don’t hate me.”
Milo sits on the bed, his hip hitting mine. “Of course I don’t hate you.” His fingers brush some of the hair away from my face.
I turn on my left side. “I’m glad, you smell really good.”
Twenty
A hand on my back has me jerking upright. “I’m awake,” I blurt out, thinking I slept through my alarm. My head is a little foggy as I look around, my eyes still squinted with sleep. There’s a figure next to me, but it’s still gloomy and I can’t make out who it is. As my brain catches up with my body I realize I’m not at home, I’m in Dante and Ares’s house, in the yellow room.
“Sorry,” I whisper much more quietly. “I’m up.”
Ollie’s voice comes from the darkness. “It’s okay Laura, we just have school, we know you need to get your bag from Maggie’s so it’s still really early.”
I nod, licking my lips. My mouth is thick. I would give about ten dollars for a toothbrush right now. I haven’t had such horrible dental hygiene in… well ever that I know of.
With my palm over my mouth I ask, “Can I use the bathroom?”
“Dante put some stuff in there for you last night, take your time.”
I pull my legs free from the blankets, straightening the t-shirt before climbing off the bed. “Thank you, I won’t be long.” The door snaps closed behind me. There’s a new toothbrush still in its packaging, and a tube of partially used toothpaste on top of a folded washcloth. Glancing at the shower I see a single bottle of shampoo. My heart warms at their consideration. Picking up the blue toothbrush, I run my fingers over the casing. It’s something so simple, a nice toothbrush, I usually pick mine up at the dollar store a few at a time so the color doesn’t mean anything to me, except for the fact that it was probably one of theirs and a they gave it up for me.
“Ollie?” I call through the door.
“Yeah?” His reply is fast, from just the other side of the door.
“This is for me to use? I can open it?” My voice is unsure, it’s reasonable to assume it is, but I can’t bring myself to open the package without confirmation.
“What, the toothbrush?” Ollie sounds skeptical, like he thinks there might be something else in here I’m talking about.
“Yeah, I just wanted to make sure.”
“Laura, yes it’s for you. You don’t need to ask if there is something you need, hell—if there’s something you want, just take it, use it.” A thud sounds. I imagine Ollie letting his head thump on the door, he must think I’m being ridiculous.
“Okay.” My reply is soft, without conviction.
“Laura,” Ollie pauses, “at school today, you probably won’t see much of me, Dante, or Milo.” I halt, my hands freeze before turning on the faucet. Thoughts of last night in this very bathroom filter through my mind. There’s no doubting I do belong with them now, I’ve seen the evidence myself, but that doesn’t mean anything, nothing has changed. They’re still ashamed of me.
“Got it.” I force evenness into my tone. I’m not going to let him know their rejection hurts. “I’ll be out in a minute.” Turning the cold water on full blast, I look into the mirror. Still the same girl I saw yesterday in the community showers. Dull blonde hair, small nose, big eyes and lips. There’s a slight flush to my checks where the sting of embarrassment brightens my face. Ollie’s footsteps recede into the room. Using my fingers, I comb through my hair, forcing the lumps of snarls into submission as I pull it back, I know the loose ponytail I usually wear is out, it’s way too tangled for that. Sectioning it off into three parts, I tie it into a messy braid that falls over my shoulder because I haven’t mastered how to get it centered in the back when I’m doing it myself.
Peeking my head out the door, I find my clothes still heaped on the floor where Ares dropped them last night. Ollie steps forward and I notice he has a dark pair of sweatpants hung over his arm. “These will be too big, but it was all we could find. They are Dante’s from a few years ago.” I reach out to take the offering, wondering why they didn’t give them to me last night.
“Thanks,” I mutter, locking myself back in the bathroom. “Shit,” the curse fall from me when I remember I need my bra from the floor. I slide the pants on easily, they are incredibly soft on the inside against my skin. Ollie’s right, they are too big, but only the length. The gathered waist sits on the swell of my hips just fine. Poking my feet out the holes in the bottoms so I don’t step all over them, I open the door to find the room empty, and my clothes are gone from the floor. “Ollie,” I call out urgently, needing to catc
h him.
Dante enters the room instead, his hair still damp from a shower. I shuffle, feeling awkward standing before him in his pants, especially after last night. All he did was brush his hand over the back of my leg and I was putty.
“Did you need something?” he steps more into the room.
“My stuff that was on the floor is gone.”
Dante’s eyes crinkle. “It was dirty right? Do the sweats not work?” He eyes my legs.
“No, the pants are good, thank you by the way.” That stupid flush is back. “But my other stuff…” I let my words trail off. I don’t want to bring attention to the fact that I don’t have a bra or panties on.
“You can just wear Ares’s shirt until we get your stuff from Maggie’s, he won’t mind.” I cross my arms over my chest. My breasts aren’t huge, but I haven’t gone without a bra in years. Being bare in his pants is bad enough, but that’s easy enough to conceal, whereas the bra will be super obvious if anyone of them cared to notice. Lowering my head, I nod, not meeting his eyes. I’m not willing to tell him what I need, so I’ll deal with it until we get to the diner.
“Okay yeah that’s fine, but I need my stuff back. I’ll need to go to the laundromat today.”
“Ollie probably already gave them to Gloria. You can just bring back whatever you need, and she can take care of it for you.”
I glance at him from the side and a tightness rising in my throat. “Guess that’s something that happens a lot around here.” The words are uttered under my breath, but I know he has no problem hearing me.
“She’s been picking up after all of us for years.” Dante doesn’t flinch at my implication. He must not realize I’m talking specifically about girls’ clothes winding up in their laundry. It was only a few days ago I found the red panties in his little house across the driveway. My eyes narrow, I look down at the borrowed pants—are these really even his? If they gave me some random chick’s clothes to wear I’m going to be pissed.
“Dante,” Milo shouts from somewhere downstairs, his voice carrying up to us.
“We’re coming,” he answers on a yell. Dante turns his back and jogs over to a room down the hall. When he returns he has keys in his hand. “Ready?”
Looking at my bare feet I want to tell him no, that I need socks and my underwear, but I take a deep breath, and feeling completely unprepared for the day ahead of me, I nod anyway.
I don’t see Ares anywhere when the boys hustle me out if the side door where I left my shoes last night. Once we’re in the car, I take a few moments to cuff the bottom of my pants so I won’t have to keep holding them when I walk. If I thought no bra and panties were bad, it’s nothing compared to the way my bare feet feel inside my dirty old sneakers. I wiggle my toes for the hundredth time, feeling the small little piles of fabric balled together on the insole of the shoes, and the crispy fake leather rubbing on my heels.
Milo grabs my hand, stopping me from finishing rolling the sweats. “You don’t have socks on,” he announces like I didn’t already know that.
“I know.” I pull my hand free, covering my ankle.
“Why?”
I huff out a breath. “Ollie took my stuff to give to Gloria apparently,” I drone, and it’s clear I’m not happy.
Ollie turns to face me, a wince on his face. “I’m sorry Laura I didn’t even think about stuff like socks and...” His eyes dip to my chest and I cross my arms quickly, but not quick enough. “Shit.” He jerks back around in his seat, facing the front. “I’m really sorry Laura.” He turns back to look at me, keeping his eyes focused on mine. “Do you have socks… in your bag?” His drawn out question making it obvious he wasn’t only referring to socks.
Looking down at my lap my ears catch fire. “Yeah, it’s fine,” I answer softly. The rest of the ride to the diner is quiet and Dante watches me in the rearview mirror way more than is necessary, but I continue to stare out the window pretending not to notice. Dante pulls around the back of the Diner and honks his horn twice before jumping out. Gus pokes his gray head out the door, my bag gets extended in his arms as it is handed to Dante. He jumps back in the car, passing the heavy sack over the driver’s seat.
My mouth falls open, they aren’t letting me go in to change? “Here, now you’ll have socks,” Dante rattles off, already driving away. “You could have just asked one of us for socks.” He sounds slightly offended, like I did something wrong not asking him for socks.
Ignoring that I mutter, “I thought I’d be able to change there before school.” My eyes follow the sign for the restaurant as we speed away.
“Milo has to see the coach before school, sorry we’re in a hurry this morning, I didn’t think you’d mind wearing that to school since you don’t really dress up.” Dante’s words cut threw me, spoken so simply. He’s right, I don’t dress up. In fact, I make it a point to pick clothes that are as boring as possible, but showing up to school in sweatpants that are three sizes too big, with a shirt to match, will definitely not help me blend in. Everyone will notice I look like a clown.
“Oh my god.” My words are a horror filled exclamation. I can’t believe that’s what they think of me. No wonder they’re ashamed to admit I’m in their Infinity. If Dante thinks I would have no problem wearing this to school, he doesn’t know me at all—my blood starts to heat. Did he ever once think I dress the way I do because that’s all I can afford? I fist my hands, my nails biting into the soft flesh of my palms. I’m so angry I want to shout at him about the unfairness of his assumption. I seethe, my mouth pinched in a tight line, biting my tongue. Tears of unshed words prick at my eyes, but if I open my mouth I won’t be able to hold back the venom I want to spew.
Grabbing my bag from the floor where it fell, I cradle it to my chest, completely shutting them out. Ollie tries to engage me several times, but he’s easy to ignore. When the car stops I’m already sitting on the edge of my seat, ready to erupt from the backseat. If I could strip their shirt and pants from my body right now I would, but it’s not worth walking bare ass naked into school just to show them how much I don’t care about what they think of me.
Ollie calls my name a few times as I run away from the car. Dante parked in the back, so I’ll have to run all the way around the school to find an open door. I don’t stop. If I could keep running and go home I would, but I’ve already missed a day of classes this week. I don’t need the school trying to notify my mom that I’ve been absent, only to find her gone.
The halls are empty as I make my way to the girls’ bathroom. I barricade myself in the handicap stall. My back hitting the door while I pant out heavy breaths. I’m so not a runner, there’s a stitch in my side, but it’s not nearly as important as getting away from them. They make it seem like this Infinity business is forever—how the hell am I going to survive them? I may seem naïve, but I won’t put up with them treating me like shit. I’m not some doormat because I’m not rich, or the prettiest girl to walk the halls of Franklin High. Some of the anger fades, as a few tears splash down my cheeks. Sadness and the longing to belong replace the fiery emotion. I toss my bag against the flimsy pink wall dividing the stalls and it clunks to the floor. I’d rather have the anger any day.
I give myself five minutes of self-pity before digging out my clothes and changing for the day ahead.
Just like Ollie warned, I don’t see the guys all day, not even in class. I don’t know how they get away with skipping so much, but today I’m grateful I don’t have to pretend I’m not hurt by them shunning me. Delaney gives me the stink eye a few times when we cross paths in the hall, but she leaves me alone for the most part like everyone else.
Walking out of school at the end of the day I spot Charlie, the guy who unlocked my camper, chatting with a few people next to his old truck. He waves in my direction, and I glance over my shoulder, but realize it’s me he’s greeting. I give him a tight smile and a small wave back before heading down the sidewalk toward the diner. The sound of running alerts me to his approach, but I ke
ep walking. I’m not going to be late to work. Even if my boss is kinda freaky in a I know your future, but I can’t tell you kind of way. She’s still Maggie, sweet Maggie who hired me when no one else would.
“Hey Laura!”
“Hi Charlie, how are you?”
He’s breathing a little hard from jogging over to me, but he plays it cool, shoving his hand in his pocket. “I’m good. You headed home? I could give you a ride.”
“No, I’m going to work, but thank you anyway.” I wouldn’t have accepted a ride from him anyway, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“Oh, where do you work?” Charlie walks, keeping pace with me.
“Maggie’s diner, just up the road.”
His mouth falls open. “No shit, my grandpa goes in there all the time.”
“I know,” I mutter, remembering Mike told me that the night he unlocked my door.
Charlie’s head rears back, but a huge grin lights his face. “You do?”
“Chuck!” a friend hollers from the parking lot, distracting him.
I use it to dismiss him. “Listen, I have to run. See you later.” I quicken my steps be he calls to me.
“I’ll stop in to see you, we can grab that burger.” His voice is full of confidence. I made a mistake, I shouldn’t have told him I knew was his grandpa, now he probably thinks I’ve been asking around about him, that I like him. Great, just what I need, another boy in my life.
The moment I walk into the diner we’re busy, cross-country has meet a home and all the kids are piling in the door for a quick bite to eat before they head back to school. By the time they’re filing out, the dinner rush is coming in. I don’t have any time to worry about Charlie coming in for a burger, I’m way to busy keeping everyone’s glasses filled while Gus cranks the tickets out of the kitchen, one after another. So, when he does show up around seven-thirty, I’m unprepared. I’d just returned from doing a quick bathroom check, and he was already seated at one of the tables.
Infinity Chronicles Book One: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Series Page 19
