He calls out, “Keep staring, darling. I’ll send up a maid.”
Thankfully, he turns down another hall as my mouth embarrassingly pops open.
It almost seems like Tristan enjoys my spoiled brat act far more than my usual attitude! If this is the case with all of them, I’m going to be in even more trouble than I thought. Ugh. What have I gotten myself into with this agreement?
I must’ve fallen asleep at some point, but I don’t remember it happening. I’d begun unpacking my clothes, hanging them so they wouldn’t get wrinkled and taking in all the details of my room. I’d laid down and pulled out my tablet to do some shopping, not that the room needed it or anything. I made a promise to myself that I was going to hit them in the bank, however, and I was remaining good on it. I’d ordered a beautiful hand-sewn, fluffy, extra-large king comforter and some new shoes, but I can’t remember much after that so I must’ve dozed off.
I’m jostled out of my deep, comfortable sleep when a large body wraps its warmth and muscles around my small frame. My eyes part and take in the pitch-black room, as I’m surrounded by Brent’s intoxicating man smell. I want to burrow into him and sniff him repeatedly. I won’t allow myself that little reward, though.
“Wha-what are you doing?”
“I came to check on you,” he grumbles, his nose seeking the back of my neck through my tangled mass of hair. He breathes deeply sending chills over my flesh, and I wiggle in his grasp. Being held like this from him is new, and every rational thought inside tells me to push him away and make him go back to his room, but I don’t want to. For some reason, I really feel like I need to be held right now.
“You shouldn’t be here; I’m mad at you. Why were you checking on me in the middle of the night, anyhow?” I whisper sleepily.
“Because,” he mutters, and it registers that he’s in nothing but a pair of fitted boxer briefs. His abs contract against my butt as he pulls me closer into his frame, making me want to moan at the feeling of all that rock-hard muscle. He’s so freaking big; he makes me feel tiny, and I’m not a small lady by any means. It’s hard to think rationally at all when he’s got me wrapped in his thick limbs.
Finally, he admits, “You were crying out and whimpering. I needed to make sure you were okay, that you were safe.”
“I-I was crying?” I ask.
My brow scrunches with worry as my fingertips move to my cheek. He’s right, my skin is wet. I was dreaming of the quads, of that night I found out the truth. I don’t remember ever crying in my sleep before; I didn’t know it was something you could even do.
“Mm-hmm,” he grunts and then rasps, “You okay, sweetheart?”
I tear up at his endearment, feeling like I may choke if I speak. Sweetheart. He called me sweetheart. My big, burly bear of a man. Am I okay? No, not at all. I miss my guys. I love them, but they’ve ruined me. It’s a difficult pill to swallow, learning you can’t trust your friends—the boys you love. “Yep, fine,” I manage to breathe.
His arms move, and one’s positioned underneath my pillow, creating a perfect hump under my neck. The other delves over my side and under my arm to hold tightly to my abdomen. “I’ll stay here for a while,” he murmurs. “Keep you safe.” He finished before I hear soft snores coming from my hair. He’s made himself comfortable wrapped around me like a snake and dozed off. His body’s like a sauna, warming me all over. It’s perfect, as the room is chilly.
Brent’s here to keep me safe, yet they’re the ones I need protecting from. He can stay here for now...but only one night. I can’t handle having him this close every night, I think to myself as my body relaxes back into sleep, and then I wonder when I started lying to myself as well...
School starts up, and I swear it’s like everyone knows I’ve moved into the mansion with the quads. I don’t know how. I haven’t said anything, and I know Sam would never break my confidence. I doubt the guys want anyone aware that I’m living in their house, and I don’t think my parents would say anything before Tristan and I are married. Yet, the students had to find out about it somehow.
“Morning Kresley.” Another girl passes me in the hall and waves.
“Oh, hi,” I reply for like the fiftieth time since walking to my locker.
“Love your barrettes,” one of the underclassmen on the dance team comments. “You should totally post where you buy your stuff. I’d get some for sure!”
“Sure, I can do that.” I nod, flabbergasted. Is this why so many people from my school have been following me on Instagram and Twitter? Along with the friend requests popping up on my Facebook account and snap request on Snapchat? Some people went through and liked every single photo I’ve posted from the very beginning. It was creepy, and I blocked a few.
I yank Sam to me, and hiss, “Does it feel like more people are staring today? I thought we were past this!”
“Hell yeah, they totally are, but I think I know why.”
“What? Why?”
“Morning, Kresley.” A few more girls pass, shyly interrupting. Flashing a smile, I try not to come off as rude. I’m going to go insane if this is how it’ll be from now on, though I suppose its way better than the bullying.
Sam wraps her arm in mine and agrees. “The papers and online articles are out. You’re blogged about all over the country. The engagement party is all everyone is talking about. We’ve been on break then the quads made everyone believe you were on vacation. To them it’s all new; they haven’t lived through everything else like you have.”
“Oh God,” I groan, my hands flying up to cover my face. “This is so not good. I have too much to deal with already; I can’t handle them being weird all over again.”
She pries my fingers away, smiling her perfect cheeky smile in my face. “No, babe, relax. I went through the posts and articles, and they are so good. Every girl around the world wants to be you to fill your shoes right now. Everything talks about how the party was tastefully decorated and presented, and not outlandish, as they’d expected it to be. They blog about who your dress designer was for the event and how flawlessly you pulled off the look. Hell, they can’t get over that you’ve never had any work done.”
“Because they didn’t have enough ammo before, when they were vandalizing my car and advertising twenty-dollar BJ’s in the bathroom?”
We start walking to our classes, with me listening to her closely. “They don’t hate you like I was worried about...it’s the opposite. They talk about how you were humble, graceful, and a natural beauty. The world loves you, and they think you and Tristan are the new ‘it’ couple. They’re on pins and needles to see the wedding and the babies they’re sure will follow. You’ve become royalty, my dear. Everyone’s staring at you because you’re our very own celebrity. You’ve graduated to the quads’ level; you’re an untouchable.”
A few students send me friendly smiles and waves as Sam and I stride down the hallway. It’s like being in the Twilight Zone. My eyes are wide as I stare at Sam in disbelief. “You’re kidding! If they had even a brief knowledge of me, they’d know none of that is true.”
“Kresley,” she says kindly, pulling me in for a Sam hug. They’re the best type of hug out there. She whispers as she holds me tightly. “Every single word is true, and I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more than you. You went through hell, and it’s time something good is coming afloat.”
She pulls back, and tears swim in my gaze. It means everything coming from her because I know she’d never lie to me. She’s my best friend. “Thank you,” I mumble, and she nods then retucks her arm in mine as she leads us the rest of the way to our dreaded math class. I never thought I’d be looking forward to doing school work, but I need some sense of normalcy in my life. Everything else has me in a tailspin.
“I’ll see you in third period,” she reassures as a classmate of mine stops next to us.
“I love your hair today, Kresley. Who’s your stylist?”
Sam winks. “I have a feeling you’re going to be just fine.
See you later.”
“Okay, have fun in biology,” I call after my best friend and turn to the girl beside me. I’d never spoken to her in the past, but I’ll take all the kindness I can get.
“My stylist’s awesome, a bit of a drama queen, but awesome. I can give you his number,” I say as we walk into class together.
“This isn’t working,” I begin, frustrated with myself and the others. “She’s been with us for nearly two months, and she’s still giving me the cold shoulder. She’s acted indifferent over everything, and it’s making me desperate.”
I have to move around, so I walk in circles around the room, not realizing I’m doing it as I talk. “You’re all aware I’ve never had to really work for a female that I was interested in, let alone have to deal with her relentless willpower. We need to be aggressive before she completely slips away. We have to do something before it’s too late,” I declare to Axel as I work at pacing a hole in the floor of the library—the very room where this problem started.
Axel raises his hands, attempting to calm me; he’s always the first to reach a solution. “We won’t lose her. Brent’s been sleeping next to her nearly every night,” he rationalizes, and I pin a glare on Brent. Never had a reason to be jealous before, let alone with one of my brothers, yet here I am.
Brent shrugs, not the least bit perturbed with my budding jealousy. “What do you want from me? She gets cold and whimpers when I’m not there. You can’t be angry that she’s more comfortable with me than she is with any of you. I didn’t act like her best friend or anything else when we first met. I tolerated her presence like I do any of your other fake friends you make. It’s only natural she trusts me more than you three. She knows I’ll be real with her whether it hurts her feelings or not.”
Cole snorts. “Nah podna, you’re the ass. She knows you take it slow, and you won’t push her. She’s scared of Ax because she got too comfortable with him, too fast. She avoids Tris and me because she knows we’ll push her out of her comfort zone. We don’t hold back when it comes to her.”
Brent growls. “I’m the ass? No, fuck you three. I didn’t come up with the plan to ruin her fucking life. You want to place blame? Blame yourselves. I’m just the dumb jock who fights too much, remember?” He storms out after he’s said his piece.
A sigh escapes me. “This isn’t how this meeting is supposed to go. We need to put our heads together and come up with a better plan. I can’t lose her.”
Axel releases a heavy breath and agrees. “None of us can. We’re just as invested as you are, Tristan.”
“We all love her,” Cole admits as well.
“What the hell are we going to do? I understand she’s angry, but damn, man. I miss having our girl’s smile and her personal questions randomly butting in to make us feel uncomfortable. I just miss her quirks and her presence.” My gaze floats between the two of them.
Cole’s changed his hairstyle, and I’m not sure if it’s better or worse than the last. I’m sure our father will have something to say when he sees it. With his ripped up black skinny jeans and a new set of gauges in his ears, he looks more rocker than a French descendant. Father will flip. I wonder what Kresley thinks of his look?
“Well, we succumbed to her spoiled girl act almost immediately,” Axel shares and then chuckles. “Although she’d never pull it off no matter how hard she tries. Her ordering a few things per week with Tristan’s credit card is hardly a chore on us. I think we each have more gifts for her hidden away in our closets than she’d order in the next years’ time. Had this problem not taken place and we’d spent Christmas with her, she’d have been completely spoiled and shocked at how we tend to go overboard.”
Cole joins in laughing, and I crack a smile as well. My brother’s right. I have several small boxes of jewelry in my closet just waiting to drip from her flesh. I can’t wait to cover her in diamonds and take her out for dinner and dancing. I want everyone to see how I spoil my future wife. Next year we’ll go off to college, and I’ll make sure she has a house of her dreams wherever we end up, amongst anything else she could ever wish for.
“Maybe that’s it,” Axel says suddenly drawing our attention back on him. God, I can only hope whatever he’s come up with will work. I need my girl back.
“What?” Cole and I echo at the same time. It freaks my dad out when he’s around to witness it, but we think it’s funny.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Brent was right. Kresley is an intelligent woman; in fact, we’ve underestimated her from the very start. She’s fully aware of how we each are, our temperaments, and even our personal habits, I’d imagine.”
“Okay? What’s that have to do with getting her to love us?”
“Simple. We give her a taste of her own medicine. Let’s flip the script, so to speak, and see if we can throw her off enough to make her open up to each of us again. We can’t screw up again, though, or it will never work.”
“You mean act like one another...not our usual personalities?” Cole asks.
Axel nods, his lips turning up as he stops his anxious tapping. His irises are super light gray at the moment, a tell that he’s been doing some serious thinking. “That’s exactly what I mean. She’s used to us, so we have to change it up, just like she’s done.”
“But doesn’t that defeat the purpose of showing her who we are and not deceiving her any further?”
“Of course not. I mean, it does in a sense, but we won’t take it to the extreme. We can still be authentic and open up to her when the time comes; this is only to shake her up a bit and catch her attention. Tris, Kresley’s used to you being presumptuous and headstrong. She’s believed you were a jerk ever since school began. She’d barely grasped your true self before things had blown up in our faces. How do you think Kresley would react if you sat back and went with the flow like Cole typically does? It’d drive her crazy wondering what was up with you.”
He turns to our other brother. “Cole, Kresley’s grown accustomed to you being somewhat forthcoming with your affections and desires toward her, but what if you friend zoned her? She’d be wracking her brain trying to figure out if your feelings weren’t romantic toward her any longer and what changed.”
“And what about you, Axel?” I question, contemplating his attitude change. He’d have to pull a one eighty and be a dick. I don’t see that going over well for him—he’s easygoing, organized, and naturally polite without realizing it.
He shrugs. “Well, I’m generally friendly and try to help out when the situation presents itself. I’m not overly affectionate physically or verbally unless it’s a private place and the occasion calls for it...so, I guess I’ll be an asshole.”
A chuckle bursts free as I shake my head and Cole scoffs from the couch behind me. “Yeah right; that’s not you.”
Axel stands, straightening his polo shirt and replies, “Exactly. I’ll push her away so she’ll come reeling in to find out what’s up with me. Well, that’s if it goes to plan like I’m expecting it too.”
“Jesus,” Cole mutters. “You’re a damn genius.”
“I just hope this works.”
Axel beams. “It will; just watch.”
I’ve never been one for confrontation. Probably why I’ve always preferred swimming over contact sports such as football or rugby. I’ve witnessed my brothers in some fairly heated moments, and I just never saw the point of it over something so trivial. Not only that but the sheer point of killing my body just to be angry and stress over a game. I’d rather swim and relax; besides, my mind is as powerful as any other muscle. You can choose which to develop, and at an early age, I chose my brain above all else.
That being said, you’d think being self-absorbed and bossy would be hard for me when it comes to Kresley, but it’s not. I live with three of the broodiest, bossiest, most blasé guys I’ve ever met. The transition comes to me like second nature. Kresley, however, never saw it coming which was exactly the outcome I was eager for.
“No,
you’ll sit here.” I grasp her wrist tightly, jerking her a bit and plant her in the stool next to me. The glare she levels me with is enough to make me cringe internally, but I brush it off as Tris would. “And you’re wearing the style wrong, by the way.” My gaze travels over her outfit like it’s hideous. She looks beyond stunning, but I’m going to agitate her a bit like my brother would normally do.
“Wha-what?” she stammers, glancing down at her clothes.
“Like this,” I grab the sides of the silky material and jerk it down until the swells of her breasts are visible. “There.” I fling my hand in her direction as I take my seat again. “Now we all have something stimulating to look at. Just think of it like you staring at me in art class. Only you have more clothes on, but we could get creative and change that.”
Her cheeks turn a bright shade of pink. She’s furious and embarrassed all rolled into one, but she wouldn’t dare admit it aloud. The plate screeches from her fork as she stabs her food with force. Tristan’s thoroughly amused, and he’s doing everything he can to hold back his laughter. Cole’s sending her a concerned glance and Brent’s watching me like I may’ve lost my mind. But then I’d shocked all of them this morning when I’d left my glasses at home and went with my contacts. However, I’m determined to play my part.
“You’ll sit here from now on,” I order, with my tone leaving no room for argument. “Especially if you want a chance to get me out of that scrap of material you drew me in. I never got a chance to see that, by the way. Don’t you think it’s rude not to show the muse your work?”
Kresley gapes at me, in stunned silence. No doubt she has a million things running through her mind. I can read it in her irises, but don’t comment on it.
Reaching over, my fingers move to her chin to plant her mouth closed. I can’t resist saying, “I’ve got plenty of other things in mind for that mouth if you keep it open like that. I may be able to fit in there after all.” She gasps, and I flash a cocky grin in response to her outrage. She has no idea what to think, and I’m fist pumping inside at her shock.
Ugly Dark Truth Page 6
