One Family

by Smyth, R. A

  “I know,” I sigh, leaning my forehead against his chest as he wraps his arms around me.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” he murmurs, stroking his hand soothingly up and down my back, somehow knowing exactly where my thoughts are at. “There will be plenty of time for us, many more moments like this.”

  He kisses my forehead sweetly. “I want you, Sophie. I fucking need you. I want to be buried so deep inside you that neither of us can think straight. Fuck you until we’re nothing but a puddle of cum and tangled limbs. One day soon I’m going to claim your pussy, feel it clenching around my dick, milking me fucking dry.”

  Jesus, Preston’s boxers just disintegrated. Why can’t that day be today? Oh yeah, because fucking reality is literally banging on the door.

  I unwillingly pull back from him, seeing the same lust burning in his hooded eyes that I’m sure he can see reflected in mine. We both desperately need this, and I know it’s killing him as much as it is me that we can’t give into this chemistry between us. Soon. Seriously fucking soon. My vagina might up and leave me if it doesn’t feel Barrett’s thick girth grinding against its walls soon.

  I sigh as he steps back, knowing my cheeks are still flushed with my orgasm and his dirty words as I turn and open the bathroom door, glaring at Ty who is leaning against the kitchen countertop, smirking at us, knowing damn well what he interrupted.

  “You’re an asshole,” I grouch. My insult only making him grin wider.

  Chapter 6

  The smell of something delicious cooking in the kitchen permeates the air as Ty works away, banging pots and humming under his breath. I had no idea he knew how to cook, but based on how good it smells, he definitely knows what he’s doing in the kitchen.

  “That smells awesome,” Barrett praises, wandering over and lifting the lid of one of the pots.

  “Leave it alone,” Ty admonishes, shooing him away just as Barrett goes to stick his finger in whatever’s in the pot.

  “He’s right. I didn’t know you could cook,” I say, sitting down at the breakfast bar and watching Ty as he moves around the kitchen, keeping one eye on Barrett to make sure he doesn’t try to sneak another bite.

  “When you’re a starved little street rat, you learn to appreciate a good meal,” Ty says, making my heart squeeze for that little kid.

  “You lived on the streets as a kid?” Barrett asks.

  “More or less. My mom was a junkie. Never sober enough to take care of me, so I stole food when I could, rummaged around in trash cans and dumpsters, begged for scraps. Course, that was all before I went to live with Aiden. The Feral Beasts are many things, but they always had a club kitchen filled with food. I guess never having the luxury of choosing what I ate, or being able to make a good meal made me wanna learn how to do it for myself, so I got one of the older club ladies to teach me. Never thought I’d actually enjoy it,” he chuckles, “but there’s something relaxing about it.”

  “Can you teach me?” Barrett asks, surprising me. I never thought he’d be interested in learning to do something so mundane. But of course, I should know better. Barrett might have that pompous rich-boy air about him, but he’s as down to earth and easygoing as they come. He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty and do everyday tasks. He’s not exactly good at them if his discolored, shrunken clothing is anything to go by, but, hey, practice makes perfect. At least he’s willing to try. That in itself says everything I need to know about him.

  “Sure,” Ty says easily, shrugging like it’s no big deal, but to me it means everything. Seeing them like this totally makes my day. I know they are all willing to put up with each other for me, but I don’t want them to just tolerate one another. If they could all learn to get along, I think they could actually have something special between themselves. “If this morning's breakfast is anything to go by, you obviously need the help.”

  I snort, remembering this morning. It was a thoughtful gesture, but, yeah, I mean, five-year-old me could make a round of toast without burning it. Barrett laughs too, not offended by Ty’s remark. “Yeah,” he chuckles, “clearly.”

  “So,” Preston cuts across, the sinister tone of his voice not in keeping with the jovial moment. “What are our theories on who killed Steven?”

  “Kirk?” Barrett questions, not sounding sure.

  “Yeah, he seems like the logical choice, doesn’t he?” Ty agrees.

  “But why would he?” I ask. “He needed Steven.”

  Ty shrugs. “Maybe Steven pissed him off or something?”

  “Even if he did,” Aiden contributes, “Sophie’s right. Kirk already killed off a one-percenter. He needs them in order to run The Citadel without interference or risk of getting caught. Steven would have to have pissed him off pretty badly for him to kill him.”

  We lapse into silence for a moment, each of us trying to work out who else might have wanted Steven dead.

  “Maybe he was in bed with someone else?” Ty suggests.

  Snorting, Barrett shakes his head. “I wouldn't put it past him.”

  “The timing is way too coincidental,” Preston points out.

  “Yeah, but not impossible,” Ty presses.

  “What if it was Kurt?” Preston asks, his words taking me by surprise. It sounds like he’s thought through the possibility before bringing it up, though.

  “What?” Surely not. I mean, he’s fucked in the head, but murder? Why?

  “Over Sophie?” Barrett asks skeptically.

  “Me?” I interject before anyone can answer him, not wanting to believe what they’re saying.

  Nodding, Preston explains, “He was at the meeting. We know he’s obsessed with Sophie and he would have heard Kirk telling Steven he could have her.” He shrugs his shoulders before continuing, “What if he couldn’t accept the thought of losing her to him?”

  “That’s fucked up,” Ty supplies when no one says anything. “If that’s what he did to Steven, what the fuck does he have planned for us?”

  His words have my stomach tying itself in knots. If Preston’s right, then Kurt is an even bigger threat than I initially thought.

  Aiden’s phone ringing cuts through the air, drawing our attention.

  “Yeah?” He says sharply, answering the call. “Hold on a sec, I’ll put you on speaker.” Waving us over so we can hear what’s going on, he explains, “It’s Oliver.”

  “What’s up?” Ty asks when we’re all perched on the sofas, eager to hear what update he has for us.

  “Kirk’s gonna have men staking out the school for the next few days, plus men out patrolling the roads and in town,” he starts.

  “Yeah, we figured as much,” Aiden acknowledges, flicking his gaze between each of us. “The three of us are going to lie low this week, wait for the heat to die down.”

  “Good,” Oliver agrees. “He’s also asked me to tail Preston and Barrett,” he blurts out, getting to the main reason he’s called.

  “What? Why?” I ask frantically, worried my father knows they’ve been helping us.

  “He doesn’t know anything for sure,” Oliver is quick to assure me. “He’s just covering his bases. Cause you were kinda friendly with them, he just wants to make sure they aren’t somehow involved.”

  “Okay,” I say, gnawing on my lower lip. I don’t like the thought of my father suspecting them of anything.

  “It’s really nothing to worry about. I just wanted to give you a heads up. You’ll see me following you guys occasionally. Just go to school and go home this week and I’ll tell Kirk I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

  “We can do that,” Preston confirms.

  “Everything else okay?” Aiden asks him.

  “Yeah,” Oliver sighs, suddenly sounding weary. I’m worried about him being stuck there under my father’s watchful eye. It’s great that we have him on the inside, but he’s risking a lot by staying there. The sooner we can end this and he can stop pretending, the better. “As good as can be expected. It’s only going to get worse befor
e it gets better,” he says ominously.

  “Yeah, it is. Thanks, man, for the heads up. We’ll talk to you soon,”

  “Thanks, Oliver,” I chime in before Aiden can disconnect the call.

  “It’s not as bad as it seems,” Aiden says, looking at me, picking up on my anxious state. “Oliver won’t say anything. We just have to do as he says.” Turning to look at Preston and Barrett, he states, “Go back to Preston’s after school this week. Maybe even stop in town or whatever you used to do before we all came along. He just needs to see enough to show Kirk you’re not doing anything suspicious. You’ll be fine to come back here in the evenings.”

  Neither Preston nor Barrett look too keen on the plan, but they don’t argue with it, simply nodding their heads in agreement.

  “Alright, dinner should be ready, let’s eat,” Ty enthuses, getting up and heading back over to the kitchen, checking on the food.

  We all trail after him, lifting out plates and cutlery, setting the table as Ty fills our plates with food, before we all sit down.

  “We stopped in town on our way back earlier and picked up some clothes for the three of you,” Barrett says when we’re all nearly done eating, pointing at the bags he dumped by the door when they got back. Between his talented mouth and Oliver’s phone call, I’d totally forgotten about them. “I stopped by to see Mia too,” he says, leaning in towards me. “I told her you wouldn’t be around for a while.”

  I give him a soft smile, appreciating his thoughtful gesture. “What did you tell her?” I’ve been worrying about how to explain my absence over the next few weeks or months, until we deal with Kirk, without putting her in harm’s way.

  “I just told her you were dealing with some family stuff and wouldn’t have much free time for the next few weeks.”

  “Cheers, Barrett. It means a lot to me that you thought of her.” I reach out and squeeze his hand and he moves so our fingers interlock.

  “We also discussed the situation with school,” Preston mentions, breaking the moment between Barrett and I. “We agree that we all need to go back to school. Sophie needs all four of us to keep a lookout for Kurt. He’s escalating and god knows what he might do next.” I know he’s using Kurt to goad Aiden and Ty into agreeing to go back, but his words scare me.

  “Don’t you think we want to be there to protect her?” Aiden growls out. “You think we want to fucking sit here and worry about her all day? Not only can we not afford it, but we can’t take the risk of Kirk storming the school.”

  “You and I both know, he won’t do that. He won’t risk it. So the only real problem is the money, and Barrett and I have decided to pay off the rest of the fees for you ungrateful fucks.”

  Preston’s aggressive declaration is met with silence around the table. I’m not sure if the guys are pissed at the charity, or shocked that Preston and Barrett would offer to cover their fees.

  “You’d do that?” I ask, surprised. They have been much more tolerant of this whole fuckable fivesome thing than I expected.

  Preston flicks his intense gaze to me. “For you, I’d do anything.”

  I swallow around the emotion in my voice. He’s looking right at me when he continues. “We’re also covering your fees too. Just in case Kirk does stop paying, but it also means he can’t have any influence over the staff, or demand to know if you’re in school.” His words take me by surprise, and I give him a small smile as a myriad of emotions swell within me.

  Tearing my eyes away from Preston, I look at Aiden and Ty. “They’re right. If the money isn’t an issue, then we’re safer sticking together.”

  Aiden looks at me, his eyes softening from the pissed off glare he was directing at Preston.

  “I want you both at school,” I plead, knowing it won’t be the same without them there. I’d feel better having them with me, and I know I’ll only worry if I have to go all day without seeing them.

  “No harm in giving it a go, I guess,” Ty relents, throwing in his two cents. “We can always pretend to ditch town or something if Oliver gets word of Kirk thinking of attacking us at school. Besides, I’d feel better having my own eyes on Sophie.”

  Aiden continues to look at me, as I give him my best puppy dog eyes, begging him to cave and agree. I know he’s just being stubborn, not wanting to accept any more help from Preston and Barrett, but this works in everyone’s favor.

  “Fine,” he finally concedes, “we’ll go back to school.” I jump out of my chair, a huge grin on my face as I round the table and wrap my arms around him, giving him a kiss.

  “Thank you,” I murmur against his lips, before looking at the others, the stupid grin still on my face.

  “But,” he adds on, “not ‘til next week.”

  “Agreed,” I say before Preston can make some stupid remark to wind him up. They would argue all day over nothing if they could, just to prove one of them is better than the other.

  “That’s enough depressing talk for today,” I demand, gathering the plates from dinner.

  “There’s just one more thing we need to discuss,” Barrett informs us, a serious look on his face. We all look at him in confusion, no one able to work out what he’s referring to. I’m positive there is nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow. “We need to work out who gets to sleep with Sophie tonight, and who’s relegated to the other bedroom or the sofa.”

  I roll my eyes; the tension draining from my body. Of course Barrett deems this an important issue that needs discussed.

  “It should be our turn tonight,” Preston states.

  Ty snorts, “How do you figure that?”

  “You’ve slept with her every night you’ve been here.”

  “So? In case you forgot, you only officially started going out with her this morning. That’s on you, man. Maybe if you hadn’t spent those months bullying and pushing her away, you could have spent all those nights with her warm body wrapped around yours.”

  “Sophie should decide.”

  “Uh, no, I am not getting involved in this.” I’m quick to retort, already knowing the disaster this is quickly going to descend into. “Flip a coin, or draw straws, or rock, paper, scissors for it, but leave me out of it.”

  All four of them lift their fists in unison, facing off across the table like they’re preparing to go to battle. That’s going to be one intense round of rock, paper, scissors. I roll my eyes at their childish behaviour, going to nosey in the shopping bags. Noticing the ones with clothes for me in them, I pick them up and head towards the stairs.

  “Let me know who wins,” I call over my shoulder as I ascend the staircase, heading towards Preston’s room. Well, I guess it’s kind of become my room now. We really are going to have to work out better long-term plans for our sleeping arrangements.

  Chapter 7

  “Shit,” Barrett murmurs the next morning, as we drive down the street Crescentwood Prep is on. Kirk’s men don’t even try to be subtle, standing in a crowd by their bikes as we approach the gates into the school.

  We had to get up super early so we could get from the warehouse to my house, so when Oliver pulled up to tail us this morning, it looked like we were leaving the house for the first time. It all sounds completely ridiculous, but at least he can send whatever evidence he needs to Kirk, showing that we’re just going about our normal daily routines.

  Oliver’s car continues along the road, driving past the school as we pull through the gates, eyeing the assholes hovering around them. Each of them wears similar masks of fury and disgust. Whether it’s because they’re furious at Aiden and Ty’s betrayal, pissed at having to stake out a high school, or some other reason. Who the fuck knows.

  “It’s only for a few days,” I reiterate, pulling into a space at the front of the school, reminding both Barrett and myself that we don’t have to put up with this crap for long. “Once they see we aren’t up to anything, they’ll move on.” My eyes flick up to the rearview mirror where I can see the men still watching us, hoping I’m right, and it w
ill only be for a few days. There’s no way the others can come back to school until the heat dies down.

  I can feel the biker’s eyes on the back of my neck as I climb out of the car and make my way into the school, making a point of paying them no attention. We can’t let them think they’re getting to us, or that we’re guilty of anything.

  It takes much longer than normal for us to reach the main school building. We get stopped every few feet by students coming up and giving their condolences to Barrett. Someone else might mistake their solacing words as kindness, but the way they hover afterwards, the prying questions; they're just here for the inside scoop.

  Instead of going to our lockers like normal, I hover by the door, keeping an eye on the gang members outside while Barrett heads to the office to sort out the funding stuff for the others.

  It’s impossible to miss the thugs outside blatantly looking into every car entering the school, making it painfully obvious they’re searching for someone—or someones.

  Standing there, watching The Feral Beasts, I can hear the rumor mill at work around me, the other students gossiping away. Of course, the primary topics of conversation are Stevens' death and Meaghan’s dad's disappearance. Apparently the Williamson family are putting together a search party for him. Seems a little hasty in my opinion. I mean—yeah I know he’s dead—but for all they know he’s sleeping off the worst hangover of his life, or staying with his side piece.

  Whatever. Who am I to judge? My dad’s apparently missing too and I haven’t even reported it yet. To each their own.

  Other than that though, the gossip mill is full of the usual trivial shit. I don’t take heed of any of it as I stand by the front entrance, flicking my gaze between the thugs outside and the sheep surrounding me.

  Without Barrett around, the other students gossip freely, speculating about what happened to his dad. From what I’ve heard, they don’t know much beyond the fact he’s dead and that it’s being treated as a murder investigation.