I felt Creed come up behind before his hands smoothed over my hips. “I think what he’s trying to say is, you look smokin’ hot.”
Colt nodded.
Creed’s hands squeezed my hips a little. “You’re really bringing out the caveman in me. I might have to kick someone’s ass if they look at you for too long.”
Creed’s words seemed to break Colt’s trance and he stared past me to look at his brother. “Maybe we shouldn’t go.”
“That thought had crossed my mind. I’d hate to ruin Ethan’s party with a fight,” Creed said.
Colt nodded again and folded his arms over his chest. “Fuck Ethan.”
“I agree, fuck Ethan,” Creed repeated.
“Cheese and rice, not this again,” I snapped, moving toward the truck. I went to open the door to the backseat when I heard the sound of the lock clicking into place. I spun around, glaring. They both held confident smirks, as if they were tickled they’d outsmarted me. I put my hands on my hips. “You have two options, boys. Either you come with me to the party or you stay home and I’ll go to the party all by myself.”
Their smirks dropped. “Normally Knox is on the receiving end of that look,” Creed grumbled.
“It’s funnier when it happens to him,” Colt said.
Creed looked at his twin. “Think it’s the red hair?”
Colt shrugged. “Redheads have been known to have fiery attitudes.”
I’d show them fiery. “I guess I’m going to the party alone.” I started walking away. “I wonder what drinking game Ethan wants me to play. I hope I don’t get too drunk. Things like inhibitions tend to go out the window when that happens.”
Creed caught me by my waist and put his lips to my ear. “That was manipulative.”
“Yet highly effective,” Colt grumbled and waved flippantly toward the truck. “Unlock it, Creed.”
I bit my lip to hold back a smile as we climbed into Creed’s truck and headed to Ethan’s.
5
Ethan lived in a gated, upscale neighborhood with big houses. The long driveway was already filled with cars and we had to park next to the curb in the street. We all climbed out and I stared up at the huge, two-story, mid-century modern house that had music blaring from it.
“Impressed?” Colt asked when he caught me staring. I glanced at him. He looked from me to Ethan’s house. “Ethan’s dad owns a nightclub downtown and his mom is the weatherwoman for Channel Six.”
“No. Big houses have many faults.” Like if you scream, no one will hear you. My hands clenched into fists at my sides and I chastised myself for letting my thoughts go there.
“You grew up in a big house like this, right?” Creed asked, coming to stand next to us.
I nodded. “A red brick Victorian. I own it now.”
Their heads whipped in my direction. “You own it?” Colt asked.
“I didn’t have time to grab a lot or have the opportunity to go through any of my family’s belongings before I was put into WITSEC. I just took a few mementos and a bag of clothes. Logan suggested I pay to have someone pack everything up and put it in storage so I can sell the house, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to do it.”
“It took us a while to box up our dad’s stuff after he died,” Colt said. “Once we did and we were left standing in an empty bedroom none of us wanted, we made the decision to sell the house. The house we have now was something we all picked out together in order to move on.”
I put my hand in his. “I’m glad you did or else I wouldn’t have met any of you.”
“We would have seen you at school and we’d still be standing right here right now,” Creed said.
“We would have had to fight off the other guys trying to get your attention, but we would have gotten to you eventually,” Colt said.
I scoffed. “What other guys?”
The corner of Colt’s mouth lifted. “The moment I saw you, babe, I wanted you, and I made sure all the guys at our school knew it, too.”
I gaped. “What?”
“Why do you think I insisted on showing you around school the first day?” he asked.
My mouth dropped open even further. “I thought you were being nice.”
He winced. “I was. I wanted to get to know you more and I didn’t want other guys interrupting that.”
Creed chuckled. “He gave this off-limits glare to every guy who looked at you that first week.” He squeezed Colt’s shoulder. “Good job, bro.”