Page 9

Chapter Nine

Vivian

I pound my fists against his bare back and even dig my nails into his flesh but he doesn’t miss a step or even falter when I draw blood. I lift my head when I hear the other two laughing. I shoot both of them a look that promises to slit their throats in their sleep.

“I fucking hate you three!” I force out through clenched teeth.

Archer pouts. “Don’t be like that, baby, a bets a bet.”

“It was best of three, assholes! You fuckers cheated!” I scream.

“You broke the rules when you tried to fuck with us and get that cunt to ask you out.” My nostrils flare as I glare at Ezekiel.

“I hate you the most,” I spit out. The bastard just shrugs. “Fucking put me down, Hayze!” I kick my legs and continue pounding my fists against his back. I’m so fucking embarrassed, I can hear people laughing and calling out for their friends to look. Never in my life have these idiots ever manhandled me like this before!

“Of course,” Hayze says and I sigh in relief, happy that he is finally listening until the bastard slides me down his front, causing my breath to hitch. He keeps his hands on my waist and pushes me back until I’m flush against… a car. I look around and notice we are in the parking lot. I turn back to him and frown. The frown vanishes when he plasters his body flush against mine. Ezekiel and Archer cage me on each side. I dart my gaze between the three of them wondering what the fuck is going on. Ezekiel just flexed his big dick energy not five minutes ago, outing me as his wife and Archer pretty much tried to piss on me to mark his territory, and yet here they stand with smirks on their faces while their friend is plastered against me.

“You owe us dinner,” Archer rasps out. I shake my head trying to come up with a reply but their close proximity is short circuiting my brain. I came to CHU with a plan and the instant these three barged back into my life my carefully crafted plan is long forgotten.

“I… uh… I—” My mumbling is cut off when Hayze grips the back of my neck, forcing me onto my tiptoes. I attempt to fight but then he shocks the fuck out of me and robs me of air when he seals his lips to mine. Instant fucking sparks! My mind quiets and my body relaxes into him. I grip his arms to keep me steady. He forces his tongue inside my mouth and the second I taste him, I moan without consent. Our tongues are a tangled mess, everything around us begins to fade as I get lost in him.

In this kiss.

When I hear a groan from my left, reality crashes into me. I snap my eyes open and turn my head to the side, gasping for air. Hayze finally releases me and steps back giving me space. I can’t look at any of them.

I just kissed Hayze Draven!

Not only did I kiss him, I did it in front of the boy who took my virginity and my fucking husband!

“Get in the car, Vi,” Ezekiel rasps out. I keep my head down and do as he says without argument, I’m too stunned and confused and… hot… really fucking hot to argue. I climb in the back and nibble on my lip. Ezekiel climbs in beside me and I huddle closer against the door as Archer and Hayze get in the front. I don’t ask where we are going when they pull out of the lot. I don’t even look up the entire drive. I’m too fucking confused and angry, I’m pissed at them but more than that, I’m angry at myself for allowing them to get inside my head again. Out of the three of them, I never expected Hayze to be the one to make the first move. I know there is unfinished business between the four of us but I never realized Hayze… liked me. I mean there were signs but I didn’t allow myself to read too much into them.

As the car slowly comes to a stop, I lift my head and peer out the window. It's a small cottage style beach house with white shutters and all to boot. The guys all climb out of the car but I don’t move, the house may be cute and all but I am not playing their games. I have too much weighing on me already and I don’t need to add their mind-fuck games to the list. I see Archer reach for the door handle and quickly push the lock. He may not be able to see me through the tint but I sure as fuck can see him, and the look on his face is priceless.

“You really think a locked door is going to stop me?” he taunts from outside. I scoff and scoot forward and lean through the middle to hit the central locking on the driver’s side and shoot Hayze and Ezekiel the middle finger through the windshield. Put that in your fucking pipe and smoke it, assholes! I flop back into my seat and wait for them to give up and go inside, the second they do I am making a run for it.

“Vivi, baby, you get one chance to do this the easy way or we resort to more… pleasurable methods .” The humor in Hayze’s tone just grinds on my nerves. How can he act so unbothered by what just happened? No one knows about me and Archer, that shit has been kept a secret for years because I know Vox will murder him if he found out, but then Hayze gave zero fucks when he slung me over his shoulder in front of my brother—who I might add did nothing to stop him! Then to top it the fuck off, he kissed me, out in the open where Vox could have seen!

“Fuck you!” I scream, then cross my arms over my chest.

“You were warned,” Archer teases. I sit here smugly, knowing they won’t smash a car window to get inside—the smugness evaporates within a fraction of a second when the car beeps and all the locks disengage. I’m too slow, the door is yanked open before I can hit the lock again. Archer reaches for me, I kick out and relish in the sound of his grunt as I scramble to get to the other side, but he grabs my ankle and drags me toward him. I scream and kick to get free. He yanks me down the leather seats until my ass teeters on the edge and he is standing between my open legs. I sit up and attempt to smack him across the face but he grips my wrist halting my attack. “And here I thought you would put up more of a fight.”

“Go fuck yourself, Archer.” I sneer.

“Your bratty attitude is starting to piss me off, baby.”

My eyes widen in indignation. “Good, then leave me the fuck alone, asshole.”

“You were free for twelve fucking months. You came back to us not the other way around, Vivian.” His words smack into me like an avalanche. I hate to admit it but they fucking sting like a bitch. Whatever Archer sees in my eyes has him dropping my wrist and stepping back. He doesn’t ask as he grabs my hand and yanks me out of the car. He drags me toward the house and I hear the other two following after us. When we enter the house I expected to find it messy since they clearly live here but surprisingly, it's clean and has a real homey type feeling to it. He bypasses the modest kitchen and rounds a corner to a living room with the most stunning view of the ocean. I don’t protest when he shoves me into one of the seats, I just sit here and stare out at the water.

Oh what it must feel like to be the ocean and be free to do as you please.

“We need to talk.” Ezekiel’s words drag me out of my thoughts and smack me back into reality. I release a long exhale and cross my arms over my chest. I don’t miss the way the three of them drop their eyes to my tits.

I scoff and glare at the bastards. “You want to talk, then stop looking at my tits!” I snap. The three of them ignore me and continue to stare so I choose to be a real bitch and yank the small triangles to the side exposing my tits to them. “Take a good look, boys, they’re tits and every girl has em!” The three idiots groan and don’t even attempt to look away. I fix my top and let out a huff of annoyance.

“Well, that was distracting,” Hayze says but the husky tone of his voice indicates he enjoyed the show more than he is letting on.

“Why the fuck am I here?” I bite out. The three of them just stand there and stare at me like I am the final piece to their unsolvable puzzle. I realize then that I left my phone and my stuff at the beach. “One of you better go get my shit from the beach!”

“Nova grabbed your things, she’ll drop them off at your dorm,” Archer says in a bored tone that pisses me off.

“Well, could you assholes at least get me a shirt or something so you can stop checking me out?”

“Now, why the fuck would we do that?” I gape at Ezekiel.

“Uh, because it’s my body and I don’t want you looking at it,” I defend.

“The marriage license you and I both signed says I can look and touch whenever the fuck I want.” I choke on fucking air! Hayze and Archer both mumble beneath their breath but my focus is rooted on Ezekiel.

“That’s not what that means.” My retort is weak and we all know it.

He shrugs. “Don’t give a fuck. You can try to rationalize what’s happening all you want, Vivi, but it doesn’t change the fact that we are here and we all need to talk.”

“Talk about what, Ezekiel?” I scream as I climb to my feet and get right in his face—well, chest but who the fuck cares! “You faked your death and didn’t tell me, then those two assholes took off and left me a fucking note, a fucking note! None of you thought to call or text, you just left me behind.” Ezekiel’s eyes fill with guilt but I’m not done. “Do you have any idea what watching you die was like?” He opens his mouth but I push on. “It fucking killed me!” I scream and I hate that tears begin to fall down my cheeks. “I wanted to lean on Hayze and Archer to help me, but then they left. I was on my own and grieving the loss of not only my brother but the three of you! So, now tell me what the fuck we have to talk about because from where I’m standing, I don’t think anything you three say will change my mind and make me want to stay.”

“I’m in love with you.” I stumble back a step and lose my balance, falling onto the seat I just vacated. I stare up at Archer with wide eyes and my mouth open. I search his gaze and I see nothing but the truth.

He means it.

I shake my head trying to deny his claim. “It’s true, Vivian,” he implores.

When he takes a step forward I raise my hand halting his movements. “No,” I whisper and bat away my tears, my chest is on fire and my mind is reeling. He finally said the words I longed to hear from him for years. “You don’t get to say that to me, not now. Not after everything you put me through.”

“I’m so sorry.” When he reaches for me I smack his hands away. Hayze pushes him back and warns him not to try that shit again.

“You fucked me, then left me. You acted like I didn’t exist. Stopped replying to my texts and when I would enter a room, you would leave. It took me years to come to terms with the fact you just wanted to be the one to fuck the infamous Vox Hatchett’s sister.”

His face pales. “That wasn’t why I did it!” he roars.

“Everyone calm down,” Ezekiel shouts. “How about we all take a minute to calm the hell down and maybe just cook some food then we can… talk.”

I sigh dejectedly. “I have nothing to say,” I admit quietly.

“Well, then you can listen because clearly we all have a lot to say and you aren’t leaving here until everything that needs to be said is said,” Ez answers.

“What is your hope out of this little pow wow?” I snark.

“For you to realize that the three of us clearly have feelings for you, Vivian, and none of us are willing to let you walk away.”

Well, fuck! That was not what I expected to come out of my husband's mouth!