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Chapter Nineteen

Jolie

Every day this week Kai has found an excuse to hold my hand or grope me in public—I know exactly who this PDA is for. He has also been giving me sweet little gifts. The rest of his team can’t touch me on school grounds, or at least they shouldn’t. Chester and Creed keep finding excuses to call me into their offices; meanwhile, Trace—the asshole—has made us run this week. Colt thinks it’s hilarious for us to have to run behind him so that I can check out his ass while he sings “Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer.

So far today, I’ve woken up to Laughn’s head between my legs, a table full of gifts that I get to open when I get home, and apparently there is going to be cake too. When I arrived at school, Jimmie and Sinclair made a big show of singing me happy birthday in the courtyard which drew out Colt and Summer’s teams. It was an entire spectacle.

Shutting my locker, I listen as Sinclair raves about a party this weekend at Colt’s house. She glances over my shoulder and her face goes bright red. I turn to see what has caused her reaction, and Colt and Blayne are coming our way. Blayne winks at her.

“OMG! You fucked them!” I screech as Kai comes up behind me.

“Who fucked who?” he asks, pulling me to his chest. His hand finds my leg, fingers trailing up under my skirt.

“Sinclair! Her and them ,” I say, nodding my head towards the members of Team Hijinks, all while trying to pretend his fingers aren’t rubbing my slit.

“I heard it was the entire team,” Kai whispers against my neck. My eyes bug out of my head and Sinclair doesn’t deny it.

“Hey, Sweet Cheeks,” Colt quips and winks at Sinclair.

Blayne isn’t shy. She pulls Sinclair around to face her, taking her head in her hands, and mauls Sinclair’s lips with her mouth. I watch with rapt attention as Sinclair’s knees go weak.

Someone clears their throat, and we all turn to find Brennan staring at us. “I think we need to adhere to the ‘six inches between crotches’ rule please. Jolie, my office.”

His eyes fall to Kai’s hand under my skirt. Kai just slowly removes his finger that had found its way inside me, bringing it to his lips and leisurely licking it as Brennan watches.

“I’ll see you guys in class,” I say and move towards Brennan. There’s something dark in his eyes today, and I don’t know if I should be scared or excited. Fingers crossed for the latter.

I follow Brennan quietly to his office, and Betty gives me a tight smile as I walk by her desk. While I can’t say we will ever be friends, I’ll keep trying for Jimmie’s sake.

I pass through the door that Brennan is holding open for me and saunter into his office. He shuts the door and moves behind me. “Happy birthday,” he whispers in my ear, placing a kiss on my neck, which makes me tremble.

I turn to face him. The unadulterated lust shining in his eyes has me jumping into his arms, and he easily catches me as I wrap my legs around his waist. His lips descend on mine as he walks us backwards. Swiping the entire contents of his desk onto the floor in one move, he sits me on top of it. Brennan then slides my underwear off, shoving it into his pocket like a trophy.

“Spread your legs for me,” he growls, before biting his lip.

Following his orders, I spread my legs as far as I can, forcing my skirt to hike up to my waist. A groan rolls from his chest and he licks his lips as his eyes fall to my naked pussy, still wet from Kai’s fingers just minutes before.

Brennan loosens his tie and steps forward, falling to his knees in front of me. He slides his arms under my legs to grab my ass and drag me closer, and I use my elbows to prop myself up so I can watch him eat me out. My legs fall over his shoulders as he leans in, running his tongue over my clit first.

I gasp as he makes figure eights over my throbbing bundle of nerves. His meticulous movements have me throwing my head back and biting my lip between my teeth, trying to keep quiet. The principal’s office is just next door; finding us like this could blow their cover.

A finger slips inside me, causing me to moan softly. He pulls back and smiles up at me.

“Do you want to come?” he asks. I nod frantically, my bottom lip jutting out in a pout because he stopped. “Then you need to be quiet.”

His finger resumes its delicious torture, rubbing against my G-spot and making me see stars. It has me wanting to scream out his name. Instead, I bite down on the knuckle of my pointer finger, which makes him happy, and his head moves back where I need it.

As his tongue works its magic, I unbutton my blouse with one hand and pull my bra down in the front, putting my tits on display. I feel my orgasm building. With my right hand holding me up so I can watch the glorious man between my legs, I use my left hand to pinch my nipple.

“Fuck, Brennan. I’m going to come.”

Brennan stands, toes off his shoes, then drops his pants around his ankles and steps out of them. He wraps my legs around his waist and lifts me from the table. My arms circle around his neck, pulling him closer, eliminating all the space between us. He kisses down my neck as he walks us to the sofa lounge in the corner of the room. The throbbing between my legs has me reaching for his erection, needing it inside me now.

He sits himself on the sofa, then pulls a condom from his pocket, ripping it open with his teeth. He wastes no time putting it on, and I wrap my hand around his thick cock, guiding him to my entrance and sliding down his shaft. There’s no easing in; instead, I all but impale myself and rock onto him. My hard nipples rub against his shirt, but that’s not enough. Needing to feel his skin, I ease my movements and unbutton his shirt, pressing myself against him. His lips find mine again and his mouth muffles the sound of his name on my lips as that orgasm rolls over me. His thrusts slow while he waits for me. Sagging in his arms I recoup for a moment before Brennan flips me onto my back, hovering above me and lifting one of my legs over his shoulder. He thrusts back inside and pounds into me, chasing his release. My nails dig into his shoulders, and the urge to scream his name is again caught in my throat.

This new angle has him hitting my cervix, but the pain quickly turns to pleasure. I read somewhere that a lot of women in their thirties love these kinds of orgasms, and I never understood why until now. My hand clamps over my mouth as a scream gurgles in my throat. Brennan lets my leg slip down off his shoulder and he comes after a few short thrusts before falling into my arms. I wrap them around him as we lay in silence.

“That was a nice birthday surprise,” I say, fisting the back of his shirt and holding him tighter to me. He lifts his head from my chest and smiles at me.

“I’m sorry it took me a while to get out of my head.” He brushes my hair out of my face and leans down, placing a soft kiss to my lips. “But we better get dressed. You have class with Creed next, and he will ditch his class to find you. We need to get through these last handful of weeks before you graduate, then we’re all out of here.”

“Do we have to do classes at Olympia?”

Brennan nods. “A few, depending on the pathway you decide to follow. For some, they want a certain degree, others just want to do what is mandatory. Most graduate when they’re twenty-one, while other teams take longer if one of their members is being trained in a specific area. You can work at your own pace, though, so it really depends.”

“So, if one person in the team wants to be a doctor?”

“Then the entire team might as well find something to study since they will be enrolled for the same amount of time. That, or they could make a special request to work smaller jobs, which is usually turned down. However, once they graduate from Olympia, they don’t have to work there full time. We don’t have that luxury; for us, this is it. We’re the guinea pigs, therefore we must work within Olympia.”

“Well, I plan to change all that if we can get rid of Mr Z. Don’t get me wrong, I like the concept of Olympia, just not how he runs it.”

The bell rings and I pull myself from underneath Brennan and stand, buttoning up my blouse. He walks back over to his desk and grabs the pants he had dropped on the floor. He pulls my underwear out of the pocket as he comes back over to me. Lifting them to his nose, he takes a deep whiff, and with a groan, reluctantly hands them back to me. I slip them on and try to make myself look presentable—not freshly fucked. Brennan does the same, discretely disposing of the condom in an old coffee cup, placing the lid back on it and throwing it in the trash.

A knock at the door has Brennan checking himself over. “Come in.”

Betty pokes her head inside and she eyes me up and down, her lip turning up in disgust. “Your next appointment is here.”

“Thank you. Send her in,” he says dismissively.

Betty leaves, and I smile at Brennan. “I’ll see you at home tonight.”

He nods, and I turn to the door, coming face to face with Chelsea.

“Bitch,” she hisses under her breath, and I elbow her on my way past. By the time I get to the science block, I’m running late. I know Creed won’t ask me for a late slip, so I walk straight through the door, heading for the seat Colt has saved for me.

“Nice of you to join us, Miss Smith.”

“You’re welcome,” I say with a cheeky smile. “Mr Myers wanted to wish me a happy birthday.”

“That was nice of him,” he replies, looking me over. “Happy birthday. Now, if you could take your seat, we have to dissect some rats today.” My gaze cuts to his. “Don’t worry, they’re bred for this purpose and humanely euthanised.”

A shiver runs up my spine. I turn my back to Creed and find Colt holding a dead rat, making it dance on the table. Once I have my lab coat and protective glasses on, Colt and I make quick work of following the instructions on the white board until the poor rat is gutless and all its organs are neatly placed on a damn tray. Colt is surprisingly good at biology and takes the class seriously. Creed walks around the room and looks over everyone’s work, stopping at our table last. He leans in to look over my shoulder, his finger touching the back of my bare leg.

“Good work,” he praises before lowering his voice. “I can smell him on your clothes.”

“How?” I whisper back.

“Our heightened sense of smell, plus Brenny smells like old books and whiskey more times than not. But most of all, I can smell the lingering scent of your arousal now that I’m up close.”

I’m glad Colt chose the back row. The new science classroom we have been moved to has two rows of six bench-style seating. There is no way to see behind each bench unless you’re standing behind it. No one else has taken the back row, and I wonder if that was done purposefully or because no one wants to go near Colt. I always thought he was nice, but I have been paying attention to what happens when he’s around. Kids scatter in the opposite direction when they see him coming. Just like they did when my Hades guys were still here.

Creed’s fingers curl around a pen on my desk, and a with a flick, it falls to the floor. Colt must see what’s transpiring, so he picks up some rat guts and flings them into some poor girl’s hair. She shrieks and Colt runs over to help her. Creed, however, bends down to pick up the pen that he dropped on the floor. Leaning in, his head disappears under my skirt. He flicks my underwear to the side and runs his tongue from my clit all the way down. Then, just as quick, he pops back up and places the pen back on my desk and walks away. When he reaches the girl with the rat guts in her hair, he turns back to me and licks his lips before returning his attention to her.

“Stop whining. I’m sure you’ve had worse shit in your hair than this. Go clean yourself up.”

The poor girl cries harder and runs from the room. Colt’s hyena laugh fills the room as he makes his way back to my side.

“You’re welcome.” He winks, a shit-eating grin breaking out across his face.

“Screw you.”

“No thank you, you had your chance and blew it. My sights are now set on a perky strawberry blonde. That is, if I can ever get Blayne out from between her thighs. I swear we are taught how to share in kindergarten, but obviously, she didn’t get the memo.”

Just imagining Blayne cock-blocking Colt makes me laugh. “So, is it just you two and Sinclair, or your whole team?”

“A man never kisses and tells, so you’ll have to ask her. But can you also ask her to let me eat her pussy? I beg you.”

“I’m not doing that—it’s weird.”

“How is that weird? You are her friend. Girls talk about sex and compare notes.”

I shake my head at him. Creed starts to talk about what we need to record down, and Colt drops the pussy subject for now. I’m sure he’ll harass me again at some point.

The last class of the day is English. Sinclair’s in this class and so is Summer and a couple of her guys, though we are seated in rows of three and she ditched her guys for us after we made up. The bell rings and I sigh in relief. I’m glad this day is over.

“No way did Colt ask you to ask me that,” Sinclair says, rolling her eyes.

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Summer pipes up. “Remember that I have to live with them, and Blayne and Colt are always fighting about something.”

“Now I wouldn’t call what they do fighting,” Leland, one of Summer’s guys I can actually stand, says while leaning over her desk. “It’s more like healthy competition.”

“Do you have any plans tonight?” Sinclair asks, changing the subject.

“The guys have presents they want to give me, and Kai was up half the night making me a cake.”

“Is it edible?” Sinclair asks with a laugh, wrinkling her nose.

I shrug. “I’m about to find out.”

We pack up our stuff and head out to find Kai waiting, leant against the wall directly opposite the classroom. He pushes off and meets me halfway.

“Ready for cake?” he asks.

I nod, and Kai takes my hand as he struts down the hall. Being the only one able to hold my hand in public is completely going to his head. Sinclair and Jimmie grilled me about it today at lunch before Kai joined us. I told them we are taking it slow and seeing where things go. They were both happy for me.

The drive home is quiet. I have continued driving Boston’s Viper since he can’t leave the house. Is he pleased that I’m taking his car? No. Am I purposefully taking it every day to annoy him? Yes.

I pull into the long driveway and park the car to the side of the front entry, right in front of the window. Just so it annoys him a little more that he can see his car isn’t in the temperature-controlled garage with the rest of the vehicles but can’t do anything about it. Honestly, I avoid the garage here because Creed’s hearse is weird as fuck and gives me the creeps. Go figure, I can cut up a body, but the car that transports the dead people is what freaks me out.

Kai parks beside me as I grab my backpack from the passenger seat. “You know he’s going to blow a gasket really soon over his car,” Kai muses as I slide from my seat.

“Yup,” I say, popping the P. “It’s why I keep doing it. I might have actually missed his bossy ass. Next, I plan to go to his house and get his red Jordans.”

Kai chuckles. “He is going to strangle you.”

“I hope so.”

We both walk in the front door and pause. There are inflated balloons lining the floor, and helium balloons dancing across the ceiling.

“What the fuck?!”

Kai shrugs, and his look of confusion tells me this isn’t something he planned. We drop our keys on the foyer table by the front door and shuffle through the balloons, kicking them out of our way. Upon entering the living room, we find Case and Laughn standing on chairs, their backs to us while they hang a banner that reads “Happy Birthday.”

Boston appears out of nowhere and his front presses up against my back. “Are you trying to piss me off?” he whispers in my ear.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He grasps the back of my ponytail and pulls my head back, arching my neck to the side as his breath feathers against my skin.

“I think you know exactly what you’re doing. You get a free pass today since it’s your birthday, but your punishment is coming.”

“Promises, promises.”

Boston lets go of my hair, and I tilt my head to see Laughn and Case have turned to face us.

“Happy birthday,” Case says, jumping down from the chair. “Brennan gave me an ETA and they will be home in about half an hour.”

“This is . . . wow. I’m actually speechless.”

“That’s a first,” Kai says with a laugh. “I’m going to get out of these clothes and shower.” He places a kiss on my cheek and leaves.

“That sounds good. I think I might shower too. Be back soon.”

Moving past Boston, I walk down the hall into the kitchen. Davis is closing the refrigerator and turns to look at me. We really haven’t spoken since he’s come back from the dead.

“Can we talk?” I still feel terrible for ditching him after we had sex. It was his first time, so that makes it even worse.

“About?”

“Just follow me. I need to put my bag in my room.”

He doesn’t argue, even though I expected him to, and he follows me silently up to my room. Dumping my bag on the floor, I kick off my shoes and sigh. Davis stands awkwardly in the centre of the room, so I close the distance between us, taking his hands in mine. Looking up at him, I meet his chocolate eyes and smile. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“Leaving after we had sex, I didn’t realise...”

He closes his eyes. “I should have said something, but I was embarrassed. How do you tell someone that you’re an eighteen-year-old virgin? One who saved himself, even after the girl he loved died, because no one ever compared to her.”

“I’m glad you waited for me,” I say, dropping his hands and wrapping my arms around his waist. “Even if you weren’t sure if I was her.”

“I think deep down I knew. When I locked myself in the bathroom, I was mad at myself for not waiting until we knew for certain. I felt like I betrayed you. While I know some of the guys didn’t wait, and I get why, every time a girl touched me, it made my insides crawl, like tiny bugs were eating away at me. Jolie, I was made for you, to love you. My head couldn’t move past that.”

Someone knocks at the door and Marlow pops his head in. “Can I come in?”

At my nod, he pushes the door open more, then comes into my room.

“How many girls have you slept with?” I ask, turning my attention to Marlow.

He stills and locks eyes with me, unsure how he should answer the question. “Why? That dickhead told you he was a virgin, didn’t he?”

“Don’t avoid the question, Marlow.”

He sighs. “Fine, two not including you. One was a few months after you died. I needed to forget—the pain was too much. It was a horrible experience.”

“You were a child,” I gasp.

“Yeah, I know. The other was when I was sixteen—I thought I would try again. I’d started questioning if maybe I was gay. Though I didn’t mind blow jobs, as I could close my eyes for those.”

“Okay, enough sex talk. I need to shower. Did you need something? I never asked why you came up here.”

“No, I came for Davis. We’re making you dinner and while we have watched numerous YouTube videos, they say we should put it on a few hours before we want to eat.”

“I better not die today. Kai made the cake, and now you two are making dinner.”

“We couldn’t exactly ask Petra to come over. We have been hiding when she comes to clean, and it doesn’t look hard to cook a roast. The oven does most of the work.”

“If you say so. I can burn water, so I’m not a good judge of how hard it is.”

Davis drops a kiss on my forehead, then they leave to start dinner and I take my shower, making sure I shave and wash everything. Having so many guys and so much sex, I like to keep on top of being smooth. I still think I’m insane for demanding we all be together, but in my defence, I was mad and spewing words from my damn mouth before I thought things through. Will we all stay together after we take down Mr Z? Maybe, maybe not. I can’t imagine what it would be like for all of them to have to share me. Maybe I need a few sister wives. As soon as I think about it, my gut pools with jealousy. Even thinking about another woman touching what is mine is too much. This is fucked. I need to ask Brennan how to get hold of my medical records, the ones that contain my abilities. How it’s possible to be connected to so many people and why? Why two teams? What experiment is he really running?

I know Mr Z originally told Team Zeus that their sixth member, their female, died at birth, and it fits with the timeline for when my mother lost her first child. But that child was not like us. What was the original experiment? I need some answers.

Once I’m dressed in a cute Tupac T-shirt dress, a messy bun, and a pair of ankle socks, I make my way downstairs. The smell of garlic in the air is making my stomach rumble.

All the guys are seated at the table, presents piled on top. It’s been a while since anyone bought me anything. A foster parent here and there may have got me something small. But the one friend I had never knew when my birthday was, nor did the cheater ex-boyfriend. I had never wanted to celebrate a birthday without Trace. The thoughts send a pang of sadness to my gut, and I make a beeline for him. With my memories returned, I now remember all my birthdays before I went away, but just knowing Trace is here makes this one so much better.

I climb into his lap, getting myself comfortable as his arms wrap around me. “Are you ready to open your presents?” he asks, his words fanning across my neck, making me shiver.

“Hell yes!”

Trace picks up the gift directly in front of him and hands it to me. Ripping it open, I squeal when a bright-blue furby is revealed. “I always wanted one of these, but Mr Z would never let me have toys.”

“I know, Star. You would always ask me to sneak you to the toy store to try to find a blue one just like this. We could have gotten in so much shit for straying off course, but you always had us wrapped around your little finger.”

“I love it.”

Marlow hands me his gift next, and I unwrap a handful of brand-new shirts. “Since you keep stealing mine.”

I pick one up and smell it—sandalwood—just like him. He knows why I kept his shirt and I always wondered why it never lost its smell.

Chester is next, and he slides his gift across the table. It’s a framed, hand-drawn picture of us in bed, the sheet draped over my body and covering the fun parts. Chester is naked but angled, so his junk isn’t in the picture. I smile up at him. “You’re so damn talented.”

“Me next,” Davis says, as he gets up and brings my present. I unwrap it and laugh—it’s a jar of blue M so much detail and colour packed into one tattoo. It’s us, all of us, in one design.

“Sure is. You mentioned me doing an arm sleeve, and this is the idea that I had. I was hoping Chester would want to help with some parts of the design that are more suited to him.”

I look over at Chester and he smirks, his mind going to the gutter. He nods, and I turn my attention back to the guys.

“You’re all amazing. I love everything.”

We have some time before the food is ready, so Case and I decide to look for the telescope, while Brennan cleans up the wrapping paper, and Davis and Marlow check on dinner. I make Kai come along with us in the hope that being around each other will ease their tension.

After an hour of searching through boxes of crap stored in the musty, old basement, we find what we’re looking for.

Finally, as we make our way back up the stairs, Marlow and Davis announce that dinner is ready. We all rush to take our seats at the table and dig in. The roast meal they made turned out surprisingly well; it’s full of flavour and cooked perfectly.

After clearing our plates, Kai rushes away and comes back with the cake he baked. Even I have to admit it’s absolutely perfect. He went all out with a teal buttercream frosting, some meringue decorations on top, and pink sprinkles around the base.

Completely gorged on food, we all head into the living room to relax, sprawling across the couches and enjoying each other’s company.

At precisely 10:13pm—Brennan tells me this is the exact time I was born—I get a message from Mr Z. It simply says, “Happy Birthday.” Attached is a picture of a younger Mr Z holding a newborn baby—who I assume is me—and the smile on his face is pure happiness. I wonder what happened to that man in the photo.

As I get up to head to bed, the guys play “rock, paper, scissors” to figure out who gets to sleep in my bed tonight. After muttered curses from the losers, Davis is declared the winner, and I all but drag him upstairs to my room.

It was an amazing day today, and an even better night, especially now that I get to fall asleep wrapped in his arms with a smile on my face.