Page 38

I Did A Bad Thing

T he thundering of paws and a screech wake me as the entire cadre of animals comes bounding into the bedroom, trampling over us as the dogs chase the cats and the eagle swoops behind them with a scream of fury. Multiple boob crushing stomps force me to pry my eyes open, looking around with a grunt of anger. I’m about to howl with anger when another intruder comes crashing in.

“ Holy feck , ye bloody fools, you’re going to wake up the entire…” Seer’s snicker is followed by snort, and within moments, she’s lost it.

This is not how I wanted to start my morning.

“Seer!” I hiss-whisper. “What in the hell are you doing and when did you get back?” I pinch the bridge of my nose as she continues to cackle. Teddy shifts on my left, his face buried in my neck, and Prez grumbles something sleepy in my right ear. I don’t bother asking why she feels the need to come barging into my room without knocking all the time. The boys have begrudgingly gotten used to her doing it, and none of us are shy.

“I got back last night, and I came over to play with the kiddos. No one was up, so I did the food and exercise thing, but they were so hyped up when I opened the door…”

Uh-huh. She definitely unleashed the beasts, hoping they’d wake us all up. I know my friend better than that. “We don’t have a kitchen full of strangers, do we?”

Rolling her eyes, Seer shakes her long ponytails like an anime character. “No, Peanut. Julia and the guys are at my place. I don’t think we’re comfortable enough as a pair of polycules to wake up in the same place.”

Wolfie’s head pops up from under the cover when I groan. “If you’re going to make her sound like that, we’ll need an hour before we join you. And you, pumpkin, will need to evacuate the premises.”

My eyes open and I glare down at him. “I think she buried the lead here, my darling boy. She said pair of polycules. Since when is she shacking up with the trio of doom versus letting them stink up her space?”

“Aw, sugarplum, I didn’t miss it. I think it’s cute. We’ve got groupies.”

His adorable smile defeats my dislike for the interlopers. Wolfie has known them for a long time, and he seems happy. I should be glad because it means Julia won’t be triggering my Trevor-based insecurities, right? But it also means those idiots aren’t going away soon, and they’ll move to monopolizing Seer.

Teddy leans in and nips my ear, proving once again that he has some sort of Vulcan mind meld with my insecurities. Every time I feel bothered or an old wound aches, he seems to know almost simultaneously that he should distract me. It’s freaky.

“Well, I suppose we are pretty fucking cool,” I mutter. Prez chuckles softly, his arm snaking across the puppy pile to pull us all closer. The warmth draws a soft sigh of satisfaction from me, and I feel all the sharp edges of irritation that were spiking inside of me fade.

“Ahem!”

Teddy lifts his head, propping himself up on one arm as he glares over at my bestie. “O’Flanagan, I’m going to count to five and if you aren’t gone by the time I finish, you’d better be okay with my bare ass. I have to piss, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to hold it while you act like a five-year-old.”

“Oooh, scary man. I’ll have you know I’ve got plenty of arse of me own at the moment, and though I’m disinclined to acquiesce to your command, I ate this morning. It’d be a pity to have brekkie all over the lovely hardwoods.”

Presley gives in first, snorting as he hides his face from our early morning grouch. I wink at Wolfie, who ducks under the cover to muffle his laughs against my tummy. I just bat my lashes at Edgar, watching the fury flash across his face with a look of fake innocence. The two of them spar like this all the time, and I find it cute, though he’d tan my hide vermillion for saying it out loud. Seer knows exactly how to get his goat, and he knows how to send off into a half-intelligible Irish rant.

I’ve considered popcorn before. It’s a meme worthy event.

“That’s it!” Teddy flings the covers off the lot of us, rolling to his feet with the grace of a panther as he heads to the bathroom.

Shrieking as cold air hits me, I scrabble the blanket back enough to keep my bits from shriveling. I know he can hear me, so I shout, “Way to shoot the messenger, you asshole!”

“Children,” Presley says with a fond smile. “Can we stop bickering long enough to get showered? None of us have work or lessons this weekend. We have a break and I, for one, would like to enjoy it without the squabbling.”

“He’s right. We don’t have a bunch of commitments, and since no one is hungover after the party, we should have a lazy Saturday,” Wolfie murmurs, looking up at me with a shy smile.

My heart jumps in my chest, and I wriggle out of the pile as reality hits me like a stinky trout to the schnoz. Gripping the blanket around my chest, I walk to the closet to get out of the open space. The small, dark space helps me catch my breath and I stare blankly at the wall as my mind races.

I was so surprised by the morning trampling and Seer being back that I almost forgot what I did. Chewing my lower lip, I dig my fingers into the soft faux fur of the comforter. I should have spoken up last night when I came running in from the dirty trust in the alley, but I didn’t know what to say. Everyone was talking and laughing and celebrating—how could I ruin that by confessing my sins? I’m not even sure if they are sins, to be honest, because the boys kept saying things about the crew getting bigger.

But I’m supposed to discuss it with them first, right?

Argh ! I know how to navigate so many situations with the aplomb of a true debutante or diplomat, but this relationship shit is for the birds. I haven’t been tied to any one person since Trevor, and now I’m in this lovely little square with three men who have been nothing but amazing. What do I do? I decide to find the town troublemaker and hump his face against a wall in a dirty alley. I’m my worst enemy, I swear to Hera.

The tap on my shoulder makes me jump, and I whirl around, putting my fists up out of habit. When I see it’s Wolfie, I drop my stance and wrap my arms around myself. “Hi, baby.”

“Sugarplum…” he hesitates for a second, reaching up to brush his thumb over my cheekbone. “You never have to hide anything from us. You know that, right?”

I blink, gob smacked. Yet again, one of them has done some sort of hot guy bullshit and figured out that I’m standing in here kicking my ass. “I mean… I do. But what if I messed up? What happens then?”

He leans in and brushes a kiss over my lips. “Then we all have a chat and work it out. We’d do that if anyone made a mistake. That’s how relationships work.”

My head drops and I look at my feet, feeling rotten because I don’t know how to explain what happened last night. “I…”

Teddy bursts in before I can finish, looking at his side of the closet for clothes. He’s naked, wet, and looking delicious, which confuses my idiotic mind and body even further. As if he can read my thoughts, he turns to give me a cocky grin. “When you finish telling the pup that you let the Irish knob dive through your pot of gold, I’ve a mind to grab pizza.”

My head turns towards him like I’m stuck in slow motion, mouth gaping at his words. A few indignant sounds break free, but I’m so completely shocked I can’t do more than squeak. The jackass just winks and tilts his head at Wolfie, who looks sheepish. I drop the blanket with a huff. Striding over to grab a pair of paint splattered jeans and a jean jacket, I give them both a reproachful look.

“If you knew, you should have said something when we got home last night. I worried myself to sleep, and I was just contemplating what I’d look like in the stupid stocks.”

His shrug is nonchalant as he yanks sweatpants and a white tee off the rack. “Tilly, you wouldn’t have worried if you’d just told us. We promised you we were in it for the long run, even if it means that an irksome idiot is going to tag along. You did nothing wrong. People like us…”

“Edgar, your phone is buzzing!” Presley shouts from the bathroom.

“Come on, sugarplum. Let’s get dressed and go find something to eat. You can be pissy with us while we inhale a slice or two,” Wolfie says. He grabs a pair of sweats as well, winking at me as he trots back into the bedroom.

You know, I feel as though they might butter me up for something. There’s an awful lot of ‘hot dudes in tight pants and tees’ going around this morning.

* * *

“Jesus Christ. Who would have thought Sherilynn would run a pizza joint with slices so good that it reminds me of New York?” I mumble around a huge bite. “I mean, the pie names are weird because… horses... but damn, this shit is good.”

Teddy grins. “Ah, well, that’s easy, drugar. Benjy flew to the city and stole a Michelin rated git who wanted out of the fast lane for a slower, more provincial life. Sherilynn hated the idea of hiring ‘an outsider’, but Guillermo is the best Italian chef in the region. I don’t know if he’ll stay, what with…”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I don’t know what the hell is going with that separation, but I’ve already stepped in it with Sherilynn. My ‘stay off of their radar’ plan is decimated between her, OJ, and their minions at school.” I reach over and swipe Teddy’s bourbon, tossing it back with a sigh of pleasure.

“Benjy’s been one of my best friends since high school and he won’t say a word, even if I poke at him. The dude’s usually so upbeat when he’s in the store or the Speakeasy, but since that night, he’s locked up like a bank vault,” Edgar muses. He swipes some of Wolfie’s garlic bread and gives me a smirk.

Presley sighs. “You know, I often wonder how I became the mature one in this quadrilateral. Give me the pepper flakes, Boone.”

The shaker flies across the table, and McSteamy catches it easily, shrugging as Teddy gapes. “Uni soccer, mate. Goalies are quick on their feet.”

“ You played on the Miyako soccer team as goalie? You?!”

I lean my head back on my shoulder, settling in for a bunch of male posturing. Sports are about as exciting as tax forms, and though I love watching the boys squabble, I’m not the least bit interested in their dick swinging when we aren’t naked.

“Mow!” Jekyll’s head pops up between my legs as he looks up from under the table.

“I know, buddy. Sports are a snooze fest. Where are the rest of the motley crew?”

“Mow?”

That means he doesn’t know—I think. I ruffle the fur on his head as Prez and Teddy continue arguing about collegiate sports at State U—that’s where Presley went as well. Wolfie joins in once it turns to State U talk, and eventually Teddy pulls out his phone to do that sabermetrics shit he uses to help set the line for his book. I vaguely understand it, but again, math is also not one of my favorite subjects.

Putting on a bright smile to hide my boredom, I turn to them. “Boys? I’m going to take the kiddos for a walk down Meanwhile you... whatever it is you’re doing. Be men or whatever. Maybe I’ll pop in to the bookstore, too.”

Grunts of assent are all I get as they talk players, positions, and stats that would make an actuary bang their head on the table as they feel asleep.

I wriggle out under the tall table, bending and twisting until I’m standing, then whistle for animals. If I’m going for another walk on my own, this time I’m taking bad decision deterrents. My track record with taking a simple walk without getting into trouble is becoming embarrassing.

“C’mon, cats and doggies. Let’s blow this joint.”