Page 4 of Puck My Life

I narrow my eyes. Ever since we were kids, our foster mother Maria used to call us the lost boys, but somewhere along the line, I grew up, and they didn’t.

“Do not call me that!”

“If the shoe fits.”

I close my eyes as he moves closer. The ass presses the tip of his index finger to my forehead and pushes until I sway backwards.

“Have some fun once in a while, Hook. Learn to have a good time like the rest of us.”

I grind my teeth, frustrated all over again. “I can’t! Someone needs to clean up the mess! Where are you going tonight, anyway? You aren’t going to get drunk again? You have practice tomorrow! They’ll bench you!”

“The Lost Boys are going out on the town. We’re celebrating Raynor’s new gig,” Deacon says with a tossed look over his shoulder. My tone is no doubt aggravating him, but, hell, he just parades around the house naked all the time and that aggravates the shit out of me.

Wait.

Raynor has a gig, and he didn’t tell me? They’re going out celebrating without me? The Lost Boys? Am I not one of them anymore?

I turn a wounded look on Raynor.

“I was going to tell you. Fucking hell, Deacon, can you let me tell her?” He turns to me and reaches out, trying to take my hand. I step back into the kitchen cupboard. “It’s in a couple of weeks. Just singing at a club. There’ll be a couple hundred people. Indy’s friend owns it.”

“So, you’re going out-” I ask blankly, stunned by the weight of my failures. I could never help him get a gig. I don’t even know a hundred people.

“We’re going out to play. To have fun. To live a little. All three things you do not know how to do,” Deacon purrs and slaps a kiss to my temple. “Don’t wait up, Captain, my captain.”

I throw a chunk of what looks like bread at his head, but I don’t have the hand-eye coordination that they do, and it bounces harmlessly off the wall, onto the floor. One more thing for me to clean.

Deacon laughs at me, which only makes everything that much worse. Mal wanders in and grips my cheeks, forcing me to stare into those golden eyes.

“We were going to tell you before we leave. Promise, Veevee. Don’t be mad.”

“How can I be mad when it’s Raynor’s dream?” I whisper. I’m heartbroken over the fact that you’re leaving me behind.

Mal’s smile is blinding, and I’m left struggling to breathe through it.

“What’s taking so long?”

I flinch at the sound of Indy’s voice. Mal moves away from me, as he always does when she’s close. It hurts. I was there when he first came to live with our foster parents. I was there on his first day of high school, and when he presented as an alpha. For all the moments that meant anything, they belonged to me.

Now, they are giving them to her.

I turn away and start cleaning up the mess that Raynor made in the kitchen.

“Can you please make sure you clean the table properly? I’m going to bring Cassie over tomorrow,” Indy says in her snappy tone. “This house is an embarrassment. You really ought to do better, Vae.”

I hunch my shoulders and don’t answer her.

“Hey! I’m talking to you.”

I turn and force a smile, surprised to find that we’re alone in the room, though I shouldn’t be surprised. She never talks to me like this when they can hear.

The condescension on her face makes me want to hit her, but I can’t do that. I don’t think they would choose me anymore.

“Do the guys know Cassie is coming over?” I ask instead of answering her.

Her floral omega scent irritates my nose.

“Course they do; the Lost Boys are throwing a party.”