Page 10 of Revived (Lucky Ones #1)

“You got this?” He asks cautiously .

“Yeah, we’re good. Get to the rink before you get in trouble. We’ll be there.”

We leave my house together, but I jog over to Elle’s house, where Flynn runs over to his vehicle to get to the rink in time. DC traffic is a bitch on its best days, so he better hope it isn’t too bad, or he’ll be late. I fling myself into Elle’s front door and immediately begin calling out for her.

“Elena? Elena! Where are you?”

My heart rate speeds up at an alarming pace.

Sweat beads on the back of my neck, and the next five seconds feel like hours until she calls out to me from her bedroom.

I jog through her living room and down the hall until I push open her bedroom door and find her standing in front of a floor length mirror.

She’s fighting back tears as she holds her sensor applicator to the back of her left arm.

Her watery eyes meet mine just as she bites her lip in concentration.

“It’s giving me a hard time. I just wanted to do it myself and be ready before you got here.” She sniffles, careful not to release any tears. I'm sure out of fear of ruining her perfected makeup.

I keep her emerald gaze hostage and give her a gentle smile. “So, you will. Eyes on me, baby girl. You already have it in place. Just press the button.”

Her eyes never stray from mine as she presses the button on the applicator, and it sets in her skin for the next ten days.

My feet carry me until my chest presses into her back, and I take the applicator as well as the cover for the sensor from her.

Setting the applicator on her bed, I peel off the back of the adhesive and gently place the navy cover with daisies around the sensor to keep it in place.

Once that’s on I look at her in the mirror and finally take her in.

Elle’s lavender dress fits her like a damn glove.

She looks every bit of the mafia princess that she is.

Her dress fits tight to her lithe body, showing off enough cleavage to have it bordering on indecent, but I’m not her keeper nor her father.

So, I’m just thankful to be the one who gets to enjoy the view.

“You look stunning, Elena Rossi.” I whisper in her ear before pressing my face gently into her neck and catching a deep breath of her scent. Deciding to be bold tonight, I place a chaste kiss on the side of her neck before pulling away and resting my chin on top of her beautiful curly mane.

She spins in front of me before bringing her hands up and grabbing onto the lapels of my jacket. She wordlessly stares into my eyes for a moment with a serene smile on her lips before bringing her hands up and fixing my tie.

“You look handsome, Sullivan Byrne.”

She watches me like she thinks I can save the world by just lifting my pinky.

Little does she know she could crumble mine with just a single look.

There is no length I wouldn’t go to for her.

There is no bridge I wouldn’t burn or mountain I wouldn’t climb.

No ocean too wide or valley too deep for me to conquer just to hear the whisper of her voice on a daily basis.

People may call that obsessive, but I would tell those people that it’s called passion and then to get their damn noses out of my relationship– No– Not relationship. Whatever, you know what I mean.

“Thank you.” I offer her the smirk that I know makes her shiver. “Let’s get out of here. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave.”

She laughs a true, carefree laugh. The kind that makes her throw her head back in glee. My favorite sound in this entire world.

“It’ll be fine, grump. Now come on, I’m so excited to see your brothers.

” She teases. “Kieran gives the best hugs, and ugh, have you seen Mac’s Instagram lately?

Those shirtless pictures of him on the beach with Lee?

” She pretends to fan herself with her hand.

“Good Lord. Don’t even get me started on Daddy Rowan.

Ugh, we can’t leave out Declan. He and Jakob look like they’re just looking for a third to round out their marriage.

Jesus, he sure knew what he was doing when he made your brothers. ”

My glare is intense enough to break grown men.

I know because I learned it from the best. Still she giggles at me and takes my hand before pulling us towards the front door.

I let her get to the doorway of the living room before I yank back, causing her to abruptly turn and crash into my chest. My hands settle on her hips and I squeeze just enough to make sure I have her attention.

“You want to repeat that, Boo?” I raise a challenging brow.

“Nope, I think I poked the bear just enough, thank you very much.” She presses up on her toes and presses her soft lips to my dimple before lowering back down until she’s steady on the golden heels she has on.

She twirls until I’m forced to let go, but she quickly grabs my hand again and practically dances across the driveway until we’re on the passenger side of my Bronco. I help her into the vehicle before smiling at her and shaking my head.

“You’re such a little brat.”

She shrugs, not even a little bit sorry about it. “I’ll admit it. Alas, here I am, all brat with no tamer. What a shame.” She lets out an exasperated sigh as she collapses back against the seat.

“Put your damn seatbelt on and behave, Elena.” She smirks at me as I shut the door and stomp over to my side.

On the way over I have to adjust my hardening dick before I make things even more awkward.

She wasn’t flirting with me; the blood roaring in my veins to grab her and kiss her just didn’t get the memo.

** *

“Ellie!” Kieran exclaims as he wraps Elle up in his arms as soon as she’s in reach.

My jaw aches from how tightly it’s clenched while I watch her getting passed between the four of them.

I know she was just fucking with me earlier, but I can’t help but want to cut off the hands of every last one of them as they so easily embrace her.

They have their own partners. They need to get their hands off of her.

The petty part of me wants to send a picture of them fawning over her to my sisters and brother-in-law.

Jakob’s a jealous asshole, and it’d just take one picture with a wry text to have him all worked up.

Honestly, the desire to do it burns almost as brightly as the desire to grab her, bend her over one of these tables, and paint her bratty ass a nice shade of pink.

Alas, I don’t do any of that and instead take Rowan’s outstretched hand.

It’s been almost a year since I’ve seen them in person.

Flynn and I skipped Christmas, choosing instead to volunteer at the firehouse, where we handed out Christmas dinners to those struggling to make ends meet.

Rowan looks the way he always has. He’s thirty-six now but still looks just like that twenty-five year old that stepped up to the plate to take care of his grief stricken little brothers.

I don’t know when it’s normal to start going gray, but aside from a couple of silver streaks in his close cut beard– that I’m positive Flynn and I are responsible for– you could easily mistake him for being my age.

He pulls me into his arms once his hand is clasped around mine and hugs tightly.

“Missed you, Sul.” He says in the exact same tone I would imagine my Da would have used if he was still alive.

“Yeah, you too.” I awkwardly pat his back and pull back. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that I see hurt flash in his eyes, but that can’t be right. What the hell is he hurt over? I’m standing directly in front of him.

Before he can lock me into some conversation about coming back to Jersey, Mac sweeps in and pulls me in until he taps my back in a half handshake, half hug.

“Hey little brother. How’s work going?”

Unlike the rest of them, Mac’s the least overbearing. Don’t get me wrong, I know he has my location tracked and probably my phone tapped, but at least he’s quiet about his obsessive need to know everything.

“It’s going. Saving cats out of trees. Helping little old ladies cross the street. Putting the wet stuff on the hot stuff, ya know, the usual.”

Mac chuckles, “Yeah, sounds like you’re living the dream down here. They make you Lieutenant by putting wet shit on hot shit?” He lifts a playful brow.

“Nah, that was from saving the cats.” My eyes dance with playfulness. This is until I realize he just—

“You made Lieutenant?! When?” Kieran yells across the space in shock.

“Damn, congratulations Sully.” Declan walks over and claps me on the back. He was in a conversation with Elle but quickly abandoned it to come dote on his little brother.

Declan also put his life on hold when our parents died, and honestly, he sacrificed the most to make sure he was there for us.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Rowan dropped everything for us, but it was Declan who had to drop out of college.

He gave up his dream of being a medic to come work for the family and be there for us.

He did it so quietly that I didn’t fully put together what he’d done for us until years later.

“Thank you.” I smile as he wraps me up in a hug. After a few seconds I have to make a dramatic noise like he’s choking me to death so he’ll release me.

Immediately Elle is at my side, wrapping her hand around mine. My brothers look but don’t say a word.

“Okay, let’s eat. I’m starving, and we have a game to get to.” Rowan announces as we all make our way to the table and take our seats.