Page 13 of Revived (Lucky Ones #1)

Chapter seven

Elena Rossi

B utterflies are fluttering in my stomach as I listen to Sully confirm that he thinks about that kiss too.

God, I’ve missed his lips on mine every day for the past three and some change years.

I almost died that day. I constantly have nightmares about the incident, but I think about that kiss more often than not.

It was supposed to be the beginning of our forever.

Only it wasn’t. Instead we had to bury two friends, I almost died, and it slammed the brakes on what could ever be of him and I.

That day we learned really quickly what happens when love tries to make space in our lives.

I’ll never regret throwing myself in front of a bullet meant for him, but I will always regret letting Annie come with me that day.

It should have been me that died. Instead she jumped in front of me and paid the ultimate price.

It’s never lost on me that Sully fights this as hard as he does while his brother grieves and works through life without Annie.

Honestly, it’s a catch twenty-two; he’s keeping himself stuck in limbo much like Flynn is.

At the same time he’s trying to white knuckle the protection he thinks comes from us being apart.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I also think it’s safer that we’re apart, but that’s mostly because he’s convinced me we are years ago.

Now my brain won’t let me take it there without panicking that the world is going to come crashing down the moment we give in.

Our love was baptized in death and destruction that day.

Sully grabs my hand and squeezes it once before getting out of the Bronco and coming to my side to let me out.

“Thank you.” I smile as he stands way too close, all I’d have to do is lean into him and my body would be pressed against his. We don’t have time for that though. His brothers are waiting.

Sully must be thinking the same thing because he gives me his most charming smile before taking my hand and leading me inside of the arena.

We make it through security with no problem and in just a few minutes we’re standing outside of the suite.

He’s hesitating at the door. It’s clear his head is a million miles away. However, mine is not.

“You nervous, Monster?” The silly nickname I started using when we were in middle school rolls off my tongue so easily.

He started calling me Boo Thang back in middle school and it didn’t take long for him to shorten it to just Boo.

Of course that was hilarious because I was Boo and he was Sully.

So I started calling him Monster, and thirteen years later it’s still hanging around.

“A little bit.” He mutters while shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

I don’t know if it’s the nostalgia of talking about our first kiss or a momentary lapse in sanity, but I reach up and cup his face in my hands bringing his focus solely to me.

His eyes light up, but I have his attention now.

I need to do something to take his mind off of what he’s going to walk into.

I don’t think, I just act. Pushing up to my toes, my hands drag his face down slightly until I seal my lips over his.

Instantly his hands come up to grip my hips and pull me in impossibly closer.

He quickly takes control of the kiss. The next thing I know he’s pulled my bottom lip between his teeth and nibbles while pulling slightly.

I can’t help but get lost in the kiss while he ravishes my lips.

His hands drift from my hips to the backs of my thighs and the next thing I know I’m in the air and my legs are wrapped around his slim waist.

Typically I’d be panicking because I’m in a dress, but as Sul turns and presses me into the wall beside the door, I can’t find it in myself to care.

Plus, I know he’d never leave me exposed like that.

With his hands now free he fists the back of my hair while his other hand settles at the base of my throat.

My arms wrap around his neck and instinct takes over as I gently rock my core against his hardening length.

I’ve thought about this moment with him since I was old enough to know what the hell all this meant.

Teenage me is definitely screaming and high fiving twenty-five year old me right now.

Sully groans into my mouth as he presses me tighter into the wall with his body.

I’m so lost in what feels like the beginning of the rest of my life that I don’t realize someone has walked out of the door until I hear a very obnoxious throat clear.

Sully pulls back just enough to rest his forehead on mine as we catch our breath and get our bearings.

“So, uh— you may want to wrap this up. Pucks dropped and Dec’s about to come looking for you.” Kieran tells us and I can hear the glee in his tone.

So. Fucking. Obnoxious.

“Yeah, we’ll be right in. Thanks Kie.” Sully lets him know without breaking eye contact with me.

Kie giggles like a schoolgirl as he goes back into the suite. Right before the door closes I hear Mac.

“Okay, spill. Are they out there kissing and stuff?”

Sully shakes his head in amusement, “They’re truly teenage girls.”

I smirk at him, “Yeah, but we were out here kissing and stuff. ”

“Best kissing and stuff I’ve ever done.” He winks while slowly lowering me back to my feet. “We’re talking about that when we get home tonight, right?”

“Yeah, after the game.” I give him a reassuring smile before pressing my lips to the underside of his chin quickly. “Now we have your nosey brothers to go hang out with.” Grabbing his hand I drag him behind me into the suite.

We walk into the large space to see all four older brothers looking at us. Everyone but Rowan has a teasing grin on their lips, but even the ever-so-serious Rowan has a playful brow raised and a small lift to one side of his mouth. It’s as much teasing as we’re going to get out of him.

Rowan was always the most stoic of the brothers, even when we were little.

He’s a natural born leader. However, he used to have a playful energy about him as well before his parents passed, and the weight of the world was dropped on his shoulders.

The barely there glimmer in his bright green eyes tells me it’s still in there deep down.

Of course we see it when he’s interacting with his kids and wife, but to see it directed at his brothers so openly is foreign at this point.

It’s not that I think he was hard on the twins just to be a jackass.

He was still hard on them, though. He expected perfection and no trouble.

Of course that’s not what they gave him, but that’s what he expected all the same.

Really, who could blame them? They were grieving, and having to adjust to being bossed around by their older brothers all while being teenagers and navigating high school.

That time was really tough. High school sucked; for them and for me.

I’d lost my Mama the summer before high school started, and then just a year later they lost their parents.

Two very different types of hurt, but the same behavior bubbled up from it .

“Okay, you guys can stop staring at us now. Go back to the game. I’m sure Flynn is beating someone up by now.” I wave my hand at them in dismissal with a teasing grin.

“No way! I want to know what I just walked in on.” Kieran protests in his most gravelly voice.

I wasn’t lying when I was teasing Sully earlier; his brothers are hot.

They all look extremely similar. Same strong jaw line, same eye and lip shape, same general build.

Hell, same close on the sides and back but longer on top haircut.

The only difference is the varying lengths on top.

There was a time where Mac had longer shaggy hair, but he lost the hair when he gained his sobriety.

One of the big differences is the shade of brown that colors the older four’s locks, as well as the blonde that the twins sport.

The other is that their eye color also varies in shades of the most beautiful greens from the twins' seafoam to Declan’s emerald gaze.

They vary in height by a couple of inches here and there, but are all overly tall. Rowan, Declan, and Kieran look more like bulky security guards than the younger three, but even that difference looks insignificant when they’re all together.

“You walked in on kissing and stuff.” I flick my hand towards him like entertaining his childish antics is exhausting, but really I’m hiding my grin behind my want to be stoic expression.

Declan’s eyebrows raise in surprise, “So will we be regularly kissing and stuff from now on?”

“Can’t say we will be, Dec. I’ve met your husband and he’s a jealous fool first and foremost. I don’t need that drama when I can just keep kissing and stuff your little brother.” Sully reaches out and grips my hip just tight enough to convey his message.

Stop encouraging them .

Kieran and Mac laugh so hard that they both have to wipe tears from their eyes while Rowan bites back his smile and gives me an approving nod.

Declan grumbles about how that’s not what he meant, but I ignore them all and walk over to the large glass that overlooks the arena.

I’m instantly lost in the game, forgetting everyone surrounding me.

I’ve been watching Flynn’s games since we were in elementary school.

They came to my competitions, so I came to their hockey games and track meets.

Sully ran track as well as cross country from elementary school through college, but at the end of the day as an adult the only running he really wanted to do was into danger to save people having the worst days of their lives.

At least that’s what he told me years ago.