Things happened kinda fast in there.
And then I just wanted to make her forget.
He lets out a sigh, shakes his head, then shoots me a smirk. “Well, it seems like you succeeded.” He picks up a couple of towels from the chair he’s sitting on and tosses them to Archer, who hands one to Elliot.
Without disguising his intentions, he picks up his phone and scans through the group chat. “Fuck, are you kidding me?” He exhales in a drawn-out manner, “Peaches…”
Confusion washes over Elliot’s face, but a split-second later, it’s gone, annoyance and anger crossing her pretty features instead. She huffs out a breath as she wraps the towel around herself, beginning to pace. Finally, she spins on her heel, directing her question at me. “You told them? Just now?”
I meet her eyes, scraping my teeth over my lip as I calmly wait for her to realize that was always the plan. That there are no secrets among brothers.
Kingston gets her attention. “Sit for a minute.” He has his hands folded together, elbows resting on his knees. I’m actually surprised by how calm he is. Then again, a calm Kingston facade could easily be hiding a volcano ready to erupt, and I kinda see it in the way he keeps dragging his knuckle past his lip as he studies her. “Why do you suppose they got up in your face?”
She groans but takes a seat with me on the lounger. “Well, for one,noneof them enjoyed the second trip to the haunted house of horrors. You know… like I told you. There’s a massive target on me.” She pointedly circles her finger around her face as if someone is shooting darts at her.
I narrow my gaze, not fond of the way she phrased that, emphasizingnone,as if more than just Joel and Alec have been causing her trouble. I’d bet money this wasn’t the first incident.
“And second, they thought I overheard them talking”—she throws out her arms from her sides, spraying us with water droplets—“which I did. But that wasn’t my fault.”
Archer’s eye twitches. “Wait. What were they discussing?”
Her jaw sets firmly, and she looks down at her fingers. She takes a few deep breaths, before making eye contact with each of us in turn. “They said the two of you”—she points her finger from Archer to Kingston—“were discussing whether I would be able to participate on Sunday.” She gives us a disturbed smile, holding up her hand. I’m amazed at how quickly she’s picked up a whole head of steam. “No, wait. I take that back. What they said was that there was no way you were letting me participate.Letting.Me.”
Kingston stares stonily at her while Archer’s eyes crash shut. All I can do is release a disgruntled noise and switch to our private text conversation to try to explain. I hold it out for her to read.
We were planning to discuss it with you.
Whether you felt well enough.
Elliot flicks her eyes to mine when she’s done reading. “No discussion needed. I’m fine. It’s my initiation. I’ll participate.” She gets up, shooting all of us a saccharine smile, drops the towel on the seat behind her, and stalks around the pool and over to the stairs, quickly disappearing from view.
Oh, fucking hell. My teeth grind as I meet Kingston’s worried eyes.
“It’s a tough call.” Archer sits down next to Kingston and nudges his shoulder with his own. “But I think if we want her to trust us… we have to let her decide.”
Kingston rubs his hand over his face and grumbles, “Easy enough for you to say. Shit goes south again, it’ll be me who pays for it.”
I can’t say he’s wrong. And we all know we’re eventually due for a visit from Jared Hawthorne.
Problem is, we don’t know when.
SEVENTEEN
ELLIOT
My heart thumpserratically inside my chest as I race up the inset stairs to the patio and away from my guys.Ha!My guys…the ones who don’t want me to finish my initiation? Frustrated, I bat errant strands of hair out of my face that have fallen from my loosely knotted hair, and an angry groan tears its way from my throat.What kind of ridiculous BS is that?It’s disappointing that they would consider taking this away from me. According to Cannon, we were going to discuss it. But I know the most likely scenario would have included Kingston strong-arming me into doing whathethinks is best. I draw in a breath. Because he knows… I’m not always as strong as I make myself out to be.
I bite down hard on my lip, so hard I wince from the pain of it as I yank the back door open and haul ass through the house.Fuck.Are they doing it because we’re all playing their game again, and they’re out to sabotage me? Or do I dare to hope that they really care? By the time I get to the front of the house, my chest constricts viciously, making it hard to breathe. I head for the stairs, and a hazy vision floats around in my head of their concerned faces immediately after I regained consciousness. Memories of the way they’ve treated me this week overwhelm me until tears prick at the back of my eyes and begin to blur my vision. I stop halfway up the stairs, unable to see the step in front of me. They’ve been gentle. Kind. Concerned. Their first objective has been to make sure I’m okay. That I feel good.
Shit.What is happening here? They can’t be the same people who have hidden evidence about Will. With violent swipes, I remove any trace of tears that have fallen. I’m losing it. Falling apart. Frustrated at myself for wanting to believe in them when the evidence thus far says I shouldn’t. I blow out a breath and continue into the house and directly to the front stairs. I haven’t gotten very far when I sense someone coming up behind me.
“Elliot.” That rough, strangled voice is probably the only thing that could make me stop in my tracks. No matter how worked up I am, the fact that Cannon will now occasionally speak to me feels like I’ve successfully hurdled one of the barriers he keeps between himself and almost everyone else. But no matter how selfish it makes me feel, I wish he’d let me all the way in. Cannon hides so much behind his silence. It makes it very difficult to understand his ways and to know for sure what he’s thinking.
I pause, pivoting. He looks adorably contrite. I raise a brow at him. “Did you have something to say?”
He blinks up at me, studying me without a word.
I stare right back. Waiting. Finally, I exhale sharply. “Either speak or don’t, Cannon.” My hand clutches at my chest over my heart. “I can’t handle never knowing when I’m worthy enough for your words. And it makes me feel like shit that you and the guys think I’m weak and don’t have what it takes to keep going through initiation. I need to be part of this brotherhood.”For more reasons than he can possibly know.
