I sense the way her body has gone a bit rigid all the way from here, and her chest heaves as she stares at Kingston, who has paused at the edge. If I’m not mistaken, his stuttered admission that he needs her has packed a wallop.
Cannon drops his head to press his lips against her shoulder, reassuring her. And finally, a few thudding heartbeats later, she nods. Cannon’s eyes lock with Kingston’s green ones, and if he doesn’t see theHurt her and diein them, he’s a fool. I’m sure it won’t come to that, but I’m positive Cannon would do a lot of sketchy shit to protect Elliot.
Kingston sucks in air through his teeth as he eyes the protective hold Cannon has on her. “I’m not here to upset her or anyone else. Neither is Archer.” He crawls onto the bed, his eyes blazing with heat as he sits beside her and reaches a hand out to lightly touch the hair near her temple and brush it back from her face. “No matter what, you’re ours. We’ll talk about the rest.” He leans in, kissing her soft and slow.
After a moment of observation, I join them on the bed, choosing to sit near Elliot’s curled-up legs.
At Kingston’s gruff voice, my eyes flick back to him as he releases a heavy sigh. “What were you doing in the shower, Elliot?”
I don’t miss her quick intake of breath and sense the hesitation in her. But finally, she murmurs, “I didn’t want you to hear me.”
My stomach drops. “Peaches”—my voice hitches—“did you think we wouldn’t come in if we heard you or did you not want to see us?” She’d been in there crying so we wouldn’t be aware. And I bet she’d stayed even after there were no more fucking tears left to fall. Our strong, beautiful girl. I exhale long and slow, waiting for her to respond.
“I kinda thought Ideservedto be alone.”
All the air punches from my lungs.Fuck.
She shakes her head in dismay. “Deep down I know some of the awful things running through my head were planted there by Nick—” Her chest gives a violent jerk as her breath hitches. “When I left him, he’d said I’d come back because no one else could possibly ever want me.”
Kingston reaches for her chin, steering her face to his with his fingers, then leans in close. “Not fuckin’ true. Get that out of your head.” He exhales harshly, his eyes going a little glassy. “But I’m sorry you were upset, Elle. I really am because I know it was mostly my doing leaving you like I did.” He touches his lips to hers again. “Are you okay? What do you need?”
A tremor runs through her, and she shakes her head. “I don’t need anything but the three of you here with me. I thought—” She shifts, turning her face toward Cannon’s chest, partially hiding her face.
Shit,I was hoping we were done with her upset, but unfortunately, we’re barely seeing the tip of the iceberg. “Talk. Please,” Cannon rasps as he runs the back of his knuckles over her smooth, tear-stained cheek.
My eyes flick from Kingston’s to Cannon’s. I think back, trying to remember if we’ve heard Cannon speak to Elliot before. Whether we have or not, I guess I wasn’t expecting it because the sound of it hits me like a freight train to the chest.
“I thought that was it,” Elliot breathes out. “That I’d lost the three of you because I’d been terrified to trust you.” Her body jerks with her upset. “What we have”—she makes a point of looking at each of us—“it’s the one good thing I’ve found since Will went missing. You make me feel like a new person. Like I can shed that girl who never knew what it looked like to have someone truly care for her. Because I have it now. Times three.” She drags in a ragged breath. “I should have listened to who my heart told me you were.”
We let her admission hang in the air, and I know when I meet each of their gazes that Kingston and Cannon feel the same way I do. She’s ours. And we know without discussing it that she’s here at Hawthorne Hall for honorable reasons, even if she lied about her intentions to ease her way into this brotherhood.
Kingston focuses his attention on Elliot. “Elle, baby. You never have to worry about us. We need you, too. All of us. And I think it would go a long way to strengthening and solidifying our relationship if we begin to rebuild trust right now.” He stops to wet his lips. “What do you think of that?”
Her shuddery breath is audible as she nods her head. “I’d like that a lot.”
His lips curve into a smile. “Okay, good. Our original plan for today was to go to classes, then reconvene later to figure shit out. But right now, that plan seems like it sucks.”
“Agreed.” I reach out, finding her leg through the duvet and squeezing. “I’d rather stay home with the three of you and sort through things.”
Cannon gives a short bob of his head. I knew he’d be in total agreement.
“Look at me, Elle.” Kingston pauses a moment as a swallow works its way down his throat. “I want you to know, right now, we had no part in whatever happened to Will. We saw a lot go down last year. Some of it scared the shit out of us. And then Will was gone, and we didn’t know what to think. The head of the house, Bryce, blew shit off like it was normal hazing. That’s what they told the alumni and the investigators. It was so much more than hazing, though. And I bet we were only aware of a small portion of what really happened.”
“Will you tell me about it?” Elliot’s voice is quiet, and it shakes a bit, but she’s definitely perked up.
I exhale sharply, getting her attention from the end of the bed. “We’ll tell you as much as we know. But we have some questions for you, too.”
“I understand. I would if I were you.” She nods, ready to soak in every bit of information we can give her. She’s all in. And so are we.
Like I figured he would, Kingston takes the lead. “Kinda like crap started early on with you”—he rubs his hand over his jaw as he eyes Elliot, no doubt paying careful attention to her reaction—“it was like that for Will, too. He didn’t fit in so well. In the time he was here, he seemed like a nice enough person. Quiet. Intelligent. Hardworking and motivated, with high aspirations.” He traces his fingertips down Elliot’s cheek. “But yeah. Didn’t quite fit in. Things started off okay, but then I started noticing some stuff. First of all, he didn’t get along with Alec, Joel, and Stuart. Not at all.” Kingston winces, and I know what’s coming.
Elliot huffs, making a disturbed noise. “You didn’t have to tell me that. Those assholes would have harassed him, brought him right to the brink of what he could take. I’m sure of it. They’ve been on my radar since day one.”
I groan. “Yeah, they’re the worst. Will seemed nervous all the time. And he had a terrible go of it in that old house during game two, just like you did. No one hit him over the head, but he sure did come out of there all banged up. He swore he fell down the stairs, but I’m telling you, he was hyperventilating so badly we had to give him a paper bag to breathe into. The kicker is, we wereinthe house when it happened, but we were trying to keep Dane and Zeke from going out onto the back porch. Damn thing is rotted through. It’s likely that someone else snuck in and was fucking with Will in there while we were occupied with the other two.”
Kingston sighs heavily. “After that night, he clammed up and kept to himself as much as he possibly could. Didn’t want to join in on brotherhood events if they weren’t required. The night he went missing, he was participating in his final test.”
Elliot lurches, sitting up straighter. “Oh, shit. Those are specific to each person, right?”
