Since my brothers have abandoned the doorway, I’m clear to sprint inside.I search the cabin for some solution to the shitstorm brewing outside.
A mixing bowl full of soapy water and the sight of my crafting supplies give me inspiration.I grab the bowl, along with a container I set on the kitchen table earlier.
Back outside, the men are so wrapped up in making my life decisions for me that they haven’t even notice I stepped away.
“Zoey’s been doing fine, making her own choices these past few weeks without you looming over her,” Warner snarls, nose to nose with Abram.
My brother lets out a hard laugh.“Like I’m supposed to believe you and your biker thug friends haven’t tried anything?”
When he lifts his arms, ready to shove Warner, I lose my last twinge of hesitation.
I step up to the edge of the porch and fling the water from the bowl, taking half a second to admire my accuracy.The wave beautifully hits my target—their heads—soaking them both.
“Yeah!Hose ’em down, girl!I want to see some mud wrestling!”Courtney claps me on the back as the two men blink in surprise.
But I’m not done.Water is too easy to ignore in the heat of anger.
“Heads-up!”I call, and they’re both dense enough to look my way.
They each get a face full of glitter.
The sparkles engulf them like a fairy princess bomb went off.Every shimmering bit sticks to their wet skin, clothes, and hair.They’ve gone from two irate, intimidating men to two disco balls.They belong in the middle of a pride parade.
Carver shoves a fist against his mouth, but it does nothing to suppress his delighted snicker.The noise seems to help Abram recover some of his mental faculties.
“Goddamn it, Zoey!”He brushes at his arms in disgust.“Do you have a lifetime supply of glitter?”
“YouknowI do!”I chuck the empty bowl and container at their feet, still furious despite the hilarious scene in front of me.“And I will happily plaster you both in it.Then, if you still feel like fighting, I’ll grab my phone and record every ridiculous second, build a whole website to house that video, send the link to every person you’ve ever met, and make sure the entire cosmos knows that you two decided to become glitter gladiators!”By the time I’m done with my rant, I’ve reached a righteous volume that practically shakes the trees surrounding the property.
“Hell, that’s some intricate revenge,” Courtney whispers to no one in particular.She sounds delighted.
“Now,” I snarl at the two of them, “are you going to get along?”
Abram glares at the ground, still trying to rub away the silver sparkles adhered to his upper half, but it’s no use.Glitter is the herpes of the craft world.
The silence is broken by a choking snort.For a second, I think it’s Carver again.But then I realize the noise came from Warner’s throat.The werewolf stares at his hands, flipping them palms down, and then up again.Then, he throws his head back, laughing, as if he wasn’t just seconds away from brawling.
He laughs so hard that he has to bend over, clutching his knees.
Seeing Warner lose it chips away at my fury, and I fight hard against a smile.
Then, faster than any of my brothers were likely expecting, Warner bounds up the steps, wrapping his arms around my thighs and lifting me into the air.He doesn’t race away with me as his captive.Instead, he twirls us both around, chuckling as he buries his nose against my throat.
One of my warm spots.I can feel his breath there, the way he inhales deep.
For the moment, I’m able to forget all the worries over decisions I need to make.In Warner’s arms, the world seems funnier.Not so full of impossible decisions.
I clasp his head, tilting his face until eyes of pure amber meet mine.Loving the sight, I press a gentle kiss to the middle of his forehead, sure my lips come away shimmering.
“Aw.You two are so cute; I could vomit.”Courtney skips back down the steps and walks straight up to my oldest brother.“Here, you sexy, sparkly tower of a man.Hold my cock.”She shoves the disgruntled chicken into Abram’s arms, and he’s too shocked to do anything other than accept it.A wild grin splits her face, and she gives him a hearty slap on the shoulder.“Just kidding!It’s a hen.Now, where is that big dog I’ve heard about?I need to introduce him to Queen Omelet so he doesn’t eat her.”
42
ZOEY
I’m suffocating.
The glitter only mildly defused the tension between Warner and the Gunner boys, so I asked him to give me some time with them.But now, even asleep, my brothers fill the tiny cabin.Carver’s snores sneak through the gap between the floor and my door.All four of them must give off a furnace’s worth of heat because the air around me is heavy and warm.But not a comforting warmth.More like the warmth of a blanket being held over my face until I pass out.
