“Happened? What do you mean what happened? Did something happen? Why would something happen? I don’t know what happened.”
Less of the babbling, Gracie.
“I’m fine.” It probably would have been a little more convincing if my voice didn’t crack on the end, but I stare up at Noah with wide eyes, hoping and goddamn praying that he drops it.
“Yeah, no,” he mutters and grabs my arm, pulling me through the cottage until we’re in the theater room where he pushes me backwards until I flop down onto the sofa.
“Guys,” he shouts.
The disgruntled sounds of three guys shouting back, all either asking what he wants or telling him to get fucked echo. The latter was my brother, who was probably still asleep.
Christ, this isn’t going to end well.
I open my mouth to say something, anything really, that will get me out of this situation, but Noah holds up his palm stopping me before calling out, “Something’s wrong with Gracie.”
Wonderful.
This time, there’s no more shouting. Only an eerie silence that lasts no longer than ten seconds before three half-dressed men come barreling their way into the room.
Cole spots me first, and his frantic expression as his eyes roam over me would be comical if it wasn’t for the situation at hand. When he sees that I’m not in any mortal peril, he sits down on the coffee table opposite me and stays silent, as though waiting for me to break.
Ain’t gonna happen.
Logan is next, who silently observes me with an impassive expression on his face as he takes a seat in the armchair that faces mine.
Next up is Harley, who bounces down on the sofa next to me, throwing his arm around my shoulder and gives me a squeeze as he asks, “What’s up, little sis?”
They all stare at me as they wait for me to answer. I glare at Noah who still stands in the same spot with his arms crossed, and a scrutinizing look on his face as though he’s trying to read all of my secrets.
“Noah, here,” I spit, “is being dramatic. There’s nothing wrong with me.”
He sighs. “You were banging on the door so hard that I thought someone was going to knock it down and when I opened it, you looked spooked as hell. I’m worried.”
Fuck, I didn’t mean to be so abrupt with him. Noah is the kind one of the four of them, always worrying about everyone else before himself, whereas Harley is the one who doesn’t give a shit about much of anything, and Logan is the… unhinged one of the four.
Cole is a mixture of them all.
I meet each of their expectant expressions with what I hope is an exasperated one of my own.
“There’s nothing wrong with me. I lied to the girls about going home to Mom and Dad’s so I didn’t have to get all dressed up and go out tonight. I told them I was leaving last night.”Lie.“I was worried one of them might see me, which is why I was in such a hurry for you to answer the door and let me in.”
There. That sounds believable, right?
From the looks on their faces, I’m gonna go ahead and say no.
I sigh. “Look guys, I know you have this annoying” —I pause for a moment— “ly sweet thing where you go all overprotective alpha male at the drop of a hat, but it’s unnecessary. There’s nothing wrong with me. Nothing happened. I. Am. Fine. The most exciting thing to happen to me was how the café on campus got a new coffee flavor. Seriously, it tasted a little like butterscotch and had?—”
“Okay, we get it. You live a very boring life,” Harley mutters, interrupting me.
“Yeah, you do kinda need to get a life, G,” my brother adds, and I glare at him.
“Oh, okay. I guess I’ll just go last minute shopping to get something to wear to the party tonight. I hear there will be tons of drinking games, and there’s quite a few guys who will be?—”
I’m interrupted once again, this time by Logan. “Fuck that. I think you live a perfectly well-rounded lifestyle and deserve tojust chill at home tonighton your own.” He emphasizes the last three words, and I give him a saccharine smile.
“Exactly,” I say, my tone chipper. “So how about we forget this conversation?”
“I still think you should move in here,” Cole mutters.
