“Then get creative. No one ever said you had to suffer your family in silence.”
We waved goodbye and once we were in the truck and on our way to Sam’s house my nerves rattled back to life. I picked at my cuticles and chewed on my bottom lip until Cash reached over and stopped me.
“You’re going to make yourself bleed.”
I cringed. “I’m sorry. This is going to be good. Family dinners are important. And I’m fine. I’m not going to punch your father or run away screaming at all.”
Hayes laughed from the front seat and turned to look at me. “If you punch Sam, we all get to punch him. And if you run screaming,-”
“You’ll run screaming, too?”
“No, we’ll just have to find a way to keep you with us. I’m sure Sam has some extra rope lying around his garage.” Hayes’ eyes turned heated. “Even if you don’t run, maybe we’ll look into the rope.”
“You can’t talk like that when we’re minutes from sitting down with your father and his new child bride.” I patted my cheeks and wrangled the idea of them tying me up down into the depths of my stomach, with plans of bringing it back up later.
“Don’t even joke about that. Not even Sam Ford is stupid enough to think that marrying someone a year older than his kids would be a good look.” West hesitated. “Jesus fucking Christ. What if this is some sort of marriage announcement?”
“It’d definitely take the pressure off me and Savannah seeing each other again.”
64
***Cass***
Walking into Sam Ford’s house after what we’d done the last time we’d been there brought a blush to my face. One look at the smirk on West’s face told me he was thinking the same thing.
He slid his hand over my hip and flexed his fingers over my ass. “Good memories?”
I should’ve pushed his hand away but I needed their comfort, in any way I could get it. I was so nervous that I was shaking. I wanted to give them what they wanted and be good with Savannah but after everything she’d said when the stories about me came out, I had a feeling she was going to be out for blood. A sudden thought had me turning into West and grabbing his shoulders. “She knew I was coming, right?”
He shrugged. “I figured Sam told her. It was his idea, after all.”
“Fuck.” I was sure that Sam hadn’t told his daughter a thing. That seemed like just the shitty kind of thing he’d do.
Hayes took my hand and pulled me into his arms. “You’ve got this.”
When he looked at me like he was I did feel like I could do it. I took a deep breath, nodded, and then felt like all the air had been knocked out of me when I heard a voice I hadn’t expected to ever hear again.
“Cass? What the fuck are you doing here?” Cole. Cole was in Sam’s house.
I might’ve actually never turned around if I hadn’t sensed Cash’s fury from beside me. I twisted in Hayes’ arms and reached out to touch Cash’s arm. Then I looked up and saw the four of them standing there, staring back at me with matching looks of shock and anger. Cole, Jax, Ryder, and Savannah.
“Why the hell are you here?” Savannah crossed her arms and glared at her brothers. “Why would you bring her here?”
Cash was vibrating with anger. “Are you kidding me, Sav? You brought these assholes here! What the fuck were you thinking?”
“Don’t talk to her like that.” Ryder, dangerously calm as always, ripped his gaze from Cash to look back at me. “What is this, Cass?”
I was frozen. Not seeing them had dulled the grief of losing the three people I’d once considered my best friends. Seeing them brought it all crashing back, especially when they were looking at me like I was a monster who’d just kicked their puppy. Under all that grief was shame and anger. Shame that I’d once been so convinced that Cole was my person that I’d been willing to do anything for him and anger because the Ford brothers had shown me that the men in front of me had never cared for me the way I’d cared for them. In any way.
“What does Cole need to say to you to make you understand that he’s not interested in you, Cass? Using my brothers, sticking around like this? It’s pathetic.” Savannah wasn’t going to pull any punches, it seemed.
“Why the fuck would you bring them here? They nearly ended my career, Savannah. While I was in the hospital wondering if I’d ever play again, they were laughing about it in interviews. How could you bring them here?” West stepped forward. “This isn’t going to fucking work.”
“You know I’m with them! They’re not going anywhere. You’re going to have to figure out how to get over it. I love them and they love me. What about Cass? She’s just here to try to carry out some sick revenge plot. Why would you let her do this to you? She’s making a fool of you. And now you’ve brought her here, just where she wants to be, feet away from Cole.”
“This shit is weird, Cass.” Cole shook his head. “Even for you, this is extreme.”
“You guys need to stop being little bitches about your accidental injuries and let your sister live her fucking life.” Jax wrapped his hand around the back of Savannah’s neck and shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re really doing this, Cass.”
