He raises one eyebrow. “Cute.”
I scowl. “Not really, these are my favorite Chucks.”
The man’s gaze lingers on my bloody nose, then lowers down to my black leather Chucks with the custom skull on the sides. His lips twitch at the corner before he slowly lifts his gaze back to mine.
“I’m Mason.”
I hold my hand out for a shake, but Mason looks mildly terrified at the idea of touching my hand. Okay. I retract it and do my best to smile my real smile, not the scary one that shows too many teeth that Jacob says is my serial killer smile.
“Dante.”
“Lovely to meet you,” Mason says with a pasted-on smile. The smile fades as he glances from me, to his brother on the bed. “Thank you for bringing my brother home. What do I owe you? Does a thousand dollars sound good?”
Now I’m insulted. I brush past Mason to flee down the stairs. I can feel him chasing after me, so I pause at the frontdoor with a frown. “He took something back at the club. I don’t know what, but he was fucking out of it, so maybe watch out for him.”
I quickly leave the house before Mason can argue further. The driver is gone, but I don’t care. Our house is only a few minutes’ walk a few blocks away. I realize how ridiculous I look in my black mesh shirt and leather pants, all my tattoos on display. No wonder Mason wanted to pay me. I look exactly like someone thatexpectsto be paid for a good deed. By the time I get home, the house is still pitch black, so that worry I felt earlier starts to niggle at the back of my brain.
But it quickly disappears once I enter my passcode and push in through the front door. The boys all sit on the couch as they play the new video game they’re addicted to with Scully sitting on the couch behind Hayden. That damn cat.
“Bro, what happened?” Jacob asks without taking his eyes off the television.
“Caused the distraction you needed,” I answer, kicking my ruined shoes off by the entryway. I toss Hayden the most intense glare I can muster. “You owe me new custom Chuckswiththe skulls and the headphones on my wish list. I got puked on tonight.”
Hayden rolls his eyes. “Fine.”
I go to climb the stairs, then pause when I realize they’re all in their boxer briefs. No fucking way. I turn around slowly to find them all sheepishly looking anywhere but at me.Even the damn cat.
“Seriously? You got blood on your jeans and came home in them again! I have told you a million times to take them off and burn them before coming home.”
“They’re that pair that cup my ass just right!” Haydenargues, voice slightly hysterical. “It’s just my jeans that have blood, okay. Jacob got a little carried away with this one.”
I roll my eyes. “Then why are you all in your underwear?”
Parker shrugs one lean shoulder. “We didn’t want Hayden to be alone when you yelled at him.”
Pinching my nose, I take a deep, calming breath. “Did you at least get the money?”
“Duh,” Jacob says just before angrily mashing the buttons on the controller. “We already sent it off to the rightful owners.”
Well, at least they all did that right. I climb back down the stairs and stomp toward the laundry room. Once I’ve spent an hour doing my best to spot clean fresh blood out of Hayden’s designer jeans, I trudge back up the stairs toward my room. God, I really want a shower after this shit show of an evening.
My bedroom is my haven. Dark green walls, wood floors, bookshelves along the walls without windows. The room is dark and moody, but homey when I turn the low lights on at the corners. I flip through my vinyl records for a minute, then grab one and put it on to listen to while I unwind.
After stripping off my clothes in the walk-in closet, I put them down the laundry shoot, then head into the bathroom. Bath or shower? The bath is too much work tonight despite my aching muscles. Fifteen minutes later, I step out of the shower and dry off with a fuzzy towel, then walk naked into my bedroom only to find Hayden lounging on my bed with Scully on his lap.
She really is a beautiful cat if she wasn’t so pissy all the time. She seeminglyonlylikes Hayden, which makes no sense considering it’s Hayden. Two years ago we’d had a mission a few hours away, and when we’d returned to the townhouse, we’d found Scully clinging to the top of Parker’scar as if she’d gone for the most wild joyride of her life. Of course, Hayden had saved her from the roof, so she’d imprinted on the asshole immediately. Scully pisses me off so much because Iwanther to like me, and no matter how many treats I give her, she still hisses and spits at me every chance she gets. Ugh.
“Jesus, we’ve talked about this.” I hastily grab a clean pair of boxers from my dresser and step into them. Pursing my lips, I turn back around to glare at Hayden. “You gotta wait until I’m in the bedroom before coming in, okay?”
“Sorry.” But Hayden does not sound remotely sorry. He casts his eyes low, sheepishly running his finger along my fluffy bedspread. “Are you mad at me?”
“No, Hayden. The jeans are not a big deal.” I pat his head gently before tossing myself onto the bed. “Now let me sleep.”
Hayden smiles a normal smile, not the scary one from earlier. He traipses out of the bedroom, Scully trailing along behind him, and closes the door with a final snick. The soft, dulcet tones of “Blues in Green” wafts from the record speakers. I close my eyes and take some deep breaths, letting the need for sleep wash over me. If someone had told me when I started college that I’d be recruited by someone to join forces to take down “bad” people, I would’ve laughed in their face. But, over the course of the past few years, these guys have become my family. College student by day, modern-day Robin Hood by night. Okay, sometimes we kill people, but that’s pretty rare. Usually we just steal back what is rightfully someone else’s. Are the ethics murky? Yes. Do I sleep well at night? Normally.
It takes a while, but finally sleep comes, and I drift off with light blue eyes staring up at me as we dance in an empty club.
2
