I rolled my eyes, smiling.
Reid ran his hands down his face. “I do want to leave. All we’ve known is the club and I want to experience life away from it.”
“I do, too,” Wyatt said. “Plus, I prefer cars.”
“We know,” Roe and Reid said at the same time.
“And I wasn’t asking you to not protect Charlotte,” Reid said. “I just wanted you to be aware of what you might be giving up because I thought it was your dream to go to Kendry and get into a fancy college. I asked because I want you to be happy, too.”
“Sounds like you three were butting heads for the same reason,” I pointed out.
“I wasn’t butting heads with anyone,” Wyatt said. “I was just waiting for them to figure out what the fuck we were doing and tell me.”
Roe and Reid both flipped Wyatt off.
“May I express my wants and don’t-wants, since it’s the topic of discussion?” I asked.
“You never have to wait for it to be the topic of discussion to tell us things, Lottie,” Roe said.
“After last night, I don’t want any of you to join the club. You three, shockingly even Reid, are too polite when turning down other women for my liking. Although I am proud of you two—” I glanced from Roe to Wyatt. “—for accidentally implying that you were in a relationship together to keep those ladies away, I still would have preferred a more direct, or if the lady is persistent, a downright asshole-ish approach. Like walking away. Bash did it. That makes me seem awful, I know, but I’d prefer not to punch anyone else.”
Reid turned a confused look on his best friends. “You did what?”
Roe just shook his head, smiling, and Wyatt just shrugged.
“Despite what Roe just said, I don’t want him to jeopardize all the hard work he put into Kendry. I know it’s my hang-up. I’m just pissed off at that shit you went through. Maybe it would be best that I deal with Brandon if anything happens,” I said.
“No,” all three of them said at the same time.
I knew it’d be a waste of time arguing with them, so I just said, “Fine.”
“That was all don’t-wants. Are there any wants?” Wyatt asked.
I thought about it for a moment. I had given them a desperate list of wants once. Since then, I had fulfilled nearly everything on it. There was one item on that list, though, that I would never get: a mother who didn’t hurt me. I supposed I’d gained a father who would protect me instead. Thinking of that father, I figured I probably should get home soon. “For right now, I want to focus on us. Take me on a date or something. Idon’t want anything fancy. We could go see a movie and I can actually eat the candy and buttery popcorn. Or go to a restaurant and I can eat the food instead of pushing it around pretending to eat it the entire time. Or do something cheesy that you see in all the romantic movies.” I stood, unable to eat anymore. “While you three think on that, I need to get dressed and go home before Bram comes looking for me.”
As I walked toward Roe’s room, Noble came out of the farthest door down the hall. He froze when he saw me, then closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose after seeing what I was wearing. “Does your dad know you’re here or am I going to need to hide my boys?”
“Yes, he knows.”
He sighed with heavy relief as he opened his eyes. “Okay. That’s good.” He continued down the hall, and I went into Roe’s room to get dressed.
Chapter Sixteen
Thanks to Prue,I had my Kendry uniform. I applied the finishing touches to my makeup and did one last look-over in the mirror. I was nearly perfect. The only blemish to be seen was my slightly pink knuckles, which I’d had to explain to Bram the day prior.
“I heard you broke some girl’s nose,” had been the first thing he had said to me as soon as I had walked through the front door.
“I did.”
“Because of Reid.” It hadn’t sounded like a question.
“Technically, it was because of something she said to Mac. However, it did start because she wouldn’t leave Reid alone.”
“You shouldn’t be fighting over a guy. If he can’t turn another woman down on his own, he isn’t worth your time,” he had lectured.
“I wholeheartedly agree, but she wasn’t taking no for an answer and I was drunk. It wasn’t a good combination. I’ve already had a talk about this with the guys and told them not to put me in such a position again,” I had informed him.
His gaze had dropped to get a look at my sore knuckles. “Is your hand okay?”
