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“More needs to be done. Thatcher’s only found a handful of these people, right, Thatch?”
Thatch didn’t look like he wanted anything to do with this conversation, but I didn’t push him to engage. No one wanted to battle Wolf’s ass, and I preferred not to either.
I ended up having Thatcher put the folder away, at least until a more suitable time when it wasn’t bothering Wolf. This freed me up to lock both arms around Wolf’s sister who sat next to me. Sloane leaned back into my arms, and though we all may have been talking about things that surrounded her, she was rarely a part of these types of conversations. Like Wolf, she really didn’t care too much about the circumstances surrounding her adoption, and I’d even stopped giving her updates. She was trying to find her happy place too, and I respected that.
Her fingers grazed my arms around her while she too attempted to stay engaged in the conversation about her brother’s birthday party. The party wasn’t about her, but she was obviously meeting all the Legacy families while there. I think she was just staying involved mostly for Bru’s sake, who didn’t seem at all to want anything to do with the party planning either. He spent most of the time on his phone while Bow was talking about the details.
He was actually doing that now while Bow was going on about streamers or some shit, but looked up when Forrester, the head of the Legacy families’ hired security, came over to the Legacy lunch table.
“Afternoon, kids,” he said to our group, and my smile stretched.
“Hi, Forrester. You here to go over the daily changing of the guards schedule with us on this lovely afternoon?” I asked, being a complete asshole, but I didn’t give a shit. It’d become a game we all played with the security around here. Sloane and the rest of us were campus royalty while all the security personnel (both hired by our parents and not) were our royal guards. It was a way to keep things light and less stressful. Especially for Sloane, who definitely knew all these changes were about her.
I guess it was my way to help, to protect her. I knew all the security around here unnerved her, and anything I could do to make her more comfortable I did.
Forrester cleared this throat in front of us. “Good one, Mr. Prinze,” he said, not entertained in the slightest, but he played it off, so I’d give him that. He adjusted his tie. “We don’t want to bother you kids, but our views of Sloane are obstructed. It’d be easier to see her if she switched sides of the table.”
The man proceeded to ask her, which tugged Bru’s attention up from his phone long enough to scoff.
“You’re joking, right?” he questioned, but she elbowed his arm.
“It’s fine,” she said, getting up right away, and I did too. Usually, I’d fuck more with Forrester, but if she was fine on moving, I was too.
We got situated on the other side of the table, and this pleased the head of security. He thanked us, thanked Sloane, before heading back to his gaggle of suits.
“God, this is a joke,” Bru continued, while the rest of us kind of started to eat again. He frowned. “The press aren’t even allowed on campus and barely any of them are out there anymore.”
They had stopped the hard hounding after getting the juicy stuff from the people actually willing to talk about Sloane’s returned presence here. That hadn’t been Legacy or Court since they were all loyal to us, but a few other kids had spread what they knew. It hadn’t been much since they didn’t talk to her, and eventually, the press had gotten bored. I’d only seen a handful of them out there today.
Sloane raised a hand. “I told you it’s fine.”
“It’s not, but whatev,” Bru stated, picking up his phone again. The kid had been testy lately, and I did acknowledge what Sloane had said recently about him. He’d been keeping to himself, but if I had all these changes and shit happening in my life too, I’d probably be doing the same thing. Bru shook his head. “It’s just not necessary is all I’m saying.”
I definitely agreed about that, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell the parents otherwise. Not to mention it’d be inappropriate coming from me. These changes were mostly for Sloane, which meant, if anything happened regarding reversing them, Ramses and Brielle would be at the heart of the decision.
Knowing that, I tipped my chin at Wolf, who exchanged a glance between myself and the situation. Wolf braced his hands. “Maybe I can talk to my parents,” he suggested, specifically looking at Bru. He shrugged. “You’re right. The press has been backing off, and maybe they’ll consider scaling back some of the security.”
I think we all knew it wasn’t just the press that kept the security here. The parents were all still uneasy with my grandfather being around, but even I thought all the added personnel was a bit excessive. We were all being watched 24/7 in these halls, and after a recent, awkward-as-fuck conversation Ramses had had with me… the one where my god dad had basically barred me from overnights at his house until further consideration, Sloane and I were finding it harder and harder to fuck without prying eyes around campus. We had to ditch the suits and personnel just to be together lately, so yeah, I could use a little less security.
It blew my mind how in sync my buddy Wolf and I were about that, but I also knew any opportunity he could find to help with the Bru situation, he tried. We all could feel how closed off Bru was, and I knew Sloane had asked Wolf to look out for him.
This suggestion seemed to appease Bru a bit when he nodded, and Sloane definitely appreciated it too. She smiled at Wolf, and it was nice to see them getting along. My buddy had wished for this relationship his whole life, and he was finally getting it.
With the chaos of the security issue figured out, Bow broke the tension a bit. She didn’t need to be in charge of Bru’s party plans, but she had taken the helm since Brielle was juggling trying to be mayor and working at the school. Ramses had offered to help, but he too was behind on work with how much time he’d been spending at home. With them tied up, Bow had basically jumped at the opportunity. She loved shit like that. She grinned at Bru. “So, I guess all that’s left now is cake. What’s your favorite flavor?”
“Uh, whatever’s fine,” he said, his phone back in his hand. I wanted to grab the fucking thing from him. We were all trying to accommodate his ass here. Even I was paying attention. His shoulder lifted. “I’m cool with whatever.”
Bow leaned in. “Yeah, but it’s your party, and we’re not restricted to any flavor. The cake will be multiple tiers. So yeah, whatever you want.”
“Bru?” Sloane questioned, frowning, and the guy sighed.
“I mean it. I don’t care.” He tapped his phone. “Besides, I think we all know this party is not about me so the cake should just be whatever the majority wants.”
Bow opened her mouth, but whatever she’d been about to say cut off when Sloane lifted her hand.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sloane asked, but Bru didn’t even look from his phone this time.
“Just what I said,” he stated. “This party isn’t about me. My birthday was longer than shit ago, and Wolf’s parents are just trying to be nice.”
