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With that, he left, heading down the stairs before us.
Bishop sighed, looping his arm around my waist. A droplet of drying blood still clung to the corner of his mouth where Eli had gotten in a lucky hit.
“Well. This has been a weird fuckin’ day.”
Twenty-Four
Over the next few days at school, we stayed away from Eli. He stayed away from us too, though whether that was because he had orders from his higher-ups, or Mr. Tyson had spoken to him, or he simply didn’t want to be the next on the Lost Boys’ kill list, I was uncertain.
Regardless of the reason, I was grateful that he steered clear. He still bore the marks of their fight in the bruises on his face, but he was focusing more of his attention on girls in our class rather than on getting under the Lost Boys’ skins. The girls, for their part, didn’t seem to think his black eye and bruised cheek made him any less attractive, and I rolled my eyes as I watched two girls fawn over him in the hall on Thursday as I headed to lunch.
What’s more, with Nathaniel’s promise to help me, I was feeling more optimistic about my father’s situation. Real progress had been made when the Lost Boys stepped up to join my search, and I could only imagine that with the resources at Nathaniel’s fingertips, he had a better chance than any of us at uncovering the truth.
The boys were more reserved about his offer of help.
“He’s our boss, and he’s a good man, and he’s done a lot for us, but I’m not about to say I think he’s doing this just out of the kindness of his heart. Your old man was powerful as fuck before he got taken away. He’s exactly the kind of guy Nathaniel’s only too happy to get in his pocket,” Bishop had told me seriously as the four of us had driven away from their employer’s house on Monday after our impromptu “meeting.”
“Yeah, and he hates Luke Carmine. So in a way, you just handed him the perfect excuse to fuck that guy over,” Misael had added. I hadn’t been able to tell from his tone whether he thought that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Despite the shared sentiment across all three of the boys, their hesitance didn’t tamp down my hope.
I wanted to tell my mom about the new development, more than anything. Part of me thought that maybe, if I explained things to her, she would see that there wasn’t a reason to continue running around with Mr. Jemison for security. But I knew that if I told her part of the story, I would also have to explain everything else. The arrangement with the Lost Boys, what happened with Flint, this new arrangement with Nathaniel. And at the end of the day, I knew it would cause more harm than good if I brought her into all of this as well.
Maybe I was trying to protect her too, just like I was trying to protect my dad.
Or maybe I just wanted to keep this part of my life separate from them. Make it only mine, something they could never touch or take away from me.
So, I kept it to myself, knowing that once all was said and done, I would also be keeping my mom’s affair from my father. Maybe that was the burden that needed to be born in order to get my family back on the right track.
The Lost Boys went back to work almost seamlessly—with a little heavier load than usual, which I assumed was Nathaniel’s way of giving them punishment that didn’t involve eye-for-an-eye tactics—and I hung out with Liam and Jessica whenever I couldn’t be with my three boys.
I found myself grateful for school, since at least we all got to be together there, no matter how busy they were. Everyone at Slateview was aware of our relationship by now, and I didn’t hold back from public displays of affection, kissing them in the halls, sitting tucked against their sides at lunch. They stayed close to me too, touching me in little ways almost all the time, as if it were some kind of instinctual response to my presence.
All four of us had been more deeply affected by the close scrape we’d had with death than we were willing to admit, but I could feel the reactions reverberating through our small group. The realization that we had almost lost each other made us hold on even tighter.
“Seriously, they’re gonna slap an NC-17 rating on this cafeteria if you guys don’t cut that shit out,” Jessica joked one day, a week and a half after our meeting with Nathaniel.
Kace glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, his lips never leaving my neck. On my other side, Bishop’s hand was running up and down my leg, sliding closer to the apex of my thighs every time. I squirmed under their touch, embarrassed at how turned on I was in the middle of lunch, but unable to muster the strength of will to stop them. Misael, who was sitting on Kace’s other side, caught my gaze and grinned, obviously aware of what their touch was doing to me.
“You’re one to talk,” I shot back, focusing on Jessica to keep my body from doing what it really wanted to—namely, crawling onto Kace’s lap and pulling the other two boys closer until I was completely surrounded by their muscular frames and enticing scents. “You and Liam are all over each other all the time.”
A wicked gleam entered her eyes, and she glanced over to where he was depositing their lunch trays on the rack to be cleaned.
“Yeah.” She bit her lip, her gaze sliding over him appreciatively. Then she turned back to me, arching a brow. “But you guys still win the cafeteria porn prize. I mean, fuck, I think I just came.”
I laughed as Kace finally lifted his head, shooting Jessica an almost offended look—as if he didn’t want her anywhere near our sex life. He rested his hand on my knee, but without his lips on my skin, it was a tiny bit easier to think clearly.
“Oh, don’t worry, Kace.” The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes, shooting him a fond look. “I get plenty of my own action with Liam, thanks. And you know I’ve never thought of you guys like that.”
He looked somehow more offended at that, and she tilted her head back, belting out a laugh. Then she glanced back at me. “Damn. I thought tending to one fragile male ego was a challenge. How the hell do you do it with three?”
I chuckled, poking the boys beside me. In actual fact, they had three of the healthiest egos I’d ever encountered, and it was hard to argue that their self-confidence wasn’t earned. But I couldn’t let them get off without a little teasing. It was good for them. Kept their egos in check.
“Every day is a struggle,” I said, shaking my head dramatically as Jessica laughed louder.
“What’s so funny?” Liam asked, returning to our table and immediately pulling Jessica into his arms.
I shot her a sardonic look as his lips found her neck, and she grinned broadly, molding her body against his.
