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Twenty-Seven
Before going to Slateview and meeting the boys, I would have never considered sneaking out of the house. As the good, well-behaved daughter that I was groomed to be, doing something that would get me in trouble or shame my parents had seemed out of the question.
Now, however, I had no such worries.
So after dinner, when all the food was whisked away and Mom and Dad went upstairs for the evening, I dug through my closet for some of my old clothes I’d worn at Slateview and trekked down to the garage.
Dad kept the keys to all the cars in a case at the head of the garage. Though all the cars in his collections hadn’t yet been returned, I only needed one. I chose the keys to the car Mom had gotten from her… special friend, which she’d told Dad was a gift from some local women who had felt bad about how she had lost the first car—to a bunch of, as she called them, “degenerate hooligans” at my old school.
Since I was keeping my lips sealed about Mr. Jemison, letting my mom maintain her lie, I figured I’d earned the right to borrow the car.
I rolled out of the garage and hit the street, driving through Baltimore from the mansion-laden suburbia that I’d grown up in to the rough, run-down neighborhood I’d lived in for several months.
Tension bled from my body as I drove, the radio on and the music cranked loud, the heavy beat infusing my body. I could barely remember the first time I’d made this drive, just after Dad’s arrest. The trepidation and sorrow I’d felt then seemed like they belonged to someone else.
Now all I felt was joy.
I was going to see my trio of boys. Finally. I hadn’t realized just how deeply I had missed them over the past week, but now that I was about to see them again, my heart felt like it might burst from happiness.
Bishop had told me to meet them at the warehouse, back where all this had started. The convertible was parked out in the front, and despite the cold in the air, the three boys were lounging against it, waiting for me.
I couldn’t park and get out of the car fast enough, practically launching myself from the driver’s seat and into Bishop’s arms. I wrapped myself around him in a crushing hug, squeezing him hard before doing the same to Kace and Misael. They each got a kiss, which I took as deep as I could before going to the next one. I ended up in the middle of the three of them as three sets of arms wrapped around me, lips pressed to my cheeks, my neck, hands roaming all over me.
“Christ, I fucking missed you, Coralee,” Misael murmured, his voice both soft and rough.
“We all have.” Kace’s hands slid over my body, like he couldn’t quite believe I was really here.
“Me too,” I whispered, pulling back to look at all of them. “I’ve missed you all so much too.”
Bishop pulled me back into his hold, kissing me deeply as he threaded his fingers through my hair. I hadn’t thought a reunion would feel so intense, but I felt the spark run all the way from my lips down to the tips of my toes. It had me pressed against him, moaning into the kiss before Misael batted at Bishop.
“Alright, alright. You aren’t the only one that missed Cora,” he said, ushering us into the warehouse. “Sharing is caring, amigo. Sharing is caring.”
Bishop threw his head back and laughed, relinquishing me into Misael’s hold after pressing one more kiss to my lips.
I felt giddy, almost high, and completely relaxed at the same time. It felt like no time at all had passed since I’d seen the Lost Boys.
The inside of the warehouse was as comforting as being back in the boys’ arms, and it looked like they’d set everything up before going outside to wait for me. There were snacks, as usual, the old boom box that Misael liked to cart around for when there was a need for music, and a six-pack of beers waiting for us.
I plopped down onto the couch, Misael and Kace bookending me while Bishop cracked open the beers and passed them around.
“So, how’s being back in the rich bitch life treating you?” he asked wryly, giving me a little smirk as he cocked an eyebrow at me.
I shrugged, scratching at the label on my beer.
“Oh, you know. Fancy cars, fancy clothes. I’m practically royalty again.” I scoffed, rolling my eyes as I slouched back against the couch. “Honestly, it’s… I dunno. It’s not the same, but I think that’s for the best. Everything is clearer to me now, you know? I see people for what they are, who they are. Mom and Dad are back to playing the roles of good husband and wife to each other, despite the fact that Mom was totally cheating on Dad. People at school act like nothing even happened, like they never turned their backs on us. Honestly? I miss being here.”
The boys all gave me a disbelieving look.
“You miss being here?” Bishop took a swig of his beer, watching me with piercing eyes. “Are you fuckin’ for real, Princess? Woulda thought you’d be stoked to be back in the high life.”
I laughed. “I like having my room farther away from my mom and dad’s again. I like having a car that works. I like eating something other than box meals. But I… It’s not the same as it was before my father was arrested. I can’t just pretend that nothing happened, that nothing changed. I changed. Before I met you guys, I had my whole life mapped out for me. But now that I see that life for what it is? Honestly, it’s not very appealing.”
Bishop looked at me curiously for a long moment. Then a smile broke out over his face. He set his beer down and walked over to kneel in front of me, his large hands sliding over mine. When he looked me in the eyes, I felt held there, captivated. His smile lit up my world, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
“You’re always surprising me, Coralee,” he said. “I thought…”
“What?” I urged.
