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21
Jenner
As I watched the nurses push Doe’s bed out of the room, my heart lifted into my throat, making it hard to breathe for a moment. Turning away from the sight of the now-closed door, I stuffed my hands into my pockets and stared sightlessly out the window.
She was going to be okay. The doctor was experienced and good at what he did. Contreras was one of the best in his field. He would take care of her, make sure nothing went wrong. I had to trust him to take care of her, just as I’d trusted him to treat Pixie for months.
But, fuck, it was hard.
A soft hand touched my arm, and I didn’t have to look down to know it was her mom. “She’s going to be just fine,” she murmured. “You’ll see. Doe is strong, a fighter.”
Unable to speak around the lump in my throat, all I could do was nod. She rubbed my back. “Remember. Positive thoughts. That’s what she said this morning. We have to send all the good vibes to her and the doctor, so that when Pixie gets the bone marrow, it will be ready to heal her.”
The tightness in my throat only got worse. My little lamb was so good, so fucking precious. I didn’t know how I’d gotten so lucky to have her as my own, but I wasn’t ever going to give her a reason to leave me.
Marissa gave me a one-armed hug. “I’m going to go sit with Pixie like I promised Doe I would. You boys take Jenner outside for some fresh air.” She stepped toward her husband, then turned with a stern look on her normally soft face. “No arguing. Your sister won’t be happy if any of you get into a fight.”
“Yes, ma’am,” her three sons said in unison.
She gave them each a hard look for another long moment before taking Wroth’s hand. As the door shut behind them, LJ slapped me on the back. “Mom’s right. You need some air, man. Come on. We can grab some coffee and sit out in the gazebo for a while. Someone will text us when Doe is able to receive visitors.”
Doe’s brothers and Aspen led the way down to the cafeteria, where we got some half-decent coffee and then walked out to the garden area at the back of the hospital where a gazebo had been built. It was still early morning, and no one else was around. LJ and Bryant pushed me down onto a bench then sat on either side of me, sipping their coffees. Across from us, Jackson and Aspen took the other bench. They put a good foot between themselves, but I didn’t miss how Jackson’s foot stretched out and brushed against Aspen’s.
Neither of them spoke or even so much as looked at the other. The only contact between them was their booted feet grazing each other’s. Yet, that seemed to be enough for them. There was no tension in them, no awkwardness. If I didn’t already know something was going on between the two, I would have just thought they were two friends sitting having coffee together.
“What time is your flight back?” Aspen asked, directing his question to the two guys on either side of me.
“First thing in the morning,” LJ answered. “We have a game the day after tomorrow. Coach was good enough to let us miss practice and today’s game since Jackson wasn’t pitching anyway.”
“So, Jenner,” Jackson said after the others drifted into silence. “What are your intentions with our baby sis?”
“Dude,” Bryant groaned. “Don’t start anything. You heard Mom. And I don’t want to upset Doe today of all days.”
“I’m not starting anything,” Jackson said with a grunt that reminded me of his dad. “I just need to know what he foresees in his future with our sister.”
“I foresee her smiling until we both take our last breaths. Her in a wedding dress. A house with all the horses she wants.” The images played out in my head as I spoke them aloud, making me smile. “And as many babies as she’s willing to give me.”
The four of them all stared at me with their mouths wide open for a long while. Then Bryant slapped me on the back. “All right then, man. Whatever you need us to do to make all that happen, you just let us know.”
I tossed my empty cup into the open trash can a few feet away before leaning back. “I have a question for you three myself, actually.”
“Sure, man,” LJ encouraged.
It had been bothering me all week, ever since Doe had said something to Pixie that was eating at me. “Who the fuck hurt your sister?”
The three of them frowned at the bite in my tone. “What do you mean?” Jackson asked, leaning forward. “No one has ever hurt Doe. We’d kill them if they even tried.”
I thought back over all the subtle things she’d said in the past, and then what she’d told Pixie at their first meeting. “She’s got this distorted view of herself. Like she’s not beautiful or amazing or everything anyone could ever wish for wrapped up in this precious package that is my every dream come true. As if she’s been beaten down, not physically, but definitely emotionally. She tries to hide it, but every now and then, I see some of it bleed through.”
“That’s insane,” Bryant muttered, shaking his head. “That doesn’t sound like Doe at all. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Me either,” LJ grumbled.
“That’s because she hides it to protect your dumb asses,” Aspen told them. “You three are feral savages when it comes to protecting her, but she does her part and protects you too.”
“What do you mean?” Jackson demanded. “How has she protected us?”
“You three were gods throughout school. No one could touch you because you were kings and scary as fuck.” He shrugged. “But they treated Doe like shit. Courtney and her little tribe…”
“Courtney,” I repeated the name. “I think I met her a while back. She was being a catty little bitch to Doe at the grocery store.”
“Of course she was. She doesn’t know how to talk to Doe any other way. Except when these three are around, then she’s sweeter than honey.” Aspen gave a disgusted grimace. “I hate that cunt.”
“If Courtney was so mean to her, why didn’t she ever say anything?” Bryant half snarled, one hand balling into a fist.
“Because Doe knew you would go all Hulk Mode like your dad and ruin your chances at college baseball,” Aspen confided. “Senator Wilcox would ruin all three of you if you targeted his daughter.”
“That’s bullshit. Baseball means nothing to any of us if it comes at Doe’s expense,” Bryant countered.
“What did Courtney do?” LJ asked, sounding confused and maybe even a little hurt. “Aspen, tell us what that bitch did to our baby sister.”
“I think the real question is, what did she and those asshats not do to her,” Aspen said, making my stomach knot up. Fuck, I didn’t even know what they’d done to my sweet little lamb yet, and I already wanted to slaughter them all.
“One of the worst things Courtney did was tell everyone in gym that Doe was really a boy and just had a small dick. So, every day when they were showering, Courtney would get someone to try to take a picture of Doe while she undressed.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jackson seethed.
“Doe begged me not to. She’s my best friend. If she wasn’t going to let you three have her back, someone needed to.”
“You said, ‘one of the worst,’” Bryant said in a deceptively soft voice, but he was practically vibrating with rage. “Meaning there were other incidents just as bad? As if trying to take a picture of her…her…her fucking private parts wasn’t bad enough?”
“Yes,” Aspen admitted.
“How long did the gym thing last?” Jackson asked.
“About six or seven weeks. One day I saw a few of the guys snickering over a picture on someone’s phone. Courtney texted it to most of the people in our gym class. Me, Doe, and maybe two other people didn’t get it. As soon as I saw it, I put a stop to it.”
“How?” I gritted out.
“I took a few pictures of my own.” Aspen smirked, the look in his eyes malicious. “It was at one of the football postgame parties. Courtney is the biggest whore in the county, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I caught her in a really good position.”
“Oh fuck!” Bryant and LJ whispered, glee coating their voices as they leaned forward.
“You’re the one who posted the pictures of Courtney on her knees with Coach?” Jackson asked in awe.
“I plead the Fifth.”
Bryant slapped me on the back again. “Jenner, man, the football coach was a real sleaze. He was always licking his lips and putting his hands in his pockets whenever the cheerleaders were out there practicing with the team. Halfway through the season our junior year, the school’s social media blew up when some anonymous pictures were posted directly to the school server and its website. Courtney was blowing the coach and two other guys. It was huge news. For about a week, Senator Wilcox’s approval ratings went down.”
LJ laughed at the reminder. “The entire school got investigated. Courtney claimed it was all photoshopped, and most people actually believed her. Because the cops couldn’t conclusively trace the post back to who had put it up, they couldn’t prove that it was or wasn’t. But Coach lost his job, and he was run out of town, along with the other guys. Courtney was made to be the victim of the whole thing, even though she was legally eighteen in our junior year. Her dad’s ratings went back up, and he had no problem winning the primary this time. Fuck, even I thought she was a victim. I threatened to kill Coach when I saw him at school the day after the pictures were posted.”
Jackson stood and started popping his neck. “I can’t believe this was going on and we never knew. We should have fucking known something was wrong. Damn it, she should have come to us and told us about the bullying before it got that bad.”
I grabbed the back of my neck with both hands and squeezed hard. I’d sensed something was off, but I never would have imagined that my little lamb had been put through such hell. How could anyone treat someone so precious like they had treated her? On either side of me, her brothers were nearly bouncing in their seats, wanting to take revenge for their sister, but I wanted to fucking murder every single person who had put her through hell.
“They thought they won,” Jackson seethed as he paced back and forth in front of me. He punched his right fist into his left hand. “Those fucking bastards are done. Every one of them, they will pay for hurting her.”
“If you do anything to get yourselves thrown in jail or ruin your baseball careers, Doe will be even more upset.” Aspen tried to talk him down. “She kept quiet because she loves you three and wanted to ensure your futures were safe. Doing something stupid now will mean her sacrifice was in vain.”
“We won’t.” Jackson stopped suddenly, an evil smile spreading across his face. “Give me the names of everyone in that gym class who was in on the pictures.”
“Jackson, seriously—”
“Baby, don’t worry about it,” he soothed. “No one will even know. Because I have a secret weapon.”
“Mieke,” Bryant and LJ said, that same evil grin transforming their faces as it had their brother’s.
“I don’t know who or what Mieke is,” I told them. “But whatever you three are planning, I want in on.”
“Mieke is the best hacker this side of the globe,” LJ explained. “She can erase your entire digital history in the blink of an eye. She’s a goddamn genius. Her dad is Zander Brockman, and her husband is a cardiologist across town. A few clicks of her mouse and she could destroy the lives of world leaders. I heard Uncle Z telling Dad once that Mieke hacked the Pentagon when she was a kid. Think of all the damage she could do to someone like Courtney.”
