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Cass said, “I gave Rip some dog ones. For Halloween, Dane. Damn. He’s not going to turn into Fury, but these are cute, right?”
She just made so many arguments for why he needed to get that kid out of here. I sort of hated her at this moment, “Go, Cass. Please.”
He shook his head, puffed out a breath and said, “He’s about to be in kindergarten. I’m pretty sure my rush is over, man. I…have to be a dad. My parents are recovering, and my mom is crazy he’s with me now. I don’t want her to have a reason for him to go back to them. He’s my son, not theirs, so…he needs to be with me.”
I nodded. I understood. He looked out toward that room and said what I feared the most. “I’m going to ask her to come with us. I wanted you to know first.”
“You’re not asking me to come with you?” I put my hands on my hips and gave him all kinds of unnecessary attitude.
“I hate you.” He shook his head. “Would you?”
I realized then he didn’t know if she would leave me. I didn’t know either. I simply told the truth. “I’d go wherever she wants me to go.”
He nodded. “Yeah, me too.”
Then the door opened, and the prince of darkness walked in and looked at us. I snickered, and Apollo asked, “What?”
Dane said, “I think I found a place—”
Apollo shook his head and said, “I’ve got that covered. At least for the rest of this year and next. Maybe I’ll change my major one more time.”
He walked over to her and took a seat next to her.
“Well. Can’t wait to see what this looks like.” I shook my head. Dane puffed out a breath. Whatever happened between them that weekend we tried to teach her a lesson for choosing him over us, landed us in the position where he was now a solidified part of Team Harpy. Fuck. I shook my head. Team Harpy. Whatever. I’d go where she needed me to be.
Epilogue
Harpy
My sophomore, their junior and senior years
It was a Monday. That meant four of us were home, and Rip was at school for the day. His grandma would pick him up, and he would be brought to us at seven. Dane’s mom didn’t look at me like I was the help anymore. Tituss’s parents didn’t give him any lip about me anymore either. He was not committed to that girl, Jem, who did have a hard time letting him go. I understood completely. We didn’t flaunt the fact that I was with them, and they were with me, but we didn’t hide that either. I could be seen on campus with any one of them at any given time and sometimes canoodling.
Ripley had stopped playing football at first, but once Rip was living with us, and we had a routine, I convinced him to give it another try. He loved playing. The team was better with him on the field. He was better with someplace to put all that energy and aggression since I tried to do more than I was supposed to and reinjured my stupid leg. I got so many lectures from the three men and mini-man living with me I had to call the math team to get me out of there for a study break. When a five-year-old lectures you on taking it easy, it’s not pretty.
That day, I took a nap in Squeak’s crazy room, and they played video games in the downstairs living room. Tituss and Dane’s old rooms were taken by Winston and some other guy. Sophomore House was still like a home to me. Those guys didn’t let anyone bother me, and that really bothered the three men who sent the little man in to get me. No one around here could resist that kid. He was rotten and so much more intelligent than everyone else his age. I switched to early childhood education without much issue since I took gen ed courses my first year.
We lived in the Bunny House, and the girls chose to take available spaces in the frat houses or go back to their dorms. They all lived in the frat houses on the top floors. I didn’t blame them. It was safer, cheaper, and as long as they took care of their actual jobs, no one was hassling them for more. In fact, the only people who hooked up anymore were actual couples. Cassidy was engaged already, and her furry-loving fiancé kept her decked out in some sort of animal print that was not cheap for damn sure. She’d occasionally be seen wearing ears that actually moved, and since Rip had a pair for Halloween, I did too. We were twin dogs. His dad was not super happy about it.
He never really liked Cassidy. I understood. Still, I was happy for her. She seemed happy. We didn’t hang out like before. I…didn’t have friends outside of this house. I had acquaintances, colleagues, people I had classes with. I didn’t need friends outside of this house. Everything I had ever dreamed of was right here. Except Apollo would be graduating this year, and I didn’t like the idea of him not being within reach. He had plans, big plans, and I was part of them. I had helped him make some decisions on the business side, and this year, the cleaning business was taking it up a notch. The OBDs were thrilled.
All five of us had a bedroom. Rip’s room was next to his dad’s, so things were done quietly on that side of the house. Not always so quiet on the other side, but they still handled me with more care than I cared to be handled with, and I was starting to get frustrated with them.
There were two office spaces, but I had been summoned to a particular one for a reason. We hadn’t been doing things together since before the incident, as I referred to it these days. I had fun with them alone, but it had been forever since I walked into a space and saw three men looking at me like I was in a lot of trouble. Since they were clothed and in various seats, I thought maybe those days were truly behind us now. I asked with a hand on my hip and an exasperated tone, “What did I do now?”
Apollo shook his head. “Two weeks cleared of all the PT, and yet none of it has done a damn thing for your attitude.”
I blinked. Had they been taking it easy on me because of the cast, then the brace, then the other brace, and okay, it was a decent brake and a long road to recovery, but I had been one hundred percent again for…yeah, two weeks. I looked around the room at them and said, “Only one thing helps this attitude problem, but you guys don’t seem to have it in you anymore. I might have to scout the freshmen, see—”
Apollo slammed his hand on the desk, and Ripley, he had gone back to that since his son was also named Ripley though we still called him Rip, shook his head at me. I looked at Tituss, who waved his finger back and forth and said, “Tut tut now. Let’s not start off with threats.”
“You’re right.” I nodded. “Let’s review some promises.”
I looked at Tituss and said, “You promised to do the dishes, but who did them?”
“Before I could. I was—” I was in front of him and put my finger over his lips. I was eager to feel those lips against mine, both sets.
“I did.” I moved over to the next seat and looked at Apollo. “And you promised—”
