Chapter 26

Dylan

Weston is alive tonight.

There isn’t a single street without people on it and barely a house on Knock Hill not pumping light and music into the neighborhood.

I barely see any of it, though.

Parking up the lane, which is as close as I could get to the house, I slide through the crowd, between bodies, overflowing cups, and an impromptu game of football in the middle of the street. “Slip to the Void” blasts from the speakers sitting in the windows of Hunter and Farrow’s house, and I don’t know if anyone is doing the car-vibrating-sex thing, but there are plenty of people making out.

Entering the house, I hear laughter and quickly dry my eyes as I step toward the living room. Blankets and pillows sit in a pile on the chair as Codi and Mace rest on the couch, laughing at something on Mace’s phone. Codi wears my jacket.

Their jacket now, since the Pirates lost.

I lean on the wall. “My babysitters tonight?”

But Farrow comes out from the kitchen, shoving a drink in my hand. “Come on, we’re getting lit,” he tells me. “Weston won. Time to celebrate.”

I blow out a breath, looking down at the yellow-brown drink with ice in it.

“You don’t care, do you?” Farrow teases.

“I do,” I tell him. “I’m happy Weston won.”

I take a drink, tasting rum and juice.

“We’re going to be sorry to see you go,” Farrow tells me, moving to the windows to look outside.

“I have till Sunday.” I swallow another gulp. “You guys still have time to make me into a ghost.”

Farrow chuckles, and I plop down on the arm of the couch, grabbing a handful of Cheez-Its from the box.

“What are you going to do next year?” Farrow asks me. “College?”

I sigh, hating this question. They want our senior quotes and future plans for our captions in the yearbook at Falls High, and of course, I know what I want. I just don’t know how to say it in a way that doesn’t sound like Unemployed or Moving to L.A. to be an actress! Everyone will assume I’ll be living at home for the rest of my life.

“If I go to college,” I say, “it’ll be because I’m scared not to. I know what I want to do with my life, and I don’t need a degree.”

“It’s gotta be nice, though,” Mace chimes in. “Having time to figure stuff out. My dad got kicked out when he graduated from high school, and I have to start paying half the rent when I do.” She flashes me a smile. “But at least he’s not kicking me out.”

I sit there, silent. I whine because I have choices? Everyone should be so lucky.

Cheers go off in the street, and I rise, taking my drink with me.

“Seriously, you guys go party,” I tell them. “Go have fun. I’ll be right here. Upstairs asleep.”

Farrow just watches me.

“Are you sure?” Mace asks as Codi looks up at me.

“I’m exhausted,” I say. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

I head upstairs, away from their stares, and close myself off in my room. In a minute, I hear the door shut downstairs as they hopefully join the crowd. I slip off my clothes, except for my T-shirt and underwear, plug in my phone, and cast a look to Hunter’s dark bedroom window before I climb into bed.

But my head is working overtime, and I can’t calm down. Minutes pass, and then an hour passes, and I wish I knew what happened after I left Hunter and Kade. Did they start fighting again? Did they go home to their parents?

All I know is that I was right. I was coming between them.

I was the problem.

I know I wasn’t doing anything wrong, but it’s hard not to feel like I should’ve been more invisible. Should’ve disappeared more. Should’ve taken up less space.

Like I feel people want me to do at school, on the track, and…even at home sometimes.

Hunter and Kade need each other, because love may or not last, but blood does, and they’ll always be connected. I want Hunter to have him back.

I turn on my side, hugging the pillow under my head as tears fall and more time passes. “He said he loved me…” I whisper to myself.

I squeeze my eyes shut. I don’t want to go home without him. I should’ve kissed him more the last time we were here, in bed. I should’ve let him stay and smiled at him and snuck downstairs for snacks with him in the middle of the night. I should’ve loved him more and slower and harder.

The party continues, another hour goes by, music beats, tires peel, and Weston howls their victory. I smile.

I’m glad I came.

And I’m glad I’ll leave something here when I go—just as Farrow said I would.

Maybe someday Hunter and I will come together again. When the bad blood with Kade is gone and everything’s okay.

I just hope he’s the same.

“Dylan…” I hear my name in a low hum somewhere in the house.

I freeze as the door slams downstairs and footfalls hit the steps.

I rise up, staring at the light under the door.

“Dylan…” a deep voice drones on.

I look up to my ceiling, thinking about the weird dude in the attic from those notes.

But the sounds aren’t coming from there.

I shoot my gaze to the door again, seeing a shadow fall over the light.

“Shhh,” someone hisses outside.

“You shhh,” the other one says.

I clench the blanket, looking around for a pencil or something to stab with. Who the hell is in my house?

Then, all of a sudden, my door swings open, and I scream.

“Shhh, Dylan.” Kade swats the air, his brother and him hanging onto each other. “Shhh…shhh… You’re going to wake me up!” he whisper-yells.

They stumble into the room, Hunter bare chested and dressed in jeans, and Kade in the same jeans and T-shirt he wore earlier. I smell the beer from here.

They lumber across the room, both of them toppling onto my bed.

I growl, kicking at both of them. They’re wasted.

“What are you guys doing?” I yell.

They crawl up by me, one on each side. “We’re just gonna sleep,” Hunter says.

“Not in here,” I cry.

Kade lays in the spot where I was trying to rest, Hunter pulling me on top of him to save room.

Kade lays an arm over my back. “Dylan, we love you so much.”

I shove his hand away. “You’re all wet.” I try to push off Hunter. “Both of you are soaking wet!”

The water from Hunter’s jeans drips to my legs.

“They brought out the hoses downstairs,” Hunter mumbles, already drifting.

I pry myself out of his hold, and push myself up. “Go sleep downstairs,” I yell at both of them.

Kade pulls off his shirt.

I look between the two of them. “I’m going to push you both on the floor.”

Kade drops his shirt, lying back down. “He used to sneak in and sleep over with you, and I never did that, and I feel you didn’t have the full experience.”

“I don’t think I need it,” I reply flatly.

But Kade yawns. “Everyone should get to sleep with me once.”

He pulls me back down between them, but Hunter grabs me away and pulls me on top of him again. “Dude, that’s mine.”

“Dylan, we just love you so much,” Kade says again.

Hunter throws his brother’s hand off his face. “Man, that’s me.”

They both lie under me, and I flip over, staring at the ceiling, two men and me in my dinky twin bed. “I don’t believe this.”

I won’t get any sleep.

But then Kade shifts to my left, and he holds up something over his head. “Is this what I think it is?”

I look over, seeing my vibrator in the moonlight. “Oh my God!”

I grab it and throw it across the room, seeing it land just by my open bedroom door as Kade chuckles.

“Someone’s not doing their job right,” he teases.

I turn back over, burying my face in Hunter’s chest.

His hand touches my hair, and I look up, seeing him looking down at me. “Yes, he does,” I whisper.

He quirks a little smile, and so do I.

We don’t sleep well.

At first.

The bed is too small, so we find that we can all fit if we sleep on our sides, but then Hunter found that he didn’t want to spoon me with his brother, but they also didn’t want to spoon each other, so Kade stayed sleeping on his side while I just fell asleep on top of Hunter.

They drift off between maneuvers to get comfortable, but I don’t think I actually fall asleep for another hour.

When I wake, I’m almost entirely sprawled on top of Hunter, Kade’s arm around both of us.

I blink, tilting my head back to look up at Hunter. With his head laying to the side, he breathes peacefully, his hair resting over his closed eyes.

The heat of his body soaks into my skin, and I can’t stop staring at his hair. So many shades of blond, strands of almost light brown mixed in as if on purpose with the lighter tones. I never noticed that before.

Reaching up, I trace the ridge of his nose, touching him with just the tip of my finger, but the contact makes the hair on my arm rise.

His brow pinches together as he starts to stir, and I run the back of my fingers lightly over his eyelids. I drag the pads of my fingers down his face, something swelling in my chest so big that I feel like the air is being sucked out of the room.

I cup his jaw, running my thumb over his mouth.

He opens his eyes, immediately locking gazes with me. “I love you,” he says.

I smile, teeth and everything, this amazing feeling like I want to cry because I’m so excited taking me over.

I open my mouth, but a sound behind me stops me in my tracks.

I twist my head, Hunter lifting his, and Kade jerking awake.

My father stands in the open doorway, a tray of two to-go coffees laying on the floor where he dropped them.

Rage fills his eyes, making them look like lit sticks of dynamite, and his chest rises and falls faster and faster.

“What the fuck?” he growls.

I suddenly become aware that I am only wearing a T-shirt and underwear, and Kade and Hunter are both half-naked.

I scramble, trying to climb out of all the arms and legs. “Dad,” I gasp.

“Oh, shit,” Kade groans, rolling onto the floor and rising to his feet.

I scurry, Hunter quickly throwing the sheet over me and leaping over to my desk, grabbing my jeans. He tosses them to me, and I hurriedly slip them on under the bedding.

I keep my eyes locked on my father.

But he’s not looking at me. He stares at the floor, takes two steps, and picks up something off the ground. When he holds up the vibrator, I whimper, my eyes rounding in terror.

“It’s not what it looks like!” I scream. “I promise.”

When he raises his eyes, he glares at Kade, then Hunter. His hand is visibly shaking, and my palm shoots to my mouth.

“Oh, no,” Hunter mumbles.

“Yeah.” Kade nods, throwing on his shirt. “He’s about to fucking explode.” He growls at his brother, “Go!”

Kade rushes for the door, flying past my father as my dad turns, looking like he’s about to grab him. Hunter twists toward me. I jump out of the bed, fastening my jeans.

“Just go!” I tell him, pushing.

He shakes his head. “I’m not leaving you to face this—”

I kiss him, feeling his groan as I quickly pull away. “Just go,” I bark. “Please!”

My father moves in, Hunter looks at me, in turmoil, and I push him. “Please!” I cry. “I’ll handle it.”

My mom appears at the door with my brother, takes one look at my scared face and Hunter and sends my brother away.

“Hunter!” Kade yells from downstairs.

“It’s not what you think,” I say to my dad, and then look to my mom. “Mom, nothing happened!”

“Hunter!” Kade bellows again.

Dad charges, and I push Hunter. “Go!”

“Dylan, no,” he argues.

“You being here won’t help,” I beg.

He bares his teeth, frustrated, and charges out of the room, getting his brother out of here.

“Did they coerce you?” my dad asks. “Get you drunk?”

I look at him like he’s crazy. What? “Dad, you practically helped raise them! How can you ask that?”

He holds up the sex toy, and I snatch it back, hiding it behind me as I hear Hunter’s car outside start up. “Nothing happened!”

“You’re lying!” he yells, and I startle.

He’s never yelled like that before.

“You’re lying to me,” he bites out.

My mom flies in, putting herself between us. “Enough.”

“I won’t have it!” he cries. “You don’t sleep in a bed in your fucking underwear with two guys and say nothing happened.”

“Kade has never touched me!” I yell.

Air pours in and out of his mouth as he seethes, but his voice is a level quieter when he asks, “And Hunter?”

I close my mouth, swallowing through my parched throat.

His glower pounds me into the floor, but I square my shoulders and don’t look away. “I’m eighteen, and I’d like my privacy.”

He rears back, a whole new look in his eyes as if that’s not the stance I want to be taking right now. His eyes light up with the challenge, but instead of fighting me more, he starts to back up and leave the room.

“Where are you going?” my mom asks, sounding nervous.

He spins around, stepping through the door.

“Jared?” she calls.

“I’m just going to talk to their father,” he says as he disappears around the corner and pounds down the stairs. “Bring her home!”

Talk to their father…

I shoot a glance to my mom. “Mom,” I beg.

“Get your shoes,” she tells me. “Hurry.”

In less than a minute, I have my sneakers on, and I’m running down the stairs, tying my hair up into a ponytail. My stomach growls at the scent of eggs and bacon, but I don’t stop to think where it’s coming from.

My mom leads the way out the door, followed by my brother, and I see my car parked at the curb. I guess they thought I might like it for my last night here?

But then I climb in the passenger side as my mom drives, and it hits me…the dance.

And the coffees my dad showed up with. They probably brought breakfast for the fake family I’m staying with as a thank you for hosting me.

Shit.

And my mom probably wanted to see if I wanted to go shopping for tonight.

Son of a bitch. My shoulders slump as my brother and I fasten our seatbelts, my mom peeling out of the neighborhood. I don’t see anyone on the street, but it’s early, and Farrow is undoubtedly sleeping off his hangover.

I’d kind of love for him to be awake right now. It’s going to take an army to keep my dad in line.

My mom shifts into third, then fourth, cutting a sharp right and descending into the mill district. She races down River Road, and I glance at my brother in the backseat. His AirPods are in as he plays a game on his tablet.

I keep my voice low. “I promise nothing happened last night,” I tell her. “We all just slept.”

She throws me a look. “Dylan…”

And I can see that it’s as hard for her to believe as it was for my dad.

I know it looked bad. A situation like that where no one touched each other just wouldn’t happen.

But….

“Mom, I love Hunter,” I say.

And that’s all I tell her. It’s enough. I’m an open-minded person, and like I told Hunter, I absolutely believe that we’re all capable of a lot, given the right motivation and circumstances.

But I don’t want anyone else.

She glances at me once—then again—and I see her purse her lips as she races onto the bridge and kicks it up a gear. “And he’s loved you forever.”

She sighs, and I know she believes me.

“You could tell?” I ask.

She simply chuckles under her breath, speeding into Shelburne Falls. “Everyone could.”

So even though Kade was overreacting, he wasn’t wrong. He knew ten years ago.

“What’s Dad going to do?” I ask.

“Something that will ruin our day, I’m sure.”

I fold my arms over my chest, balling my fists and tensing every muscle, far too anxious. We need to get there.

All I can say is I’m glad I fell for a guy more like Madoc than like my dad or Jax. Those kinds of tempers aren’t conducive to my personality. Whoever falls in love with Kade will either need to be a saint or have a temper that rivals his.

We fly through town, but not fast enough. I’m tapping my foot, and not at all hiding the fact that I’m checking her speed the whole way there.

She’s only going five miles over the speed limit. “Ugh.”

She shoots me a look but continues at the same pace.

As soon as we pull into Madoc’s driveway, I see everyone in front of the house—Kade, Hunter, Fallon, Madoc, A.J., and my dad. My dad’s car door hangs open, the parking lights lit up.

“Oh, God,” I groan. He didn’t even take a split-second to turn off his car?

Mom speeds in, skidding to a halt, and she and I hop out of the vehicle. I hear their raised voices as we run over. Hunter casts me a worried look.

“What the hell happened?” Madoc shouts, dressed only in sleep pants. Fallon is, thankfully, dressed in jeans and a fitted gray Pirate hoodie. She wears her glasses with her hair swept up into a messy bun as she stands in front of her twin sons.

“I want them both gone.” My dad sticks his finger in Madoc’s face. “You send them to wherever your people send rich kids for school. You understand?”

“Don’t talk to me about what to do with my own kids,” Madoc retorts and then looks around. “Someone tell me what the hell is going on!”

“He found us in bed with Dylan,” Kade tells him.

Madoc’s eyes go round.

“Nothing happened,” Hunter rushes to add.

“They were practically naked!” Dad growls.

“None of us were naked,” Kade says.

“Dad, nothing happened,” Hunter explains. “There was a party in Weston, Kade and I were drinking, and we were teasing Dylan. We never meant to fall asleep.”

Madoc looks at them over his shoulder. “You guys were drinking?” His tone is light, surprised. “Together?”

He sounds so happy that they were together, he doesn’t give a shit they were drinking underage.

My dad exhales hard. “No parent in their right mind would believe that story.”

“Everyone’s telling you the same story,” I say, moving in.

“I never touched her,” Kade states.

My dad looks at Hunter. “And you?”

Hunter’s gaze flashes to me, and I see his jaw twitch with a smile, but he remains silent.

Madoc turns when his son doesn’t answer and sees the truth in Hunter’s eyes.

“Were you careful?” my dad barks at him.

Hunter inhales a deep breath, meets my eyes again, and I open my mouth, but my dad’s not going to like that answer, either.

“Dude…” Kade scolds his brother when he doesn’t reply.

But my dad is already charging Hunter. Fallon and my mom lurch to intervene, but Madoc is already there, his hands on my dad’s chest, keeping him at bay. Madoc’s chest shakes with laughter.

My dad snarls. “You’re laughing?”

“Man, we knew it was going to happen,” he says. “Come on!”

“And you should have raised your sons to wrap it up!”

“Now you’re pissing me off!” Madoc points a finger back in my dad’s face. “I raised my kids right!”

My dad grabs his stepbrother in a headlock, Madoc’s arms flying as he tries to swat at my dad wherever he can reach.

The moms rush in, Kade keeling over with laughter as A.J. just looks disgusted, and I think my brother is happily still checked out with his video game in the back of my car.

Madoc tries to stomp on my dad’s foot, which is a mistake, because Madoc’s foot is bare, while my dad’s is booted. Dad stomps back, and I just tip my head back sighing.

I…

Yeah.

No.

I breeze past everyone into the house.