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We did as Tyler said and went to search the archives but didn’t find anything that I hadn’t already known or that wasn’t exaggerated or wrong. I left there feeling deflated.
Next on Tyler’s list for the day was lunch. But instead of going to the diner as I thought we would, Kayden drove us toward the area around the restaurant where we had gone for our failed date. I expected us to turn into the parking lot of the restaurant, so I was surprised when we passed it and instead went even further until we pulled up to another restaurant.
It was colored a light teal with a cherry wood lattice overhang with vines woven through, giving the outside a romantic feel. The restaurant’s name was painted on the side of the building in a large copper swirl that could only be Spanish. As the four of us entered the restaurant, the tantalizing spicy scent of Mexican food hit me, causing my mouth to water and my stomach to rumble. Mmm, if it tasted as good at it smelled, I knew I could eat anything they served.
Lincoln held my hand and his thumb rubbed against the inside of my wrist, trying to calm my nerves and frustration from the morning’s events. We were guided to a table for four. Lincoln urged me to sit in the first chair then sat in the one beside it. Tyler sat across from me, and Kayden took up residence next to him.
“You can have anything,” Kayden stated plainly as I glanced over one of the menus that the waiter had left for us. Looking at the options, a small smile played at my lips as I felt some of my ‘normalness’ easing back into me. I peered up at him with a brow raised and questioned, “Anything?”
Kayden’s large frame, which had been tensed all morning, finally relaxed. “Yes, anything, Sweetcheeks,” he replied seductively. My heart warmed as well as my cheeks. I shook my head, trying to distract myself from that blatant innuendo.
Lincoln’s hand took my right one from underneath the table and brought it up to his lips, kissing the inside of my palm. “All you have to do is ask,” he whispered as crystal blue eyes bore into mine with a deeper meaning than Kayden teasing words.
Below the table, I felt a foot nudge mine and glanced over to Kayden once again, giving him a smile in return before glancing back over to Tyler, who was nodding in agreement with his brothers. “We’re here, Baby. And we’re not going anywhere.”
Tyler drew the menu out of my left hand and laid it down on the table before he captured the now empty hand. Captured it? I mused. I was definitely caught with Linc holding one hand, Tyler the other. Then Kayden said, “We'll always be here for you.”
My heart warmed at the words as tears stung at my eyes, but this time they were happy ones. I tried to blink them back, warding them away as my cheeks bunched up into a grin. “I’ll have a large iced tea with the chimichanga and a side of what you’re offering.”
Kayden chuckled and shifted in his seat. I felt the pressure of his shoe settling on top of mine, giving me the contact I craved from him. “It’s a good thing you’re accepting what we're offering because we already informed Brady and our parents that you’re stuck with us, and they will just have to get used to it.” Kayden grinned. “So beware if the parents start to get a little antsy.”
Lincoln gave my hand a gentle squeeze from under the table, and I turned my attention back to him as he grunted. “I don’t know about Officer Brady, but our parents would do anything to have us settled as soon as possible, not with babies, though.” My heart stopped at the mention of babies. “But settled no less,” Lincoln finished.
Tyler and Kayden both chuckled, surprised at Lincoln’s blunt warning. “No babies for us, at least not anytime soon,” Tyler said, his gaze meeting Lincoln’s then coming back to mine, full of unbridled heat. “But we can always start on forever.”
Oh boy, this conversation was getting way-way serious too soon. Tyler leaned in, his easy-going disposition gone, and in its place, a more serious one. His eyes were intent on mine as his thumb played on the inside of my palm caressing the center. “What would your answer be, today, if we asked you to be ours, forever?” Lincoln’s hand tightened once again. Kayden’s shoe lifted off of my foot to slide next to it so that our ankles were touching. Almost as if our feet were hugging.
“We would finish out college, save some money and buy a little house not far from Uncle Denny’s farm. Far enough out that people wouldn’t bother us, but just close enough not to be out in the boonies. After that, we’d have to see what would happen.”
“What do you say, Faith? Would that be something you could live with? A somewhat, normal but eventful life”—he glanced over to his brothers—“with the three of us?”
My heart was going a mile minute. Was this a... proposal? Or were they just putting it out there for me? Letting me know that they were beyond serious and were ready to start talking about the future? Either way, I was freaking out on the inside. I wanted to say yes. I wanted them. I couldn’t see myself without them, but this was a lot to put on me at the moment. I’d just had a trigger. It was the death date of my parents. It was a lot to take in today. I bent my head to glance down at the discarded menu and to reply with an honest answer, but we were interrupted before I could.
“Hello!” the cheerful voice of our waitress greeted us, not knowing what she’d just interrupted. “Do y’all know what drinks you’ll be having?”
I could hear the protests and groans under their breaths, and it gave me a warm feeling inside that they were anxious for my answer, but I wasn’t going to give them one today.
“I’ll have an iced tea,” I piped up when no one else answered. The other three ordered their drinks, and then the waitress promptly told us that she’d be back to get our meal orders momentarily.
As she walked away, three sets of curious eyes turned to me, demanding an answer. “Today is not the day to be asking me those kinds of questions.” Their faces fell, and I knew that was not what they’d expected me to say. “But, I wouldn’t mind if those questions were asked again on another day in a different way. At that time, my answer might be the one you guys are wanting. But right now, please don’t make me answer that. I’m all messed up, and I want to be clear minded when you three ask me again.”
Expressions of relief crossed each of their faces. “Ok,” Lincoln spoke up. “Expect us to ask again soon, Faith, and we expect your answer to be one that will start the rest of our lives, but until then...”
“We’ll have lots of sex,” Kayden finished, causing me to laugh.
The day had started off good but then turned not so good, and currently I was overflowing with warmth and joy. They cared about me and wanted me, in the white dress kind of sense. I knew they wanted me before, as a girlfriend and possibly living together but what they were suggesting now was permanent, and I wanted it. But the ups and downs of the day left me unsteady.
We finished up at the Mexican restaurant, and they proceeded to take me back to their house. We raided their movie selection and plopped down on the couch. I curled up on Kayden’s lap. The movie we’d picked was an action one, but I didn't mind. I was just content. Despite my little freak-out, my McGuire guys really wanted a broken, sarcastic, teenage girl that had a haunted past.
I snuggled into Kayden a little bit more then lifted my lips to his chin, giving it a kiss. Kayden quickly ducked his head, capturing my lips with his own. My heart felt like it was going to burst with all the emotions that were caught up inside of me as he turned my body around so I straddled his lap, my knees on either side of his hips. Warm hands worked their way around my waist as I combed my fingers through his hair, trying to gain better traction for our kiss.
It wasn’t long until I felt another set of hands curling around my body. I felt lips kissing along my bare shoulder. Together, the two of them worked my shirt off, followed by Kayden laying me down on the couch. My eyes met crystal blues before Lincoln's lips descended while his hand worked at getting my bra off.
I felt the zipper on my jeans come undone, then the subtle pressure at my hips from Kayden, encouraging me to tilt them up so he could slide my pants off. Lincoln continued to kiss me as his hands touched the plane of my stomach, causing goosebumps to rise in his wake. I fisted his hair, holding his lips to me. My eyes had briefly closed, but I opened them to find Tyler on the other side of the couch, watching his brothers, watching me. I didn’t know why, but the thought of him watching was hot.
Kayden’s fingers slid up my legs and slipped beneath the edge of my panties to caress my most intimate area as Lincoln exposed my breasts. Lincoln trailed his fingers ran across my nipples, causing me to moan. The two of them together were like lightning, and I felt myself quickly rising toward the same edge that I had gone over before. My hips lifted, my breath caught as my body slammed into an intense orgasm, leaving all awareness behind. Only pleasure remained.
As I was coming down off my high, I realized there was a flurry of movement rushing around me as my shirt was placed back on my body and my pants as well. Then I heard it, a door shutting and soft murmuring. Their parents must be home! I swung my gaze over to where Tyler had been sitting and was met with an empty seat on the couch. Lincoln picked me up and cradled me against his body as I relaxed, and Kayden disappeared. I heard Rachel McGuire's soft voice, almost as if it was in front of the two of us. A moment later she was there with us, talking to Linc as we sat on the couch.
I tucked my head into his shoulder, acting like I was sleeping. Not because I didn't want to talk to her, but because I was embarrassed and still coming down from the high of the intense orgasm. I stayed still, listening to Lincoln’s chest rumbled as he spoke in soothing tones with his mother. The movie was still playing in the background, muffing their conversation and any others that might’ve been going on in the other room. After a moment, things became fuzzy, and as sleep caught me up, I was left with one thought. I was loved and cherished by the McGuire brothers.
***
After I woke from my afternoon nap, Linc had me drive over to Raina's haunted house. This made me nervous, but with his encouraging words, we made it there in no time. Raina already had food lined up buffet style, and Wendy was making herself a plate. Linc asked to talk with Raina before we went into the kitchen, and that made me wonder if he was going to tell her about my mental break. I shuddered, thinking about it.
"Need one?" Wendy asked, handing a plate over to me with a knowing grin. I took the plate and started to fill it but paused when she asked me another question. "Have fun today, Daniels?"
In mid-reach for one of the brownies that I was sure were store bought, my brows furrowed in confusion at her knowing tone. Wendy couldn't possibly know what had gone on earlier, right? Was she referring to my breakdown or maybe the more intimate nature of things we’d done, more than once, I might add. If either of those assumptions were correct, it would have to mean that one of the guys told, and that was highly unlikely... or was it? I shook out of my trance and played along.
"Wouldn't you like to know." There, that should take care of any embarrassing info she thought she could possibly use on me. If she had any. Wendy was all about gaining information.
Raina came back into the kitchen with a smirk on her face. “Ready for the hot tub?”
“No suit,” I replied, taking a bite into the brownie, not discouraged in the least.
She raised a brow. “No suit is not an excuse.”
If I had gotten to know anything about Raina at all in these past few months, it was that she liked to live a little dangerously. I mean, who in their right mind actively gets down and dirty in their childhood home at her age where she could get caught by her mother? I nodded to myself, agreeing. Right, Raina liked to take risks
I grabbed a cup and poured myself some of the blue juice, ignoring the red liquid in the pitcher. I grinned before taking a sip, pleasantly surprised at the taste. It did have a little burn afterward, but it might have been the lemony aftertaste. “Aww, you think I’m making up excuses,” I teased, taking another sip of my drink as I sat down at her small table. “It’s a fact, not an excuse. I didn’t bring one, nor do I currently own one. Sooo... I guess I shall go naked.” A cool breeze crossed my body, and I froze, “Did you..?” I trailed off glancing over Raina and Wendy.
Wendy was adamantly nodding while Raina shook her head and walked back into her living room. “Not haunted," she sang. Wendy grinned, and I chuckled.
“It’s so haunted,” my sole supporter in that theory stated as she drank from her red solo cup. “I should know. I researched it, and ghosts can follow you from other places. It’s called an attachment.” I grinned in agreement with Wendy as I took a bite of string cheese.
After the food was all gone except for one brownie, Raina made another batch of blue and red lemonade. I was feeling pretty happy and loose. What was in those drinks?
“Spa time!” Raina sang. “We’re not wimping out. Let's get our naked butts in there!” she hollered as if she was getting ready for the playoffs.
Playoffs. I snickered, jumping up and tearing off my shirt. “Game, Game, Game!” I chanted, shedding my pants and bra as Wendy did the same. “I feel so freeee! Why?”
“Cuz, girl, we’re drunk!” Wendy giggled.
“Drunk?” I stopped pulling my underwear off. “I didn’t drink.”
“Oh, girly, you’ve been chugging the spiked punch down like juice!” Wendy said exasperated as she was midway stripped. “You, girl, are one smashed cookie.”
“Huh.” I didn’t know how I felt about that. Cookie... Brownie.
“I don’t want to drink anymore.” I frowned. “But I am hungry. Where’s that brownie?” I started to skip back into the kitchen when they stopped me.
“Freeze!”
I did and turned around frowning at Raina. “Whaaaat?”
“I want it.”
“Me too!” Wendy joined in.
“Well, we can’t all eat it!
A moment later, we were standing in the middle of Raina’s new neighborhood street. The three of us were each wearing only a towel and a pair flip-flops. Once again, in my drunken stupor, I decided to make things interesting. I challenged Raina that all of us had to lose the towel before we started running.
I giggled when Wendy sat down on the curb with her towel slipping and a cup of the red stuff in her hand. “Whose idea was this again? Because I don’t like running.”
“Mine, silly!” I giggled, grabbing her cup and setting it down on the curb beside her before I uncoordinatedly pulled her up into a standing position. “We are unbounded as s-sexy sisters.” I laughed. “Woo! Say that t-t-tens times fat.”
Raina snorted before she stumbled. “Yooou mean Faaaast. Whoop, hahaha.”
I felt like the world was my playground and I could do anything! Apparently ‘anything’ meant running naked down my best friend’s street. My dare taking days now trumped Tyler's, since I was the one issuing the dare as well as participating. I guessed that's what happened when you were drunk and fighting over a brownie with your friends. Someone had to win.
I spun around on the blacktop until I became dizzy, then I got as serious as I could. I pulled Wendy and Raina by my side, and sorta-kinda pointed down the street. “To that light pole and back. The first one...on the left. Not the one beside it.” Hiccup “Count of three we lose the towels. The one who wins gets the last brownie. Deal?”
“Yep!” Wendy chirped.
“Come to mama!” Raina stated putting on her game face.
“Ok. A, B, THREE!”
Towels dropped, and the three of us squealed like girls as our asses flapped in the wind. “Flat ass!” I heard before the sting registered and Wendy passed me.
“Hey, Bubble butt! Come back here! ”
Her ass really did jiggle. It was all globe-ish and perfectly round, while Raina’s was blaringly white.
The three of us tagged the poll... poll... Ha! I sure wanted to be tagging someone’s poll—wait, Raina’s blaring white ass—“Someone needs to tan your hide!” I laughed at Raina as I spanked it as I passed. “It’s tooooo white, and I think Kane would like to do some spanking. Someone’s been a naughty girl.” I giggled, stopping where our towels were.
“Nooo!” Wendy wailed as she tried to cover her ears as well as hang on to her towel. “He's my brother.” She lost the towel as the ear coverage won out, so she just tossed the towel over her shoulder and swayed on into the haunted house of Raina.
“My house is not haunted!” she denied.
Whoops, my filter was broken. “It is too! You have a handys panties ghost who likes to hide your underwear!”
Wendy turned back to us with the door open. “Shhh! It’ll hear you.”
“Ok-ok,” Raina reasoned, “I have a ghost who has a panty fetish. Now I want to know who won because I want the last brownie.”
Huh, who did win?
“Uhhhh, I thought you were keeping track,” I tossed at her.
“No. I was running my ass off so I could win!”
Wendy did a two finger wave in agreement. “Me four.’
I frowned. “Well you can’t expect me to do everything! I thought up the towels—”
“Y-yeah, and why couldn’t we just keep them oooon?” Raina wailed, shutting the door behind us. “I was cold. My nipples are rock hard because of it. See?”
“Ooo, at least they aren’t as white as your ass.” I laughed.
“Sunbathing topless, Raina?” Wendy taunted, throwing herself head first on the couch.
“Ugh, you wish, hussy!” she retorted.
“To answer,” Hiccup, “your question about the towels... we couldn’t keep the towels because it wouldn’t have been streaking if we still had them on!” See? I was somewhat rational about the whole thing. “Towels equals not streaking,” I told her, ticking them off on my fingers. “No towels equals wild and freeeee!” I chortled, throwing myself next to Wendy. I closed my eyes while listening to Raina rant with a smile on my lips. Sadly, that was the last thing I remembered before I woke up in bed with the worst hangover known to man and Kayden asking why I had “spank me” written in black sharpie on my butt.
I groaned, rolling over and covering my head with the pillow. “If I only knew...” Pulling the covers back over my naked body, I snapped at him to, “Go away.”
“I don’t think so, Sweetcheeks,” he murmured before I felt my covers slide off of me once again. I didn’t bother to move. I was too tired, and my head was pounding.
Hands touched my back, massaging and soothing the muscles beneath my skin, causing me to groan in pleasure. “Never mind. You can stay.”
He chuckled and kept going.
“Kayden?”
“Hm?”
“What’s—oooh, mmm, that's good.” I sighed as his hands dug into my lower back.
“What were you going to say, Sweetcheeks?”
“Hmm? Oh. What's your favorite candy?”
His hands paused their attentions on my back, and I whined in protest, “Don’t stop.”
His hands moved, but not in the way I was expecting. They began to rub and caress, unlike the deep massage he had been doing previously. “Why would you want to know that?” he murmured, his hands gripped my hips as his fingers curled around them until they met the sensitive juncture of my lower stomach. His thumbs swept back and forth across the dip in my lower back to the slight rise of my butt, making it hard to concentrate on what he just asked.
“Ahh, because?”
I felt the warmth of his body as he leaned over me until his lips met my ear, “It’s a secret but... I absolutely love anything with peanut butter.”
I shivered as his lips brushed against my ear. I turned my head, squinting at him as his light blue eyes found mine. “Really?”
My headache was gone with his massage, and now curiosity remained.
Kayden leaned in and stole a kiss before pulling back with his eyes twinkling. “Is it a secret? Nope. Everyone knows.” He grinned, getting up and smacking my butt. “Now, so do you.”
“Hey!”
“Get up! Let's go! Education waits for no one!” Then my phone was tossed toward me. “And Sarah wants you to call her.”
I buried my face into my pillow. I didn’t want to go, but the thought of seeing Bates and Sonya got me up and moving. I mumbled as I reached for my phone and blindly called Sarah.
“Faith,” Sarah breathed into the phone when she picked up. She sounded relieved. “You’re alive! Why didn’t you call us yesterday? Did your date with Lincoln go ok? Rachel McGuire said that you ran off at breakfast yesterday. What happened? Did you get another text? We were worried.”
“Ah, whoa and hello to you too,” I teased her.
“Faith! Are you really ok?”
“I’m fine. Date with Lincoln was great, and how come you knew about it before I did?”
“Because if they wanted to take you on an overnight date they definitely needed to talk to us and have night time supervision.”
“Sarah,” I groaned rolling over onto my stomach. “I’m fine. I had a small flashback and needed to run it off.”
“But... you hate running.”
I sighed. “Let's just say I found the benefits in running.”
“Does that mean you’re going to go running with me in the mornings?” she asked cheekily.
“Don’t count on it,” I chuckled.
“You’re going to your classes today?” I murmured an agreement. “How about your job tonight?”
“Yep.”
“Did yesterday... was it really ok, Faith? Didn’t dwell on it too much? The boys and Raina kept you busy?”
“I’m fine, Sarah. I can’t tell you that I’m over it and that it doesn't affect me, because something like this? It never goes away.”
“We just deal with it the best way we can,” Sarah soothed.
“One day at a time,” I recited, my heart growing full as I remembered her mantra.
“You remembered.” Her voice was the barest whisper.
“I never forgot,” I admitted. “Plus, good advice like that usually doesn't come free.”
Sarah laughed. “You remembered all of it.”
My cheeks bunched, and I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. “You were so mean.”
“But you remembered it," she pointed out. “At least something that I’ve said stuck with you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Gotta go and get dressed. College doesn't wait for anyone,” I told her, taking Kayden’s words as my own. We said our goodbyes, and I glanced around the room, thinking. Jumping up, I hurried to the bathroom and turned around, trying to see if there was anything on my backside. I snorted when I saw nothing. Kayden was a meanie. “You lie, Kayden!” I yelled.
I went back to the room and rifled through the bag I had brought over last night, quickly getting dressed. I walked out into the main living area, hearing the noises of first-morning activity coming from the small kitchen. I found my shoes by the door and toed them on before heading that way. I smelled bacon, and it had my stomach rumbling, making my thoughts go back to my flashback. I grimaced, rubbing it. Maybe I wasn’t all that hungry.
When I made it into the kitchen, I was ambushed by Kayden and Lincoln with kisses as they passed by, heading out the door so that they weren’t late for school.
“Bye!” I turned and called out after I got over the shock, but the front door was already shutting. I twisted back, finding an amused group of friends, Tyler among them. With a grin on his face, he strode over my way and gave me my well-deserved, long and sigh-worthy kiss.
Pulling away, he tapped my butt. “Come on. Let's eat and blow this joint.” I rolled my eyes as Raina threw a dish towel at him, and the others snickered. We were back to normal.