Days later
I brush up the last bit of dirt from the floor and throw it into the trash.
“There. All done. Looks much better now,” I muse as I gaze around the university hallway. So many things still need to be done, but the painters have done a fabulous job of fixing the walls at least. The floors and the staircase are still being renovated, but it all looks so much better than it did before, after the inferno that took place.
I must say, being the one to burn it down and then having to clean all my shit up has been cathartic to say the least. And it’s nice to see the boys doing something that isn’t completely destructive. Watching them toil around with a shovel and a paintbrush is actually rather … sexy.
“What are you looking at, Pen?” Dylan muses, rolling the paintbrush around the walls where the painters haven’t been yet.
“Enjoying the view?” Ali adds as he throws a piece of broken furniture in the trash. “I know I am.”
“Pervs,” Felix says as he gets up from cleaning the floor by hand.
“Damn right I am,” I retort. “And proud of it.”
I mean, I don’t care if they caught me lurking.
They know I like watching them.
Ali high-fives me, and Dylan pulls up his white button-down, then slides the brush across his abs, avoiding the bullet wound. “Yeah, you like this?”
“FML.” Felix sighs out loud and grabs his cigarettes. But the second he tries to light one, his father suddenly comes up behind him and snatches it from his hands.
“No smoking inside.”
Felix grumbles, “You’re all going to be the end of me.”
“I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear you’re done for today,” his father replies.
“What? All of us?” Dylan asks, pausing with his brush midair.
When his father nods, Ali immediately drops the broom he was holding. “Sweet.”
“But I expect you all back tomorrow morning, same time sharp,” he says.
“Aw …” Dylan groans.
“We’re almost finished,” I muse.
“Only got the whole of the Skull & Serpent house left.”
“We’ve got Penelope’s father to help there,” Ali says. “I’m sure he doesn’t need a bunch of lazy students to clean that shit.”
Dylan folds his arms. “Besides, we weren’t the ones who destroyed that place.”
“Technically, you were, since all of this fuckery points back to the four of you,” his father says, and he places a hand on Ali’s and Dylan’s shoulders. “So be glad cleaning in your vacation week is the only thing I’m asking you to do.”
He pats them on the back. “Now get out of here and enjoy the rest of your day.”
In the cafeteria, Kayla, Crystal, Jeremy, and Calvin are already waiting on us at a table.
Felix grumbles with a tray that carries only a single cup of coffee. “Do we have to?”
Dylan shoves his elbow into his waist. “Be nice.”
“I am being fucking nice,” he seethes back.
“We can do this for her,” Ali says, taking a bite from his apple. “Besides, her friends aren’t bad.”
“Hey, girl,” Jeremy says as we approach, patting the seat next to him. “Plenty of room here.”
“Got space for these boys too?” I ask.
Kayla makes a face and takes a big breath, but Crystal’s soft nudge gets her over her reservations quickly. “Yeah, yeah.” She scoots up to allow for more room. “There are more chairs over there.” She points at another table. “No one’s sitting there so you can grab ’em.”
“Sorry we’re late,” I say as I sit down.
“Still helping with the big clean, eh?” Calvin asks. “Trying to score extra points?”
I smile. “Sort of.”
Dylan whispers into my ear, “They don’t know?”
I shake my head. “Better keep it that way.”
“Better keep what?” Kayla asks.
“Oh, nothing,” Dylan replies. “Just some sex talk.”
Her eyes widen, and she makes a weird face.
God, why does he always embarrass me?
“So y’all are still together?” Kayla asks.
A blush forms on my cheeks, but Ali swings his arm around me, pulling me close. “Yup.”
“Wait … as in all three of you?” Calvin asks. “Wow, way to go, Pen. Triple dicking.”
Now I’m blushing even harder.
“How’s the Alpha Psi doing?” I ask to change the subject.
“Oh, the girls are fine,” Kayla replies, smiling. “The renovation of your sister’s room is well on its way. It wasn’t cheap, but it had to be done.”
“That’s good to hear,” I say.
“But I just wanna know … is it all over now?” Crystal asks.
“What is?” Felix says.
“The one who threatened her, who set that fire in the Alpha Psi house, and maybe even the school … Did they catch him?”
Ali, Dylan, and Felix all look at each other, and then at me, like they’re waiting for me to tell my friends the truth. But I’m not sure I’ll ever tell the full story of what happened. Of Dylan’s father, the shoot-out, my sister, all of it.
“Yes, they’re gone,” I say, swallowing. “For good.”
Dylan breathes a sigh of relief.
“But you know who did it, then?” Jeremy asks.
Felix frowns. “Is it important?”
“Well …” Jeremy shifts in his seat, intimidated by Felix’s taunting gaze. “I don’t know, I just figured after all the damage he did.”
“It’s done. Over. It won’t happen again,” Felix says, and he takes a gulp of his coffee.
Crystal sighs and nods. “I’m glad. I don’t need to know who it was. I just want to know that it’s over. It’s about time this school became boring again.”
Everyone laughs, and the tension breaks.
Felix’s phone buzzes, and he picks it up. “Pen … Time.”
“Time?” I mutter. I didn’t think it’d slip by this fast.
“Our appointment,” he adds.
“Right,” I say as I get up.
“Oh, got somewhere important to be already?” Calvin asks.
“Hope it isn’t one of those sex-talk things you mentioned,” Jeremy muses.
Kayla grumbles, “Cringe. I don’t want to hear it.”
I laugh. “No, we’re going to RINGO’s.”
“Wait … that tattoo parlor down in Crescent Vale City?” Kayla asks.
“You’re getting a tattoo?” Crystal mutters, like she couldn’t fathom me getting one.
“Yeah, I already got one long ago with my sis,” I reply.
“Awesome! Can I see it?” Crystal pleads, putting up some big, cute eyes.
“Ah, I—”
“We’re out of time, ladies,” Dylan muses as he gets up and tugs me along with him. “Let’s go, Pen.”
“We’ve got somewhere to be,” Ali adds. “See ya all later.”
“I’ll show my tats to you next time,” I tell everyone, and I add a wink.
My skin stings, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’ve gotten a tattoo before. I just forgot what it felt like.
“All done,” the tattoo artist says as he slides away in his chair to grab a mirror.
I lift my shirt a little farther up, revealing my under boob, and I check out my tattoo right underneath. An elongated set of words strewn across my chest in beautiful calligraphy.
Felix. Dylan. Alistair.
A smirk forms on my lips as I turn to them. “What do you think?”
“Perfect,” Dylan replies.
Alistair nods too. “I like it.”
I turn to Felix, who just studies it, and his tongue slowly runs across his teeth. “Exactly how it should be.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re happy,” the tattoo artist says as he moves to the cash register. “Cash or credit?”
Felix slaps down his credit card. “Credit.”
My alarm clock goes off, and I check the time. “Shit, we’re late.” I grab Dylan’s and Ali’s hands and race out the door.
“Hey, wait on me,” Felix says, and he follows suit.
“C’mon, it’s just down the road,” I say, and I drag them all the way to Fi’s Cups And Cakes.
“It’s only been a minute. Relax,” Dylan says.
We cross the street, and I check my phone several times to hurry us up. “Here it is.”
The second we all step inside, my mother’s eyes homing in on us almost make me drop my bag.
It’s the first time she’s seeing me with the boys.
The same boys who hung out with my sister.
The same boys who carry some of the blame.
I wave awkwardly and approach the table she’s sitting at with a steaming cup of tea in her hands. There are just enough chairs for us all, and when I sit down, she picks up her tea.
“Hi,” I say.
She takes a sip before responding.
“Pen,” she says. “I’m glad you’re okay.” She eyes the boys next to me with mistrust. “But them …”
The air is uncomfortable.
The server comes and takes the boys’ orders, but when they say nothing, I fill in for them, “Four coffees, please. Black.”
The server leaves again, but the whole café still feels too small for all of us sitting at this table.
“Mom,” I mutter.
“Is he dead?”
I nod, and she sucks in a hampered breath.
“I’m sorry,” I say, and I reach for her hand.
“I almost lost a second daughter,” she mutters, tears welling up in her eyes. “My only one left.”
I can’t let her cry like that. I jump up from my seat and circle around the table, and I hug her tight. We cry and smile and hug so tightly I never want to let go.
“After your father told me what happened, I thought I almost lost you,” she murmurs.
“I’m not going anywhere. Not anytime soon. I love you, Mom.” I pull back and look her in the eyes, crying too. “I avenged her.”
She smiles through her tears. “I’m proud of you.” When I pull away, her eyes are already fixated on the guys. “What about them?”
I sit back down on my seat again.
“Why are they with you now?” she asks.
“They helped me kill the man responsible,” I explain.
Felix and Ali nod. Dylan swallows. “He was my father.”
Her face contorts. “Then you know that rot grows deep.”
I grasp Dylan’s hand, settling him. I know it’s hard for him. He lost a father that night, no matter how evil.
“I know what my father did was unforgivable. But I am not my father,” Dylan says. “And I will spend every day of the rest of my life proving that to your daughter.” He leans in. “And I promise to you, I will take good care of her.”
Her lips grow thinner. “I know what you did with Eve …”
“I loved her,” Dylan says, and I squeeze his hand. “Just like I love Penelope.”
“And the others?” she asks.
Felix grabs my thigh.
“She’s ours as much as we are hers,” Felix says.
“Yes,” Alistair adds. “We’d take a bullet for her.”
“And you think you can claim my daughter after being responsible for the death of the other?” she seethes.
“Mom,” I mutter. “I love them.”
She stares at me for a moment with her jaw dropped. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this amazed.
“You … love them?”
“Yes,” I say.
The server returns with our cups of coffee, but the silence is brutal and feels like it lasts an eternity until she finally leaves again.
“So you love those boys…” my mother murmurs.
“And I don’t intend to stop,” I say. “Ever.”
Ali’s and Felix’s grips on my arm strengthen.
My mother sighs, defeat showing on her face. “I just pray you made the right decision.”
“I’ll protect her with my life,” Ali says.
“And I’ll kill anyone who dares to hurt her,” Felix adds.
“Even yourself?” my mother retorts.
A soft smile spreads on my lips. “I’ll kill them myself if it ever comes to that.”
Dylan looks at me, sporting a smirk.
I know he likes it when I get violent.
My mother snorts. “Well, sounds like you’ve found yourself some boys that fit you.”
“What can I say?” I muse. “Like mother, like daughter.”
She smiles, and it brings warmth to my heart. “I guess I may have told you a bit too much about my life and how I met your dad.”
“Nope. It gave me all the inspiration I needed,” I retort, and I wink.
“She’s a real firecracker, this one,” Dylan says, licking his lips. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“As long as you protect her,” Mom says.
“Until we die,” Ali replies.
“How do I know for sure?” she asks.
All the boys raise their shirts in unison, showing off their new tattoos across their torsos.
My name.
She gasps.
“She belongs to us,” Felix says, lowering his shirt. He grabs my face and makes me look at him, the affection in his dark eyes impossible to ignore. “And we belong to her.”
