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Shayla—my sister, my twin—to
I clenched my jaw. How did I respond to that? I’m sorry? Why? I couldn’t control what I dreamt or how messed up my past was.
The ex-Navy SEAL turned U.S. Marshal was an ink addict. I had no idea how he got away with being so heavily tattooed working for the feds. But what did I know? I just wished he’d invest in some PJs.
WITSEC—a.k.a. the witness security program or witness protection.
I’d needed time to recover, rehabilitate, and get a crash course in intense survival skills from Logan. Just in case. The past year had been the hardest of my life both emotionally and physically.
Just by looking at my wrists, one could guess how I had gotten them. They always guessed wrong, though. Back in Alaska, each time we’d driven to the closest town for supplies, I would receive lewd stares from men, and one time in line at the grocery store, an old lady had called me a sexual deviant. Everyone around us, even the cashier, had frozen and glued their gazes on me. Mortified, I’d dropped my basket of groceries and practically ran out of the store. I regretted how cowardly I had acted.
She would have flicked her colorful hair, looked that old lady in the eye, grinned, and said, “Jealous?” But I wasn’t as strong as my sister had been. At least not yet. I was working on it. Until I found that strength, I refused to leave the house without wearing clothes that covered my scars, no matter the temperature outside.
He shook his head. “If you quit smoking you wouldn’t sound like shit.” “I’m down to one cigarette a day,”
Joker was my favorite villain,
“Well, you know me. My life of debauchery wouldn’t be as satisfying if I didn’t add the corruption of others,”
As he got closer, I got the feeling this was one of the plural brothers Colt had mentioned. They looked very similar, but he was clearly older and taller than Colt by a few inches and his eyes were brown. They had the same pale golden hair. His was shaved on the sides and styled messily on top. “I was just introducing myself to our new neighbor. This is Shiloh. Shiloh, this is my brother Keelan.”
I had more than just the scars on my arm, wrists, and ankles. I had two really bad ones on my stomach and one on my back shoulder. The ones on my stomach were from stab wounds that had almost killed me.
“Uh… hi,” I said shyly. Did my outfit look terrible? “You’re really beautiful,” he blurted and rubbed the back of his neck as if embarrassed.
“Shiloh’s immune to your charm, dude. Just be nice and introduce yourself or she’ll chew you up and spit you out before you even know what’s happening.”
Your bedroom window is next to mine. You’ve woken me up every night since you moved in with your screaming.”
“I don’t know you enough to dislike you, but I don’t know you well enough to like you either. As for this morning, I was tired and I’m not nice to anyone when I’m tired.”
“Happy? I made up with our hot screaming neighbor.”
Creed’s aquamarine’s eyes met mine. “That’s what it looks like when I don’t like someone.” “Noted,” I said.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like to get physical…uh, I meant exercise. That came out wrong. I was still a virgin and I foresaw being one for a long time. I was the type who wanted to love and trust the person before giving up that piece of myself.
His arm was hanging off the side of the couch, fingers lying limp on the carpet. His entire stomach had been ripped open and his insides were pulled out.
“You smile as you cook.”
“The weight of their absence will get lighter over time,” he said. “And you won’t always be alone, Shiloh.”
Healing isn’t a race
“I don’t think stabbing a teenage boy in the carotid is the best course of action.” “You never know.”
“Keelan!” I quickly ripped my earbuds out and was met with the sound of laughter. Standing in their driveway, Colt and Creed were bent over laughing. A slow, bright smile stretched across Keelan’s mouth. “I think I’ve met my soulmate.” He shifted under me and groaned. “Can I have my arm back now?”
“No one is going to say shit about your scars and if they did, I’d kick their ass.”
“You’ve got to stop caring about what other people think, Shi.”
“Jealous you didn’t get a shake to share with Shiloh?” I heard Keelan ask Creed. I glanced over at Creed to see him glaring at his older brother. “Shut up,” he grumbled. Keelan just smirked.
“Guys don’t like to be referred to as adorable,” Colt explained. Oh. “Would you have preferred handsome?” “Or hot,” Colt supplied at the same time Creed said, “Or sexy.” I snorted. “Noted.”
“You’re like an innocent cherry tomato.”
Colt shook his head. “No, we’re a ‘grab a plate and eat in front of the TV’ type of family.” What a shame. They didn’t know what they were missing. Then again, not everyone was the same. Everyone liked different things.
“No, we’re a ‘grab a plate and eat in front of the TV’ type of family.” What a shame. They didn’t know what they were missing. Then again, not everyone was the same. Everyone liked different things.
I had often wondered why the four of them lived together and where their parents were.
“My uncle is a U.S. Marshal, and his current assignment requires him to travel a lot. He took something like a sabbatical last year to take care of me after my parents and sister died. Now that I’m eighteen, it was time for him to return to work. I didn’t want to travel with him. I wanted to finish my last year of high school without interruptions. I don’t live with another relative because I don’t have anyone else. I chose to move to Arizona by closing my eyes and putting my finger on a map of the U.S. I wanted to move somewhere new because I wanted to start over and find a way to move on. I
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I might have overwhelmed them with the information overload but once I’d gotten started, I hadn’t been able to stop. It had felt good to vent, yet at the same time it had made me feel sick to my stomach.
“I figured you had lost your parents. You had the look I’ve seen on myself and my brothers. It’s why I haven’t pried. Our mom passed away from cancer when Creed and I were six and our dad died in a car crash three years ago. Knox and Keelan took on the responsibility of taking care of us. They sacrificed a lot, and we were lucky to have them because I can’t imagine going through that on my own.”
Colt nodded. “So we’re still friends?” I smiled. “Of course we’re still friends.” His shoulders slumped. “Phew, that means I can do this.” He grabbed my elbow, pulling me close to hug me.
I was pretty sure I had a lingerie set to represent almost all the characters in the DC and Marvel universes.
“Are you okay?” Colt asked. “Yeah. More embarrassed than anything. I think I just flashed everyone,” I said as I pulled down my skirt. “No,” Colt said at the same time Keelan and Creed said, “Yes.”
Keelan looked to Knox. “I have the sudden urge to binge watch all the Superman movies.”
“Cheese and rice. Cheese and rice,” I hissed repeatedly as I slid in. The twins were both turned around in the front seat by the time I got in and were staring at me with matching perplexed expressions. I sighed. “My mom always said a lady never swears. Because I’d been the good child who was too afraid to disappoint her, I learned how to be creative. The habit stuck,” I explained. Creed snorted before turning around.
“I can’t get hurt, alright? I just can’t. Because if I do—if I truly get hurt—who would I call? Logan’s on the other side of the country, therefore, I can’t call him. So who would I call?” I shrugged with my arms out as my eyes filled with tears. “I don’t have anyone. It’s just me,” I said bitterly. “And today—falling—was just another reminder of that.”
I was having a bad day and I had no one to talk to about it. I couldn’t go vent to Shayla about Cassy and Amber and how terrible they were. And if I had broken my hip, I couldn’t have called my mom or dad for help. The people I needed most—the people I relied on—were gone. I was on my own and today had rubbed my nose in that fact.
“Please tell me you didn’t ditch practice so one or both of you could try and get between Shiloh’s legs?”
“I’ve seen the way you both look at her,” Knox cut him off.
“You’re so beautiful when you laugh,” he said, and with a featherlike touch, he ran his finger from my temple to the corner of my mouth. “Your whole face lights up.” His eyes dropped to my mouth and he slowly trailed his finger along my bottom lip. “Your smile is the best part.”
“Then we should make her laugh more often,” a voice said. Creed dropped his finger from my lip and we both looked toward the source and found Colt leaning against the doorframe. His eyes took us in, lying next to each other, with an unreadable expression.
“Shiloh has a naughty collection of superhero lingerie.” That took the frown Colt had right off his face and replaced it with a look of intrigue.
“But my underwear isn’t nearly as sexy as yours.”
“Shiloh, a word,” Mr. X said as I tried to dash out of the classroom. I squeezed my textbook tightly in front of my chest as I spun on my heel, with a polite smile plastered on my face. “I have to catch the bus, Mr. X,” I said, hoping he’d let me leave. Mr. X made me feel…unsettled. I didn’t like the way he watched me or found ways to touch me.
