Find Me (WITSEC, #1)

by Ashley N. Rostek

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. If

Can I try one of these?” he asked, pointing to one of the peanut butter cookies. “Help yourself.” I smiled and began filling a plastic container with an assortment of goodies. Colt took a bite of the cookie and groaned. “Wow, these are good.” I chuckled. “You sound surprised.” With his cheeks puffed out around the cookie, he shook his head. “There you go again. You’re kind of a ball buster, you know that?” I’d been called worse. Stuck up, snob, whore. Not that what he’d said was an insult. In fact, it sounded like he enjoyed that I gave him a hard time.

he plastered on a charming smile I was sure he used on all the girls. “Well, hello, gorgeous. You must be new?” Oh, jeez. I tilted my head slightly and smirked. “What was your first clue?” The jock’s brows shot up in surprise and Colt laughed. “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.” I folded my arms under my breasts. “I’m not that bad,” I mumbled, making Colt laugh some more.

“Do you like cooking?” he asked. I chuckled at the random question. “I do.” “You smile as you cook.” Huh. I hadn’t known I did that.

Ahhhh he pays attention to the little things

I caught Creed staring at the two gold star barrettes in my hair. The corner of his mouth twitched, and I had a feeling he understood the theme behind my outfit choice today. “Is it just DC or are you into Marvel also?” he asked. Colt’s brow furrowed as he looked from his brother to me. I shrugged and did my best not to smile. “Maybe.” Colt looked me over again and I saw as he had that light bulb moment. He turned to glare at Creed. “She looks cute. Why are you making fun of her?” “I’m not,” Creed said with a bored tone. “I’ve just discovered that Shiloh has a slight obsession with superheroes.”

“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.

Keelan looked to Knox. “I have the sudden urge to binge watch all the Superman movies.” I blushed big time.

from my dresser? They’re in the second drawer,” I asked Creed, as I sat up slowly. The movement caused a little discomfort. Scooting to the edge of the bed made me hiss. Creed made his way over to my dresser and as I saw him start to pull the second drawer open, I realized my mistake. “I meant the third drawer!” I was too late. Creed pulled the drawer all the way open and gaped down at all my superhero lingerie. I had forgotten that I’d had to move my pajamas down a drawer when I’d realized one drawer for my underwear wouldn’t suffice. And if I’d thought the situation couldn’t get any worse, Creed plucked one of my Spider-Man bras out and began looking it over.

“Where’s your car, babe?” Colt asked, looking around the lot.

“Want some breakfast?” he asked. I peered back over my shoulder, a little skeptical I’d heard him right. “The twins don’t normally like to get out of bed for another hour or so, but when it comes to you, they make an exception.” He was referring to the times the twins had come over for breakfast after I had woken Creed with my nightmares. “You can have the privilege of waking them.” “Are you afraid of waking your little brothers?” I taunted with a smirk. His eyes narrowed slightly. “No.” “Hmm, sounds to me that you want to have a family breakfast and you need me to be the sacrificial lamb that has to wake the two sleeping demons,” I teased. I knew it probably wasn’t a good idea to poke the bear, but I was feeling testy this morning. “Is that a yes?” he asked, trying to sound bored.

The dining table was already set and Keelan, who was still shirtless, was carrying food to the table while Knox finished up at the stove. I was transfixed by the way Keelan’s muscles flexed a little as he leaned over the table to place a plate stacked with pancakes and a large bowl filled with scrambled eggs. “You’re drooling,” a voice whispered next to my ear. Letting go of Colt’s hand, I whipped around to find Creed standing behind us. Embarrassment consumed me but externally I tried to keep my cool. I put my hand on my good hip and stared Creed down. “Can you blame a girl for looking? Keelan is very pretty.” “Thanks, Shiloh,” Keelan said, his tone hinting that he was amused. My back was to him now and even though I was displaying fake bravado, there was no way I would’ve been able to look him in the eye right now without blushing like crazy. “You’re welcome,” I shot over my shoulder. Both Colt and Creed frowned. “I’ve tried to tell them that I’m the prettiest, but they’ve never believed me,” Keelan said.

“Colt!” he yelled before standing. Keelan chuckled as he sat on the couch next to Knox. “This should be entertaining.” Creed came to stand in front of me, arms crossed over his chest. I frowned. “What?” I knew I looked ridiculous, but was it really that bad? Colt walked into the living room from the hall that led to his room. He noticed me and smiled. As his eyes took in my outfit, his smile dropped. “What?” I repeated with a little bit of bite. Colt looked to Creed. “Fuck Ethan, let’s just stay in and watch a movie.” What?! “We can’t do that. He’s our friend and we promised him we’d go to support him.” “I agree, fuck Ethan,” Creed said, siding with his brother. That made me glare at both of them. “I bet this makes you wish you had gone out for football instead of swim, now doesn’t it?” Knox said and chuckled. Finding what he said funny, Keelan chuckled, too. Creed and Colt scowled at their brothers. I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth to calm myself. “I don’t go back on my promises. If you’re embarrassed to be seen with me like this, then we don’t have to go together, but I’m going regardless of how absurd I look to support my friend.” All four of them went quiet. My eyes dropped to the carpet as I tried to keep my hurt from showing. “You got it all wrong, baby girl,” Keelan said, making me look back up at him. Before I could ask him to elaborate, Colt stepped toward me. “I know you find it hard to believe, but you’re extremely beautiful, Shiloh,” he st...

“I’m having a party tomorrow night, are you gentlemen coming?” Cassy asked. I liked how she’d excluded me from that invite. Not that I’d ever go to her party. “Can’t. We have to work this weekend,” Colt said. She gave a flippant wave of her hand. “Your brothers own the place. I’m sure they’ll give you the time off.” What? Creed completely ignored Cassy and looked to me. “You ready to go?” I nodded and the two of them said their goodbyes to their friends, while Cassy stood there fuming. Once in Creed’s truck, I asked, “Knox and Keelan own Desert Stone Fitness?” Both of their shoulders slumped.

barely saw Creed’s body land in the water where I had just been as my back hit a muscular chest. I was shocked to hear Knox’s voice rumbling from behind me. “Hey, shitheads!” Both Keelan and Creed froze. “You almost landed on Shiloh,” Knox explained. Keelan and Creed broke away from each other, mumbling their apologies while looking contrite. Still in disbelief, I peered up at Knox over my shoulder. His gaze flicked down to mine for only a moment before he released me and swam away.

That poor girl. Ian had called to tell me that they had found the body of a high-school girl who had looked similar to me. She had been a victim of Mr. X. How they knew that was because he had stapled a picture of my face to her face and they’d found his DNA—a polite way of saying his semen—all over her body. She had been tortured and raped repeatedly over the span of four days. She was dead now because he couldn’t find me. I was here, safe and hidden, while he was out there preying on girls who looked like me. How do I live with that? How was I supposed to move on or start over or whatever the heck I was doing, knowing that? I felt like I was on borrowed time and that time had to come from somewhere…or someone. Four days. Was that how much time I’d received in exchange for her life? How much time would the next girl grant me?

“You going in with her?” Keelan asked Colt. Colt pulled off my shoes, followed by my socks. “Yeah,” he said, and I felt his fingers fiddle with my anklet. I looked down as Colt tilted his head up, giving me a questioning look. “It’s a GPS anklet tracker. If I’m ever taken, Logan can use this to find me wherever I am as long as I have it on,” I explained. Colt’s eyes shifted to Keelan, who had been quietly listening. In the back of my mind, I knew I probably shouldn’t have told them that. It would only create more questions, but I didn’t have the energy to care. With a heavy sigh, I reached down to take it off. I hated getting it wet. The anklet was waterproof, but water got trapped between my skin and the bracelet and that irritated my skin. “Babe,” Colt said gently. “Why would you worry about being taken?”

“Everything is done. We’re just waiting on the twins to return.” Now that he mentioned it… Keelan shook his head, snickering. “I think she just realized they weren’t here.” Just after he said that, we all heard the front door open. The twins walked into the kitchen with grocery bags in hand. “Hey, how are you feeling?” Colt greeted as he set his bags on the island and Creed followed suit. Eyeing the bags, I said, “Better. Where’d you guys go?” Creed smirked and started unpacking what was in the bags. He pulled out container after container of different ice cream flavors, followed by different toppings like sprinkles, chocolate sauce, and caramel. I couldn’t hold back my huge happy grin. When Colt pulled the very last item from the last bag, I laughed. Popcorn. “We didn’t know what flavor you liked,” he said, explaining the five different flavors of ice cream. “You said you wanted ice cream.” My smile dropped. “I’m sorry. You guys wanted to go out…” They both shrugged at the same time. “We can go out another time. We’ll stay in and watch a movie tonight,” Creed said and started stuffing the ice cream into the freezer.

“What about something scary?” Creed suggested as he finished putting the last of the ice cream away while the rest of the guys started carting plates and dishes of food to the table. “No!” I blurted loudly. Everyone froze and my cheeks burned. “Nothing scary, please,” I said in a normal volume. I couldn’t handle the suspense.

I went home to shower and change into my own clothes really quick. The pain medicine Keelan had given me and the hot shower had done wonders for my achy legs. I put on my Wonder Woman pajama set. The shorts were cobalt blue with white stars and the tank was red with a gold Wonder Woman logo. I tossed my hair back up in a messy bun and slid into flip-flops before heading back over. All the guys smiled at my pajamas, even Knox. “Popcorn or ice cream, baby girl?” Keelan asked. “That’s a difficult question to answer,” I replied, making them all laugh. Keelan tossed the box of popcorn at Colt. “Both it is,” he said and started pulling out all the ice cream from the freezer. While the popcorn popped in the microwave, we all made our own sundaes.

“You two should go.” They both looked stricken. “If you don’t go now, I’ll grow more attached.” Neither of them moved. “Please!” I cried. “I’m more trouble than I’m worth. I cry more than I smile. I have nightmares—” Creed grabbed my face with both hands and slammed his lips onto mine. At first, I was so taken aback that I was frozen like a statue. Creed pulled back a little to look me in the eye. “I’m already attached,” he said before returning his lips to mine. My body slowly softened, and I kissed him back. Creed wasn’t gentle. His lips demanded everything I could give and when his tongue slipped past my lips to taste mine, he groaned, pushing me backward. My back collided with a chest.

I broke our kiss as Colt’s hands went to my hips. I froze again, unsure what to do. I had kissed him last night and had just kissed Creed right in front of him. Creed’s gaze met his brother’s over my head. He shrugged. “She was freaking out. I panicked.” Colt sighed behind me. “Did you not think for a moment that kissing her might freak her out more?” “Why?” Creed smirked. “Because you kissed her last night?” I desperately wanted to curse again.

“Don’t do that. Don’t walk away,” he said, his livid eyes boring into me. “You talk about how you’re worried about us kicking you to the curb, but have you ever stopped to think that we feel you’ll do the same? You’re not the only one who has had their world shattered from the foundation up. I’ve done everything to hold my family together. We’ve worked so hard to repair our foundation and move on with our lives.” His nostrils flared as he struggled to contain his rage. “You said I push people away? That’s because everyone is a threat to what we rebuilt. You’re a threat. You barreled your way into our lives and somehow made yourself important. I don’t want to care about you, but I do, and it pisses me off.”

My upper thigh was touching a part of the male anatomy I had yet to be introduced to and it was currently hard enough to attach a flag to. His hipbone was also becoming well acquainted with the area between my legs.

Knox refused to look away from me. “You’re drunk, Shiloh.” “So what?!” I yelled. The decision not to argue with him was thrown out the window. I wanted to fight now. I wanted to unleash everything on him. “You don’t get to dictate how I deal with shit, especially when you were the one who hurt me. You pushed and pushed me to tell you something I wasn’t ready to share, nor was allowed to tell you. You made me choose between the four of you and my safety. What did it get me? Nothing. Instead, it cost me everything, just as I knew it would.”

He straightened. “Can I ask one thing?” I nodded as I slipped my feet into my shoes. “Pretend it wouldn’t hurt Colt and Creed—is kissing me something you want?” I met his eyes and debated whether or not the truth would damn me. “Yes.” He nodded and ran his fingers through his hair. “You better go because all I want to do right now is kiss you again.” My cheeks