Chapter 3

I was done listening to their conversation about me, which was happening without me, my fury building as I heard about things for the first time. Unfortunately, as I turned to go back upstairs, my foot caught on the stair tread, and I fell, letting out an involuntary shriek as I bounced and rolled. I was waiting for the last bang when I knew I would connect with the tile floor, but suddenly I stopped.

When I opened my eyes, I saw my sister and cousins in the kitchen doorway, mouths hanging open and eyes wide. I looked down and realized my body was levitating a few inches off the floor and emanating a blue light. I let out another scream, and my body dropped the remainder of the way to the ground with a thud. Within seconds, the others were on either side of me, barking questions.

“Are you ok, Ry?”

“How did you do that?”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

I couldn’t think, let alone answer questions. I lay there for a few moments, mind whirling and body groaning, before finally answering.

“I’m fine, and no, I’m not hurt. I have no idea what the hell that was. I’m a bit creeped out by it, to be honest.”

I caught a glimpse of pride in my sister’s eyes before she quickly masked it. Why would she look at me like that? I have never levitated before, but I have seen the blue light a couple of times. I’ve never told anybody about it, because first of all, who would believe me, and second, I didn’t quite believe it myself.

“Well, it was cool, but let’s not dwell on it. Dinner is nearly ready, so come on, up you go, Sissy.” Stevie was already pulling me up before she finished speaking.

Chase and Alex both exchanged looks I couldn’t quite read. I thanked them and followed them into the kitchen. It was slightly dated, with vintage cabinets lining the walls, but there was a massive, stainless steel gas stove. Alex and Chase were both sitting at the breakfast bar on two of the four-bar stools. Stevie was on the other side of the bar, assembling a salad. I sat next to the boys, still reeling at what the hell had just happened when Alex nudged me.

“What?” I asked

“Didn’t you hear what Chase said?” Truth be told, I hadn’t heard a word.

“Ummm…No, sorry, can you please say it again, Chase? I was off with the fairies there for a second.” I forced a smile with my words, so they wouldn’t worry about where my head was at.

“Totally understandable, but I was just wondering how your last day of school went and did you hear anything more from the cops?” He looked like he was scared to ask the last part. I knew all of them were wondering the same thing, so I thought I may as well get it out of the way now and just be open and honest with them about Mom’s disappearance.

“I haven’t heard anything from the detective who was the lead on Mom’s case. They said there isn’t much more that they could do, as she did leave a note, and I’m an adult. To them, she willingly left and that’s not a crime.”

“What note? You never said she left a note.” Stevie looked annoyed, and I winced. The reason I never told her was because the contents of the note were spiteful.

“I never told you about the note because what she wrote was not nice, Stevie. She said a lot of stupid shit in it. None of which is true, so to save you the hurt, I never said anything. I’m sorry for keeping it from you.”

“I know you just want to protect me, Ry, as I do you, but you don’t have to. I’m a big girl. Can you please just tell me what the note said?”

“She said that now that Dad is dead, she doesn’t get paid for me, and wasn’t going to stick around to raise the bastards that still to this day are mistakes that should never have happened. Also, she wished she had left me years ago.”

The words in the note hurt more than what I wanted them to. Part of me always wanted my mom to love me. I guess you always want the love of your parents, no matter what they do to you. She was all I had. I knew she had a drug and alcohol problem, and I tried to blame her abuse and neglect on that, but I knew deep down that it wasn’t.

“Damn,” Alex and Chase both hissed in unison.

“I don’t really know what to say to that, to be honest. I knew she had issues with having us young, but I never thought she would hate us like she obviously did. I mean, we never fucking asked to be born.” I knew where Stevie was coming from—I felt the same way.

“She should have kept her fucking legs shut if she didn’t want us. I am glad to be here, though.” She said the last part with a cheeky smile and a squeeze of my shoulder.

“She has a lot of demons she needs to work out on her own. I think I’m just glad that she didn’t try to kill me before she left,” I said with a nervous laugh, which betrayed the bitter truth of my admission.

“Don’t say shit like that! It’s not funny, Ryan” Alex scolded with a stern look.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it; it’s just it was hard to live with her. She used to say she would end me before she let me go. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring the mood down. Can we change the subject and talk about something else, like what you’ve been doing?”

“Okay, fine. We’ll let it go for now. We still have to get shit ready for our trip. I’m so excited! I cannot wait to get the hell out of this town and go on a trip with my three favorite people. Oh, that’s right, Ryan! I forgot to tell you that part of the surprise is that Alex and Chase are going to be coming with us.” My sister was just full of surprises today, wasn’t she? But I was super excited that my cousins would be taking this trip with us.

“Well, that’s just awesome. I’m so glad you two are coming with us. It wouldn’t be as much fun without you both,” I said, nudging Chase.

“I’m as keen as a jelly bean to go on this trip. Alex and I have been looking forward to this for months now, and I’m glad we don’t have to keep it a secret anymore.” Chase said all this while looking my sister directly in the eye, almost as if hinting that now would be a good time for the big reveal. I have to admit, I am dying to know what Stevie is hiding from me.

“I second you there, my brother,” Alex said while grinning at me and waggling his brows.

“We need to get the house in order before we go, so let’s have some dinner and then get packing and sorting this house out.” My sister always loved to boss everyone around. We did as she asked; it was easier than having to deal with the bitch fit she would throw if we didn’t.

The two days flew by as we packed, cleaned, and locked the house up. My aunt (Alex & Chase’s mom) would be checking on Stevie’s house while we were away. It was really nice of her to do that, as we would be away for three months. I can't wait to finally ride on a plane and have adventures with my sister and cousins, something that had been impossible until now.

I hadn’t had any of my dreams since arriving at Stevie’s; I was really starting to miss my dream guys. I know it sounds silly, but Nico and Kai made me feel so alive. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Nico wasn’t my only dream sex god. I had another god-like man in my dreams.

His name is Kai, and he is just as yummy as Nico. I had been trying to dream of each of them for the past two nights, but it was like they weren’t at home, which had never happened before. I was a little worried, to be honest.