Masuk“Hey, mom,” I greeted, and immediately braced myself for the incoming verbal assault.But to my surprise, there was only silence from the other end.Then, a deep sigh.“You’re back in Briarwood, aren’t you?”I felt a stab of guilt.After my confrontation with Victory, staying in Caveat City itself felt suffocating, so I turned tail and ran. I filled up my car with gas and drove straight back to Briarwood, Oregon.The drive was a pain, but at least there wasn’t much traffic because everyone was home celebrating Thanksgiving. I had fast food for dinner as I drove, wondering if everyone was having Thanksgiving dinner without me. I hoped they did; my family were not good cooks when it came to anything other than breakfast, so they always got a catering company to provide them with premium meals for every holiday celebration, so the food was always pretty good.And expensive. It would be a waste to throw it all away. I hoped they went through with the dinner, at least for little Jericho’s
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”I screamed, punctuating each expletive with my fist driving into my steering wheel as I raced passed the wheat fields on the outskirts of Caveat City.I was definitely going over the limit, and there were cops all over the place waiting to ticket some poor bugger, but I didn’t care. Let them write me up, all I’ll have to do is pay the f*e.My heart raced in pace with my mind as I tried to claw out of the anger like a drowning man. I always hated being mad, it messed up with my control over myself. I didn’t want to be yet another hotheaded Alpha, but times like these called for indulging in my baser instincts.How dare he speak about Revon like that! How dare he insinuate that Revon had just left me after stringing me along for a fling! What did he know about Revon? He was nothing like the rest of his family, especially his asshole father. Revon was clearly in danger; even Colton, who had been in actual danger, who had taken part in military action, might
“Dad, can we not do this right now?” I inquired, trying hard to hold onto my temper. “It’s Thanksgiving, I don’t want to fight.”“Well, that’s too damn bad,” Dad replied, infuriatingly calm. “After today, you’re going to disappear to God knows when until Christmas, and hell knows what you will do during that time. I know that you hired a PI to snoop around the Hawthornes on my dime, Adam.”“How?! I didn’t even use the card you gave me!”I’d used money from my trust. It was given to me by Papa, and I got access when I turned twenty. “I have my ways,” the man replied, sounding oddly similar to Colton when he did, except my dad was glaring at me. “Are you insane? You know that if you get arrested because of this again, I might not be able to save you. You know how I hate using my money in such a manner!" “Wait, what’s this about, Earnest?” asked Gavin, brows furrowed. “Why did Adam hire a PI to investigate the Hawthornes? We have no business with them.”“It’s because of his boyfriend,”
“Adam, my boy, it’s been far too long!” My second uncle greeted me with a wide smile as he clapped a hand on my shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. “How have you been, son? How’s school going on?”“Hi, Uncle Gavin,” I greeted him back with a smile. “I’ve been well, how are you? And school’s going well too.”“Look at him, Scotty, ‘it’s all going well’,” Aunt Janet, Uncle Scotty’s wife, who had been sitting nearby, scoffed. Uncle Scotty, the quietest one of us all, just chuckled, shooting me a warm look. “What are we, a bunch of reporters? You used to blabber so much when we asked questions, Adam, what happened to that delightful little boy?”I laughed, as she was clearly teasing me. It felt nice to be surrounded by my dad’s family. There had been arguments in the past, especially regarding the fallout with Nana, but they had all been handled, and the Kennedy brothers were as united as ever.My mother’s side of the family all lived on the other side of the country, so they weren’t too cl
Victory Hawthorne flinched as if she’d been struck and stared at me with an indecipherable expression.I smiled genially. “Sorry for being a little casual, but I just want to confirm something with you.”I wasn’t someone who did things on impulse. Instinct, sure, but the impulsiveness was trained out of me thanks to the army. I always thought twice before speaking and rarely made a gamble without considering all the circumstances surrounding it. I always listened to my instincts and intuition.I always made a gamble with a clear goal in mind.And seeing Victory walk away, I knew that I had to do something to address the elephant in the room. But I could not be direct about it.“What is it?”“Well, you see, when I was in the army a while ago, and I was stationed in Europe for a joint exercise, you see. And one day there, a bunch of guys and I went out for the evening, and we were at this bar, yeah?”Victory stared, and I grinned. Maya let out a small sound of distress and confusion. I w
It was a sunny day, a perfect day. Even in the middle of the city, the breeze was cool, and birds were singing. Around us, guests were speaking merrily with each other as they got ready to drive to the reception.However, the bride and her family stared at Victory Hawthorne as if she were a ghost.And Victory stared back at them with a strange sort of determined and stubborn expression on her face, as if she was daring them to say a word about her presence there.August stared at his wife and then his boss, nervous and confused.I stood in the middle of them all, with my fingers itching to call Adam and tell him that the sister of his lost boyfriend was standing right in front of me.Giddiness overwhelmed me. So, that’s where I’d seen her from; the pictures of Revon’s adoptive family and all sorts of articles we’ve pored over since we started the investigation. She looked just like the pictures; confident, severe, and without a single doubt, a perfect mix of her parents.Adam said that
“Don’t…” Adam breathed, and suddenly, he lurched forward.I didn’t know what to do. It was far too late to step back, and I wasn’t heartless enough to let him fall face-first onto the dirty bathroom floor.So of course, he landed on my arms.My heart started racing as his scent filled my nostrils,
Adam’s football friends strode towards us, and I felt a cold sweat on the back of my neck as I saw the expression on his face.Adam was nowhere to be seen.As soon as they were close to us, Annalise sprang to her feet and rushed to them.“Oh, Jaice, AJ! I just wanted to sit with my friends,” she pl
“What a jerk,” Avery muttered as we sat at our usual table at the corner of the cafeteria. “Did you guys hear about what happened in Hallway C?”The rest of our friend group sat at the corner table near the garbage cans, the least desirable spot. Eaton, Quinn, and KC raised their head as we slumped
She laughed again.And then again.And again.With each laugh, the hope in my chest dwindled, as if she had taken an axe and hacked at it. At first, I thought she was laughing from shock. But there was no mistaking the tone of the laugh that followed.It was mocking.My heart sank. Something unplea







