Page 32 of Psycho

Will’s brows came together. “What?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Declan muttered. “Sawyer’s just bitter that we’re getting him clean and sober. He’s been miserable all week.”

“Yeah,” Will spoke, venturing into the living room. “Although to be honest, he always has been miserable—you were just too close to him to see it.” He sat on the last cushion on the couch, the furthest he could possibly be from Travis, who still only glared at him. “Hey, Travis. Long time no see.”

There was a tangible tension steadily rising in the room, and I coughed, causing Travis to look at me. He must’ve sensed what I was trying to say, for he frowned as he got up, reaching into his pocket. “I need a smoke.” He said nothing else as he went out in the back.

“Fun guy,” Will muttered, though his lips grinned when I moved next to him. Declan sat on my other side as Will’s arms stretched out, lying across the back cushion and brushing against my shoulders. “So, besides all this wild ex stuff, what have you crazy kids been up to?”

Crazy kids. Like we were years younger than him. He was only twenty-one, so he wasn’t that much older than me, and merely two years older than Declan. If Declan and I were kids, he was one, too.

“On that note, since I’m sure the living room will turn into some weird almost-incest situation in a few minutes, I’m going to go upstairs and hate my life up there so I don’t have to see it,” Sawyer spoke seriously, giving us all a half-smirk before getting up. He left his plate for one of us to clean up too, the bastard.

Will watched him go, while Declan was busy trying to look away and pretend his cheeks were not flaming red. “What the hell was he talking about?” Will asked, looking right at me. The arm behind me toyed with my bare shoulder, and I regretted my choice of tank top. I should’ve put more on. More clothes to separate me from Will, to stop me from feeling his warmth inside me.

“Sawyer is…” I trailed off, not knowing how to describe him.

“I get it,” Will said, nodding once. “What I don’t get is why you’re all here. Why it matters what Sawyer’s doing to mess up his life.” His hazel eyes flicked to his brother across me. “You do remember how much of a living hell he’s made your life for the last year, right? Something like that…you can’t just forgive.”

Declan ran a hand down his face, still a bit red from Sawyer’s comments. “I haven’t forgiven him. I just…” When he quieted, I looked at him, hard, and I wondered if he’d told Will about us. About our…unconventional relationship, whatever this was. It wasn’t a happy-go-lucky thing like that girl at Stanton had with her guys, but it was something.

At this point, I’d take it. I’d take just about anything. And besides, the ones who stood by each other in the face of a serial killer stalker ex were the ones who stayed together no matter what. I might be twisting the saying, but the same logic was there.

Because I could tell no one wanted to talk about Sawyer, I said, “How are you feeling? Healing up well?”

“Still sore, but the doctors said that could last for months. I am making it a point to do my daily stretches.” Will’s gaze moved to me, and I felt my stomach do a few strange flips. It would seem that my greedy body wasn’t quite filled with what I had. You’d think, with everything that was going on, getting laid would be the last thing on my mind, but then again…if this was the road that would lead to the end of my life, why not have a little fun before it was over for good?

Okay, with that thought roaming around my head, I was bound to get certain other thoughts.

I was so lost in my own head that I didn’t even notice when Will looked at Declan and asked, “Do you think I could talk to Ash alone for a bit?” Hopeful and stern, the tone a big brother should probably not take when asking to be alone with his younger brother’s girlfriend.

Girlfriend. Was that what I was? We never…well, we never discussed labels, and I’d been fine with it. When you put a label on something, you defined it. You gave it limits. You said, without strictly saying, what it could do and what it couldn’t do.

There were many things Declan could’ve said in that moment. He could’ve denied Will, could’ve told him to fuck off—which, okay, would never happen because the two brothers seemed to care a lot for each other—or he could’ve asked why. I had no idea why Will wanted me alone, though I did have some suspicions about it, but I remained quiet, not wanting to butt in where I shouldn’t.

Getting between two brothers was not something I’d ever thought I’d enjoy, but now that my mind was completely in the gutter, I realized it would be one hell of a sexy sandwich. Even if, like Sawyer said, it would be borderline incest.

It was only incest if the dicks touched, wasn’t it? Maybe that was just me being hopeful.

Declan didn’t even hesitate to get up as he said, “Sure. I’ll…” His dark eyes flicked to the stairwell, and I knew the last thing he wanted to do was go upstairs and spend any time with Sawyer. “I’ll be outside with Travis.”

Wow. With Travis. Those two…really did bond over my downward spiral, huh? At least it was good for something. Me? I could’ve gone without losing myself to my ex or, you know, sleeping with him.

Yeah. If there was one thing I could take back, that would be the one.

Will watched in silence as Declan meandered to the kitchen and exited the house through the patio doors, and once we were alone, he turned his face to me. A slow grin spread across his face as he studied me. This time, when he stared at me, the gesture felt more intimate, like he could see me without my clothes on. Like he knew, somehow, just where my mind was.

In the gutter. It was still very much in the gutter for those of you wondering. I doubted it would leave anytime soon. The gutter would be its permanent residence, its home. The gutter was where my mind belonged with all of these fine dicks around me.

Guys. I meant fine guys, not dicks. Although the dick thing would still apply.

The arm resting behind me on the couch fell to my shoulder, and his fingertips grazed my bare skin, sending a shiver down my spine. “How are you doing?” When I only looked at him, he added, “I mean, really.”

My gaze fell to my lap, and though it was something I didn’t want to talk about, I found myself answering him anyway. There was something about Will that made me want to be an open book; it was impossible to keep the older brother at arm’s length, not when he was so sincere. Just like Declan, in that respect.

I said two words I shouldn’t have, but they were the truth: “I’m scared.” I hadn’t spoken of my anxieties to Travis or Declan, mostly because they seemed so sure of themselves. Or, rather, sure of Travis and his weird family ties. But me? I wasn’t as confident. There was no telling that Ray would wait a month. He might decide a month was too long and try to snatch me, this time kidnap me instead of merely asking me to go with him.

A man like that…you couldn’t really predict where his mind would go when you took away the one thing he craved above all else in this world. Me.

---