Page 14 of Boundaries

“I don’t. I’m not into STDs,” I batted back with a fake smile.

“Ouch,” Boyd said, recoiling in his seat with a pretend offended look plastered across his face. He looked like his brother Nixon, but less weathered.

Seth omitted one of his infamous pig snorts. McKenna scum.

Arching an eyebrow, I scanned the three of them with my best-unimpressed expression and motioned toward their positions with the flat of my hand.

“I don’t know why you think you’re all welcome at our table?” I inwardly cringed, my words sounded almost biblical. But at least my voice had just the right amount of ice in it.

“What,” Seth stated with a dumb look on his face, “We couldn’t find anywhere else to sit,” he said in a dopey voice, shooting me a cheeky wink. We all knew what he said was a load of shit as the place was now empty. The older couple from earlier had left whilst we’d been eating our meals.

Boyd sniffed, drawing back my attention.

“Mase says it’s about your sister, but you don’t have to worry. There’s absolutely no fucking truth to that pile of bollocks. Never touched her.”

His words annoyed the heck out of me. He delivered them with distaste, as if there was something wrong with Chrissy, a thought that was laughable. This guy was totally punching above his weight with her. Yes, he was good looking, but he didn’t have enough brain cells to interest Chrissy. Chrissy was a first-class student. I was surprised Boyd could spell his own name.

I still didn’t believe him, but I needed to shut it down.

“I heard about there being a kiss, but it was nothing to do with me, or your sister from what I heard,” Boyd rattled.

His comment forced Mason to roll his shoulders, which caught my attention. What was I missing?

“Boyd,” Mason said with a cautionary tone.

His words had the intended effect and his brother backed down. From what was anyone’s guess? At the end of the day, they were the McKenna boys, you’d have to be severely stupid to speak and understand their brand of vocabulary.

“Anyway, it wasn’t me,” Boyd huffed.

Alex lifted his wine and took a huge sip. I totally understood why he was uncomfortable. He was so different to these types of boys; he was civilised and a gentleman. He even opened doors for me.

“Well, that’s the right answer. And you’ll leave her alone from now on.”

He flinched as if I’d hit him. “Will I?” Boyd’s voice dipped. Like his brothers, he had an issue with authority and didn’t like being told what to do. I decided I needed to do some damage control. I didn’t want to push him to do the opposite.

“Yes, please Boyd. She’s only sixteen and she needs to focus on school,” I added, forcing myself to sound less bossy. It was tough to pull off, I had to drop my hands into my lap and nip myself. The pain took my mind off the fact that I was pretty much begging a McKenna, again!

Boyd shot another glance at Mason who remained silent, his gaze pinned on me. I was surprised I didn’t see strings coming from Boyd’s body and the older McKenna manipulating his movements like the fucking puppeteer he was.

“You see, you can ask nicely when you want something,” Boyd said with a sneer before necking his drink. Seth leaned back and placed his hands behind his head, looking down his nose.

“You’re quiet,” he suddenly said, addressing Alex who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. My boyfriend opened his mouth to reply, but I cut him off, saving him.

“Anyway, about Chrissy, thank you, Boyd, I appreciate it.”

All three McKenna brothers and Alex were surprised.

Thank you was not a word I used with these boys. I shuffled back into my seat, the night suddenly felt like it was getting so much longer, and not in a good way.

Three

“So, whilst I love our little catch-ups, lads, we’d like to get back to our evening, so if you could find another couple to torture, that would be great,” I rambled out dismissively. My eyes flicked briefly over at Mason, who still sat there in silence like a terrifying apparition. He looked huge, even in his seated position.

I didn’t have to wait long. My words had obviously pulled the tiger’s tail. Drat.

“You should get a medal for having to put up with that mouth Alex, does she ever shut the fuck up?” Mason said, his voice much more booming than the other two.

Alex shifted uncomfortably and sipped his drink.

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