Page 18 of Taken By my Brothers' Best Friends

“You’re not funny. I’m going downstairs to find something to eat now. Don’t follow me.” I met Lennon on the stairs and watched him eye me from my toes to the top of my head. “If the bears had clothes, Goldilocks would’ve taken those, too.”

I tossed my new clothes on my prison bed and went out to the kitchen. After looking through both the fridge and the freezer, I knew I had a problem. They kept an ingredient house. No frozen meals, no easy snacks, not even a protein shake. There was nothing.

“Can we order takeout?” I shouted, trying to make sure they could hear me upstairs.

“Nope.”

I screamed and spun around, clutching my chest. Reed was standing right behind me, his eyes crinkling in the corners in a way that almost could’ve been a smile, if his lips weren’t turned down. I looked down at his hands and immediately forced my eyes back up to his face, just to see his lips quiver, like he was fighting a smile.

“You like sneaking up on people, too? Along with spanking them?” No matter how many times I mentally kicked myself, I couldn’t get the words back. “You said no takeout? Huh. Why not? There’s nothing to eat here and I’m hungry. I think. I don’t know. I’m feeling a lot of weird things and not all of them make sense.”

He quirked his eyebrow and remained silent.

It was the silence that undid me. I filled silences; it was just what I did. I couldn’t shut up in front of Reed because he only felt the need to talk when threatening me with a spanking, apparently. “So, I saw your room. Nice job on the decorating, I guess. I stole a shirt. You’re not getting it back. I’ve never had oversized shirts like that because I don’t date and it was too weird to steal one of my brothers’. I don’t mean that I don’t date, like I don’t date for a reason or something. I’m not opposed to dating. Not you. I’m opposed to dating you, because of the kidnapping. But, I just mean, in general, I’m not opposed to dating. I just…don’t do it.”

He still didn’t speak. He just stared at me with the same infuriatingly ambiguous look on his face.

“I swear to everything holy, Reed, if you don’t say something, I’m going to lose my mind. Use your words. I know you have them. I can’t handle the stone-cold silent thing. You have a voice. A nice voice, too. Not that I’m complimenting you. It’s whatever. Your voice is fine. It’s your words that are the problem.” I could feel my face shifting into something horrified because my body was more in tune with my brain than my mouth. “I have to go. I’m going back to prison. Will you just have someone send me in something to eat later? I’m not picky. Ice cream would be great. Just not chocolate or anything with nuts in it. There’s a place for nuts in this world, but it’s not my ice cream. Now I’m imagining a man dipping his nuts in my ice cream. Great. Great! I have to go!”

I gave up on ever being able to face him again and sprinted across the house to my room. I slammed the door shut and then threw myself face first onto my bed. Screaming into my pillow, I considered my options. I could continue facing them like I wasn’t a complete freak. I could try to escape and find my way back home from six hours away. Or I could strangle myself with the sock’s I’d taken.

The socks were starting to seem like the better choice.

CHAPTER 16

Vera

Two days had passed with me doing everything I could to avoid the guys. I’d found a button on my nightstand that brought a TV up from the end of my bed and I’d been pretty happy. Bobby had started staying in my room with me so I had to leave the door cracked so he could come and go as he pleased. Dean had caught him on my bed more than once and made him get down but as soon as he walked away, I called Bobby back to my side. Bobby andMaurywere getting me through my prison stint. That and my attempted prison break plans.

I waited until the middle of the night the first night I’d been allowed out and went around the house, searching for an escape. After the fourth door, Dean had appeared behind me and nearly given me a heart attack. The next day, I’d managed to get one foot outside when Reed went out to walk the grounds, or something like that. I watched the door closing and made a run for it. Lennon caught me that time. Later that night, I’d gone completely nuts and threw a chair at my window. Not only did the window not break, but the chair bounced back and hit me in the leg, leaving a massive bruise that hurt so much I was still limping.

I was plotting my next attempt with Bobby when I heard a ruckus from outside my room. The guys were usually silent so hearing anything more than a whisper was wild. Bobby and I jumped out of bed and went out to be nosey. The guys were standing around the island, talking into one of their tablets. I crossed my arms and watched them. “What’s going on?”

Lennon looked back at me with a scowl on his face. “Someone breached the perimeter of our property. Your brothers are the only ones who know you’re here so it’s probably nothing but we’re not taking any chances.”

I hurried over to see what they were looking at and my mouth dropped open. “I know that car. That’s Sugar!”

“Who the fuck is Sugar?” Dean glared at me like I’d called in that takeout they wouldn’t let me order.

“She’s a friend from Devil’s Den. How is she here?” I looked at each of them. “We’re six hours away, right? So how is she here?”

None of them rushed to answer me so I watched the camera footage and saw Sugar’s car stop at a gate. She opened her door and we all watched as she and three other women climbed out. I recognized Ava, Bianca, and Meredith and bounced in place. My friends had come for me.

“Let them in! Those are my friends!” I leaned over the counter to watch them and grinned like they could see me. “What are they doing here? This is crazy.”

“We’re not letting them in.” Dean shook his head. “Not a chance. You’re safe here because we don’t let people in.”

“Do you think one of them is going to try to kill me? Don’t be stupid. Just let them in. They’re my friends.” I watched Sugar and frowned. “What’s she saying?”

“They’re not getting inside.” Reed’s tone said that was final but I never thought any answer was final.

“Let them in.” I glared at him. “Now.”

He all but snarled at me. “You want another spanking? Because you’re being a brat.”

“If you think you’re going to touch me when my friends are right outside, trying to get in, you’re nuts. Those women would scale your little baby gate and run in here with their shoes in hand, ready to beat your ass. Because if you touch me, I’ll scream so loud they’ll hear me back in Devil’s Den, asshole. Now, let my friends in.”

He stepped toward me but Lennon held his arm out and stopped him. “Let’s just hear what they have to say.”

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