Page 109 of Just This Once

“No. She’s really not.”

“Excuse me?” Keene glanced around the kitchen for support. When he paused on me, I only shrugged, so he spun back to Damien and demanded, “What the hell planet have you been living on? Have you forgotten about all the times she made you uncomfortable and terrified and damn-near triggered to the point of sucking your thumb and rocking in a corner?”

“I remember everything,” Damien said. “But I know why she does it now, so?—”

When he lifted one shoulder, Keene’s mouth fell open. He glanced toward me again, but I shook my head, not getting it either.

He turned back to Archer. “Then, please enlighten us, oh wise one. How in the fuck could she possibly have a good reason for putting a sign sayingex-bed-wetteron my locker door?” Lifting his finger, he straightened in his chair to announce aloud, “Which is a goddamn lie, by the way.”

I snorted out a laugh. “Damn. I forgot about that one. Classic.”

Keene flipped me off while Damien said, “Our group’s like a yard full of chickens. We have a pecking order.”

Keene squinted at him in confusion. “What?”

“For example,” Damien went on. “Parker can flip both of us shit all day long, but we can’t really dish it back, or if we do, it’s ineffective because he’s higher on the pecking order.”

After a single, confused blink, Keene exploded, “What the fuck ever. Ohrley’s not higher on no damn pecking order than I am.”

Damien merely lifted his brows. “Uh, yes, he is.”

“Facts,” I agreed with a self-assured smirk.

Keene scoffed at me in disgust and rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, “I can flip you shit if I want to.”

I opened my arms in invitation. “Try it, fucker. See how far it gets you.”

He narrowed his eyes in displeasure, then snorted and glanced away, not engaging.

“Like I said,” Damien continued. “There’s a pecking order of sorts among us, and sadly Alec’s on the bottom.”

“Bullshit,” Keene snapped, his instant reaction being to defend his best friend. “Younger ain’t no bottom of the food chain, or whatever. He’s good people.”

“I didn’t say he was bad. Good or bad has no bearing in it,” Damien assured. “I’m saying there’s an order of dominance between the seven of us, and he’s—you know.” With a cringe, he admitted, “The least dominant.”

“The fuck if he is.”

So I asked Keene, “Then who is?You?”

“Hey, fuck you,” Keene pointed with a snarl, but I only lifted my brows in amusement, letting him know he couldn’t faze me. Because I outranked him.

“I know it’s sucky for Younger,” Damien continued sympathetically. “But it’s true. And Hope knows it too, so I’m pretty sure she’s subconsciously become his protector of sorts. Since she knows he can’t go after any of us without consequences, she does it for him.”

“Just what’re you saying?” Keene demanded with a glare. “ThatLangston’sthe head cock in our group? I sure as hell ain’t buyingthat.”

“No,” Damien murmured with a thoughtful frown. “Actually, I don’t know where she would rank. But Idoknow she doesn’t care. She’s only concerned with keeping the rest of us occupied with her antics so we’re not picking on Alec. She probably even knows shecouldn’tbest us; but she’s going to distract and annoy us anyway, just so her little brother can have free rein of the yard and eat as much grain as he pleases while we’re busy dodging her beak.”

“Man, you’re whack,” Keene said. “Seriously. I think those psychology classes warped your brain because absolutely none of that made any sense at all.”

Damien only shrugged. “Doesn’t matter if you’re too slow to understand or not,” he said with his own smirk of dominance. “After realizing Hope’s actions stem from her self-sacrificing nature to protect Alec, I respect her more now. Sorry.”

For the longest moment, Keene could only stare at Damien, blinking occasionally. Then he sniffed in disregard and waved an unconcerned hand. “Whatever. I don’t pick on Younger.”

“Yeah, you do,” Damien told him. “We all do. Without even realizing it. We love the guy and would die for him, sometimes we even let him get his way because of our affection for him, but we still subjugate him. And he takes it like a champ.”

Keene scowled hard as if he wanted to argue. But then he muttered, “Well, Hope’s still a bully.” And he stood up to stomp from the kitchen.

“Congratulations, Archer,” I deadpanned as I took a drink from my glass. “You just ruined his life. The poor kid’s not going to be able to hate Langston after this, and he’s not going to know what to do with himself anymore.”

---