Page 48 of Reviving Kendall

The manager scoffs at him and snatches the papers off the counter, “This is no concern of yours, boy, and you, missy,” he says turning to me. “Your grandparents are probably turning over in their graves right now knowing that you’ve got all these men in their house. It’s so disrespectful with your grandpa barely cold in his grave yet.”

My chest feels like someone stabbed me right in the heart, but I’m not longing for the numbness this time. I’m so angry I feel as though my blood is boiling underneath my skin.

“Don’t fucking talk to her like that,” Goose says stepping into the man’s space. He isn’t naturally the leader of the quad, but he is the most intimidating physically. Point proven by the manager almost pissing himself.

He backs away from Goose, “You better not threaten me, boy. I’ll call the law out here and have you arrested for taking advantage of such a young, girl.”

“Get. Out,” I grind out. It’s the first words I’ve said in over a month out loud and it makes my throat feel funny.

Holding up the papers he starts, “Listen here, girl…”

“I SAID GET THE FUCK OUT!!!” I scream. I know it sounds manic and with my eyes closed I can only imagine the faces on the five of them.

I hear him scrambling around Goose, “Thirty days and I’ll be needing that dish back too.”

He runs out the door, slamming it behind him.He needs the fucking dish back?I grab both sides of it and sling it across the counter. Glass and whatever nasty concoction inside is slung all over the room as it shatters against the wall. It makes a mess that I’ll have to clean up later, but between that and screaming at him I’m feeling so good that when Goose touches me on the shoulder, I wheel around on him.

His palms fly up in front of him in surrender. It doesn’t matter. I feel like a fucking crazy person. I swing and hit him right in the chest with the bottom of my fist, “I said get out!”

Shock and sadness war on his face as I hit him again, “I don’t need your fucking pity.”

I hit him again, “You didn’t even stand up to Mav when he said all of that horrible shit about me.”

My next swing lands in Maverick’s hand instead of on Goose. I jerk it free and shove him again like in the bathroom. He sees it coming this time and only rocks back a little. Half a second later, my back connects with the wall. Hard. I see spots dance across my vision right before Mav’s lips come down on mine. I yank at his dark hair and even bite his lip hard enough to draw blood, but it still isn’t enough to stop him. He kisses me until my anger fades into pure fucking want. I’m not sure where he starts, and I end, but even more, I don’t care. I know the other three are standing there, and if they haven’t worked out the shit between them, then I can’t help that either. All I know, it that I need this. I need them.

A sob rips from my throat, and I cling to Mav for dear life. He pulls me away from the wall and squeezes me tight against his body. My face is turned to the left and I open my eyes to see the others eyes wet from what they just witnessed. Goose is looking at the floor with a devastated look on his face. I reach out and grab a handful of his shirt and pull him to us. Mav never lets go as I pull Goose’s lips to mine. It’s not a kiss like what just happened between Mav and I just now, but I need it all the same. He wraps his arms around the two of us, and before I know it, Teagan and Lucas are on the other sides of me. They hold me together as I fall apart.

The What Ifs In Life

Somehow, we end up as a heaped mess on the floor. I sit between Goose and Teagan with our backs against the wall facing the kitchen. Mav and Lucas sit across from us with their backs against the counter. The middle space is nothing but legs everywhere.

I’ve got my eyes closed with my head back against the wall when Mav starts talking, “I know this isn’t the best of times, but I need to tell you that I’m sorry Kendall.” When I look over to him, he has his glasses off and is twirling them in his fingers, “There are a lot of things that you don’t know about me. I want you to, but that’s something that we can save for later. Let’s just say that I don’t let people into my life that can walk out just as easily. These guys are my brothers and I love them as such. I saw how fast they latched onto you, and I was jealous.” He huffs out a small laugh, “And believe it or not, it wasn’t just for them. Every time I saw the way that any of them would look at you or vice versa it would piss me off to the point that I acted like a complete asshole. That’s why I told you the truth about not sharing. Honestly, I was hoping you would choose one and the rest would have to accept it and move on. I never expected my brothers to fall in love with you.”

Teagan shifts a little beside me as if the ‘L’ word makes him nervous. Goose squeezes my hand and Lucas winks when our eyes meet.

Putting his glasses back on his face, he runs a hand through his hair that isn’t laid back in its usual style, “I never expected to fall for you. In the few months that we’ve known you, you’ve turned our lives upside down, and not in a bad way.”

Goose kisses the hand that he’s holding before saying, “This past month was absolute torture. You’re the first thing that I thought of when I woke up, and right before I went to sleep. I even tried calling and texting you a few times. When I didn’t hear anything back, I just figured that our actions were unforgivable, and I can’t really say I blame you if you feel that way. I’m sorry doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

“He crossed a few boundaries when he said some of what he did,” Teagan says, pulling my attention to him. His hair must have been pulled back behind his neck since he’s playing with a hair tie and all those long blonde strands hide his face. They don’t, however, hide those chocolate eyes when they turn to me, “But some of what he said is true. None of us give half a shit about what our parents say. They didn’t exactly set the bar too high with examples of healthy relationships. Well, except Lucas’ parents.”

I look over to him and he winks at me again and Teagan fidgets with the hair tie again, “I don’t get the dynamics of how this is supposed to work. I don’t get crazy jealous like Mav does, but what if I’ve had a bad day and want you to myself, but you’re with one of them instead? Can you sit there and honestly say that there’s enough of you to go around the four of us?”

He’s so right. It was so easy with Will, Casey, and Brian. Everything just was, and nothing felt forced. The same way that the quad felt before things exploded on the mountain, but I’d tried to keep it strictly platonic. I can’t help that the four of them broke down walls that were made of concrete. The tears that come this time make my face hurt from trying to hold them in.

Lucas taps my leg with his foot and when I look up to him he smiles at me, “It’s not going to be easy. There’s going to be jealousy.” He motions around the group as he says that, “There’s no doubt in my mind that there will be judgement for it, and even more so outside of our families.”

He leans up and grabs my toes, “But that’s a risk that I’m willing to take. Like Mav said, this is way beyond the appropriate time for us to be talking about all of this, but you need us right now.” When I don’t deny it, he continues, “And I, for one, am not going anywhere, even when you feel like you don’t need us anymore. In all the years that we’ve known each other, we’ve never fought over anything, and I’m not saying that you’re not worth it, because baby you are and so much more. But there’s no reason to start now. If Kendall thinks she can handle all of us, then it’s at least worth a shot, right?”

For the first time in well over a month, I feel my lips pull up into a smile. Only Lucas could have pulled off a speech like that. My brain wants to tell them no. I don’t want to have to deal with it when they leave again, but my heart isn’t going to give me a say on the matter. With me not using it for so long and then screaming, my voice is scratchy, “How did you know where to find me?”

Teagan knocks his shoulder with mine and when I look up to him, he bends down and kisses the tip of my nose, “Ryleigh. She misses you, you know. She tried to call you for a few days, and when you didn’t answer, she gave up, thinking you wouldn’t want to have anything to do with her because of me. Then she saw the obituary from dad’s paper yesterday. She wanted to come with us, but she doesn’t think you want her around.”

I shake my head, “It didn’t have anything to do with her. I left my phone here when I went to the hospital and I don’t remember too much in between.”

“Do they know exactly what happened?” Mav asks in his quiet deep tone.

Thinking about it makes my chest and stomach constrict. Goose squeezes my hand again and it gives me the courage to tell them, “They say it was a stroke. He umm...” I choke back tears, “he was here for a few hours before our neighbor found him.”

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