Page 6 of Beautiful Defiance

“I don’t plan on running off.” There’s nowhere to go. I also like eating three square meals a day for a change.

“Good. Do me a favor? Grab your shoes. We’ll need the house key.” He tips me to the ground.

I’m not having it. “Put me down and go back to your friends. I don’t want to keep you guys from partying the night away.”

“They can wait the fuck until I’m good and ready for all I care.”

Eloquent response. And . . . the king has spoken. The knights of his court won’t leave until their leader returns. What will happen if his friends ever say no? I’m guessing they won’t. From what I’ve seen, Seven’s friends are loyal. I envy him that. I never stuck around one place long enough to make friends.

Sighing, I grab my shoes and being careful not to smack him with them, I curl my arms around his neck.

“When will that be?” I say into his hair.

“When you and I are done discussing the rules and the boundaries for your time in Cambridge.”

Ah, so that’s the kind of talk we’ll be having at the end of this wonderful night.

“Don’t you want to return to your party sooner rather than later? Think of all the ‘action’ you’re missing out on.”

“There’s no missing out going on. Party didn’t happen. My parents cut their trip short.”

His jaw tightens. Had I not been so close, I would’ve missed the dead giveaway.

“Did they have fun?” I don’t know why I asked. Maybe it’s because he’s put out that they came back early, and I want to further rejoice in his unhappiness. I hide my face in his hair. I’m a horrible person for thinking such mean thoughts.

“Don’t much care. What matters is there’s another party. That’s where we were headed.”

“You stopped by here. Why?”

“The party’s at the lake, and seeing that Hannah’s place is closest to mine and she’s already drunk off her ass from starting early at a different party, she wanted my boys and I to grab swimsuits for her and her friends.”

“You planned on breaking and entering?”

“Nah, I saw Henry driving up to the house. I figured my boys could distract him and his friends and I’d sneak inside.”

“You know where Hannah’s room is?”

There are five bedrooms and six bathrooms in the mansion.

“Doesn’t every guy?”

I don’t answer. I don’t know Hannah.

“Imagine our surprise when we found Henry attempting to drown the live-in groundskeeper.”

Live-in groundskeeper? Ha-ha. Except what Seven said isn’t far from the truth. I don’t plan on living off Thomas. I’ll pitch in and do my share.

When Thomas showed me around the property, he dropped a tidbit that I grasped on to for dear life. Their long-time groundskeeper died recently. What if I take over that role?

I’ve asked the old guy who lives next door how to use the ride-on lawnmower. I also asked him to differentiate for me the weeds from the non-weeds scattered around Thomas’s estate. When Thomas gets back from his trip, I’ll run the idea by him. The worst thing he can say is, “Hell no.”

“Isn’t it too cold to be swimming in the lake?”

Seven walks us down the steep hillside. He’s careful, his steps slow and steady, but the grass is wet. He slips. Righting himself, he jostles me closer to his body. I inhale a deep breath at our close call from tumbling down the hillside, and catch a whiff of Seven’s scent. Cinnamon and the distinct smell of wet grass from today’s earlier rainstorm.

“Should Hannah be near the water if she’s drunk?”

My voice is steady. Inside, my lungs aren’t expanding like they should with every breath I take. Seven and I are too close. The hair on his arm brushes my skin. His warm breath coasts over the shell of my ear.

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