Page 37 of Home: Posy 5

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Wyatt

After I finally woke up the next morning, I untangled myself from Posy, stumbled into the bathroom, did my business, and washed my hands. Looking into the mirror above the sink, I had to do a double take at what I saw.

"What the hell?" I bellowed.

Someone had used a black marker to draw thick eyebrows, a curled mustache, and a goatee on my face!

"Ash!" I growled as I stared at my reflection. "You little bitch! This better not be permanent marker!"

As I splashed water on my face before soaping it up, one thought went through my mind.

If a prank war is what you want, brother, a prank war is what you're going to get.

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Posy

After I woke up the next morning, I had to do a double take at what I saw.

Or rather, what I didn't see. The bedroom was empty except for me. That didn't happen very often. I usually woke up smothered by Wyatt's sleepyhead self.

Sitting up quickly, I linked them to see where they were and Mason immediately replied that they were making breakfast in the kitchen.

Concerned now, I grabbed Ash's rumpled t-shirt, which fit me like a dress, and threw it on, then hurried to the bathroom, did my business, and washed my hands before rushing downstairs to make sure there was no bloodshed.

To my pleasant surprise, I found the five of them moving quietly around the kitchen and dining room. Mason was cooking bacon and eggs, Jayden was manning the waffle maker, Wyatt was washing something at the sink, Ash was setting the table, and Cole was filling glasses with either orange or apple juice.

None of them were speaking, and alarm spiked inside me.

My boys werenotsilent, and certainly not when they were working together on something, even if it was as normal and simple as making breakfast. Since they weren't talking, I had to study their faces for clues as to what was wrong, and I blinked in surprise at what I found. Wyatt had faded black marks on his chin and upper lip, Jayden's cheeks were dull red and his eyelids looked vaguely bruised, and Ash had a bright red patch at the base of his throat.

That one got my immediate attention.

"Waffle?" I went over to him with a frown. "You let someone else suck on your neck?"

"What? Oh, baby, no! Of course not!" His brown eyes widening in panic, he picked me up by my waist and sat me on the counter so we were eye to eye. Planting one hand on either side of my hips, he lifted his chin to show me the red mark better. "Someoneput a temporary tattoo there while I was asleep last night. I scrubbed it, but couldn't get all of it off."

"Oh." I leaned forward and kissed the red skin, then smiled to myself as he shivered under my lips. "Who would do that?"

"Yeah, whowoulddo that?" He narrowed his eyes and looked at each of his brothers. His voice switched to a rumbly growl as he continued. "But don't worry, princess. I'll get them back. Whoever did it is going to regret it, I promise you that."

A flash of fear hit me. In my planning session with Eden, I hadn't considered that they would get mad. Evan had been irritated with Eden, but he hadn't gotten mad.

Will they punish me if I prank them?My breathing picked up and my heart ran its own marathon.

No,Lark soothed. Never. They promise they never punish you, remember?

Knowing she was right, I took deep breaths to calm down and watched as Jayden started plating the waffles.

"Cole, can you get me a glass of water?" he asked as he worked.

"Okaaaaay," Cole dragged the word out and looked at his brother with suspicious eyes.

I didn't understand his reaction. Jayden always had water with breakfast, so it wasn't unusual. My confusion ended when the sound of spraying water and Cole's cursing filled the air. For some reason, the spray hose was spewing out water, hitting Cole right in the face. Everyone burst out laughing, except for Cole, who was busy ducking the spray to turn off the faucet.

"You asshole!" he shouted as he turned around, red-faced and dripping wet.

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