Page 18 of Life Blood
“What!? What did you just say?” I looked at Braden, “If there’s something you have to say to me, you get one shot.”
“Let me clear some things up with Cole before he sends himself into a frenzy. I’ll pick you up and drive you home when your shift is over. We can have a chat then.”
“I can drive myself home,” I shouted. “I want answers!”
“Elle!” Brenda called out, reprimanding me from the cash register.
Zac stood and took my arm, caressing the inside bend of my elbow, and I calmed down instantly.
“Listen, Elle, we aren’t going to hurt you,” he whispered against my flesh like Logan had. His cool breath tickled my skin, “We’re here to protect you. Braden can explain things better after your shift, but the information we need to give you must come slowly, or we may lose you completely.”
I felt like I was hypnotized. I didn’t fight him. I didn’t want to.
“Okay,” I said in an exhale.
I felt his lips against my neck, my nerves tingling like live wires, “Whatever you do, don’t fight us. The sensation you feel when you make contact with us is your body’s way of telling you that you need us as much as we need you.”
He pulled away, and the hypnotic feeling went with him, but even now, I didn’t fight his mysterious words. It was like I was still under Zac’s hold.
I licked my dry lips as I looked at all four of them. They stood watching me with curious smiles. I looked at Braden, “I’m off at eight o’clock tonight.”
“Then I’ll be here until then,” Braden said with a nod.
I watched as the doors opened and more kids from my high school poured in through them. “We’ll take that as our sign to leave,” Logan said with a smirk, blanketing me with an unexplainable urge to laugh and be happy.
“Try to keep an open mind. It’s best you hear about this sooner than later for your own safety,” Cole said, his tousled, copper hair highlighting the definition of his perfectly constructed face. I looked at him, and as if I had tuned in to him, I felt his sincere concern for me. He was scared for me. He wanted to keep me safe. I could feel it.
“And if Braden manages to freak you out, I’ll kick his ass,” Zac said with a flirty grin. Just as I had with Cole, I tuned in to Zac. It was apparent that he was a ladies’ man—love them and leave them—but I had the overwhelming sensation that he would do anything for me. Anything. I knew it. His devotion was bleeding from him.
Braden trailed the others, “I’ll be right back,” he smiled affectionately at me. Braden was definitely the badass out of the group. Nobody messed with him and got away with it, but his harshness would never be felt by me. He had no desire to be anything but the perfect gentleman for me…to give me everything I could ever possibly desire.
“Don’t question the feelings you’re having right now,” Braden said, “They are real because we are allowing you in. You’ll understand later, I promise.” He touched my elbow and leaned into me, “I swear, I will never frighten you, Elle.”
I was left standing there like a fool, watching these perfect guys walk out the front door. I had just felt four men’s distinctly different and alluring feelings…and the strangest part was that they were all directed at me.
I wanted to fight all of this away, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. Something deep down in my bones told me that I had to trust them and that having them in my life was the gift given to me for having put up with so much shit until this very moment.
Chapter Six
Iwalked around the back of the coffee counter, keeping my eyes on the Banners as they stood outside the main window of The Daily Grind coffee shop. I mechanically took orders and made drinks alongside Brenda to get the specialty coffees prepared and out of the way.
Luckily, I’d been making these drinks almost every day since I was sixteen so I was able to make them fairly effortlessly while I kept my eyes on the guys.
I watched Cole as he spoke to his cousins. He seemed to be the brains of the bunch. The shot caller. Braden was most likely the one to enforce the shots.
Cole—his emerald eyes, beautiful copper hair—he was striking, to say the least. His hair looked perfectly tousled by the wind, but upon closer examination, it was apparent that he had styled it that way on purpose. He wore what seemed to be the trademark clothes of the Banner cousins: a tight fitting cotton shirt and jeans. It was nothing flashy, yet somehow, they all made it look incredibly fashionable.
My eyes gravitated to Logan next. The guy had whispered in my ear one time too many for my hormones to handle by this point. He seemed to be too arrogant for my liking…or maybe he was just an overly confident jerk.
I sensed that he had and purposely allowed me a peek into their mysterious lives. I would naturally be freaked out by him, but after the way my body responded to him being in close contact with me, I was far from scared. Even though it seemed he had a reckless side to his personality, I just knew that he would never put me in harm’s way.
His onyx-black hair was kept short and immaculate. Whatever length he had to it was swept over his brow, and it highlighted his thick lashes, which were a beacon for his sapphire-blue eyes.
I watched the serious, thoughtful, and concerned expressions play out on the other three cousins’ faces, but Logan had a contagious smile that highlighted all the features of his flawless face. Whatever they were in deep conversation about didn’t seem to faze him in any way.
I grabbed a rag and began to wipe down the espresso machine when I glanced up again, seeing Zac’s cheeky grin. He held himself with confidence while sizing up Braden. Something was said, and the mood outside seemed to have changed. It was apparent the conversation was twisting into another direction. Zac stood taller than Logan and Cole, almost as tall as Braden. His honey-blonde hair was smoothed back, fitting for his personality it seemed.
Braden shoved Zac playfully, knocking him a few steps back, and then gave them all a stiff nod. His eyes mirrored a tropical turquoise ocean, and I really felt like I could probably drown in them. His hair was dark but not as black as Logan’s because of his auburn highlights.
