Page 102 of Reject (Academy of Misfits 2)

“Are you suggesting I go and slaughter a sheep?”

“You’re kidding, right? You hate blood, you’d faint like a big sissy.”

“I didn’t with Sonny,” he shrugs, winking. “I guess it’s just as well breakfast is being made for us, I wouldn’t want you to splatter your hoody with sheep’s blood.”

“Ha ha!”

We follow the sound of talking and the delicious aroma of sizzling bacon and walk into the kitchen. On one side of the large, open plan kitchen-diner is Bryce, the handsome, bearded man I saw Sonny with at the courthouse back in London. He looks over his shoulder at me and winks. Eastern puts his arm around me tighter, hauling me into his side.

“Who does he think he’s winking at?” he grumbles.

“That would be me,” a female voice says from behind us. “I’m Louisa by the way, that handsome boy’s foster mum.” A woman in her mid-twenties walks into the kitchen grinning. She’s beautiful, stunning actually, with long blonde hair and pretty blue eyes. She walks over to Sonny who rolls his eyes in mock disgust at her compliment, but he doesn’t bat her away when she hugs him tight. In fact, he folds his arms around her and gives me a tentative smile from over her shoulder.

“Hey, Lou. How’s the tummy grub?” he asks her when she pulls away.

She grins, patting her stomach. “Little grub is doing just dandy.”

Louisa is sporting a pair of ripped black jeans and a t-shirt that only seems to accentuate her small bump rather than hide it. I remember Sonny telling me that the Freed’s already have one child. I’m guessing by the size of her bump she’s a few months into her pregnancy. Maybe four at a guess.

“And the crotch goblin, how’s he doing? Is he here?”

“Ollie’s good, and no he’s not here. Nisha is watching him back home. We thought you’d need our undivided attention this weekend, so that’s what you’ve got,” she explains.

Beside Sonny, Ford watches their exchange with a guarded expression. Anyone looking at him would assume he isn’t bothered by their interaction, but I know him well enough now to see how it affects him. Affection isn’t something he ever received from his own mother. He’s as starved of it as I am. Abuse, harsh words and cruelty are the only things he associates with family. Their whole exchange is alien to him, and in some ways to me too, given my own mum was less and less affectionate the older I grew and the more addicted to heroin she became. Ford catches me staring at him, and he seems to shut down further as he stares into his coffee cup, his fingers gripping it tightly. I have a sudden urge to go to him, but I don’t. Maybe later we can talk.

After briefly introducing herself to Ford and Camden, Louisa makes a beeline for Bryce, passing Max, who I met the first day I started Oceanside. She gives him a peck on the cheek and he gently pats her bump.

“Tea?” he asks her.

“I’d rather have a coffee,” she sighs, but takes the proffered mug.

“Thanks, Max,” she murmurs.

I watch as she kisses Bryce on the lips before prising the spatula out of his hand and nudging him aside with her hip. “Go sit, talk. I got this,” she orders.

“Thanks, baby,” he says, grabbing a cup of coffee from the table and taking a sip. He looks at Eastern and I over the rim of the cup. “You going to take a seat?”

“Sure,” I mutter, a little bit overwhelmed by the sense of family and love I feel between the three of them. For some reason that makes it difficult for me to enter the room.

Eastern squeezes my hand tighter. “It’s okay, Asia. I’m here for you,” he says.

“We all are,” Camden growls none too quietly, his eyes flicking from our joined hands back to my face.

“Jealous, mate?” Bryce asks, passing Camden a cup of coffee.

“Ain’t got nothing to do with you,” he bites back.

Bryce grins widely at me. “You got your work cut out with this lot, Asia.”

“Leave the girl be, Bryce,” Louisa warns him before fixing her gaze on me. “Come on in. There’s no judgement here. If you hadn’t guessed already, these two grown arse men are my husbands and they’realwaysarguing. It takes a strong woman to keep all the testosterone in check, I certainly have fun doing so, and I can already tell you’re fit for the job. These lads are all here for you, aren’t they?”

I nod, giving her a tiny smile. She grins knowingly, and I immediately warm to her.

“These two are yourhusbands? Why haven’t you been arrested for bigamy?” Ford asks, more curious than anything.

“Three actually, Hud will be here a little later. In answer to your question, they’re my husbands all but legally. We made a promise and a vow to one another a few years back. I don’t need a slip of paper to confirm what I already know. They are my husbands and I am their wife, and now we’re a family. I know what it’s like to juggle.” She winks at me, then returns her attention to the stove as though this is just a normal day for her.

Pulling out a stool from beneath the large kitchen island, I plonk myself upon it, my short denim skirt riding up and showing off my barbed wire tattoo around my upper thigh. I generally don’t wear tights. Not something I can be bothered with normally or can afford to waste my money on. Camden, who’s to the right of me, notices the expanse of flesh and slides his hand under the table, his fingers warming the bare skin of my leg as his finger traces over the tattoo.

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