“Go away, Kate!” Kelsey shouts at me.
“No!” I stand my ground, crossing my arms and stomping my foot.
“Go away, Kate!” Kelsey shouts and shoves my shoulder.
“No, it’s a free country and I can do what I want, Kelsey.” I stick my tongue out at him.
“It’s cool, man, we’re just fishing.” Zane steps between Kelsey and me.
“It’s not your bratty little sister that’s always following you around. Besides, Stacey said she’d come by and hang out. I’m trying to get to second base, and I don’t needthatruining it.” Kelsey points at me.
“What’s second base?” I question, tilting my head at him. Zane and Ian both roar with laughter.
“I can show you, if you like.” Ian steps forward and leans down so he’s eye level with me.
“Dude, that’s my fucking sister!” Kelsey shouts at Ian.
“Relax, man, I was just kidding.” Ian raises his hands in a mock surrender, then turns and winks at me. I wrinkle my nose and blush. Ian seems to make me blush a lot lately.
“Ommmmm… I’m telling dad you said the F word and that you’re going to second base with Stacey.” I stick out my tongue, taunting my older brother. Satisfied seeing Kelsey’s face turn red, I turn and walk away. Suddenly, I feel two hands hit the middle of my back before I fall to the ground. I hiss in pain as both of my knees hit the gravel pathway hard, scraping them both badly.
“Damn, Kelsey. Not cool, dude. Both our dads are going to kick our asses.” Zane shouts behind me. The pain from my knees causes tears to fall down my sweaty cheeks.
“Hey,” Ian helps me off my knees and sits me on the soft grass next to the gravel path. “Let me look at that.” He inspects my knees, cleaning the dirt and rocks from the scrapes with water from his newly opened bottle. The water is cold, causing me to flinch and hiss a little. “It’s ok, please don’t cry.” He wipes the tears from my cheeks, then gently brushes the hair from my face. “It’s just a couple of scrapes. In a couple of hours, you’ll be good as new. I’m sorry your brother pushed you. He’s kind of an asshole. Have some water.” He hands me his bottle of cold water and I take a sip. As the cool water hits my throat, a new feeling hits me, a feeling I’m unfamiliar with. I’m seeing a different side to one of my brother’s best friends, a gentle and sweet side. He rests his hand on my thigh and it sends a series of shock waves through my body, making my heart skip a beat. “Come on, you can go fishing with us. I’ll even bait your hook. What do you say?” He smiles sweetly at me. I’m at a loss for words and only nod. He stands, then offers his hand to help me to my feet. As we walk past my brother, Kelsey protests, but Ian stops him.
“Dude, her knees need a couple of hours to heal before your dad sees them. Understand?” He puts his arm around my shoulder, and we continue to walk away from my brother. It was in that moment I realized I was in love with the sixteen-year-old boy next door, one of my brother’s best friends, and our pack’s future beta.
**February 2004**
“Ma’am?” The annoyed delivery man shouts, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Huh, what?” I look at him, confused.
“Fourteen-fifty. I only said it five times. Geesh.” He snarls at me.
“Sorry, um… keep the change.” He snatches the twenty from my hand, turning away, mumbling something in Chinese under his breath.
Chapter two
Twenty-First Birthday Surprise
**February 2004**
Kate
“Melissa,wherearewegoing? I thought we were going to your folk’s place for dinner?” I follow my friend through a set of large wood and glass doors into a crowded bar. It’s eight p.m. and we’re already pushing our way through the thick crowd. The smell of beer, whiskey, and bad decisions fill the air. We come to another door that opens to a spiral staircase that leads to an Italian restaurant below.
One thing I love about New York City is the history. There are many stories about buildings all over the city being hangouts for some of the most notorious Italian gangsters. I can imagine this building in the Bronx as one of those seedy little hangouts. You can see the history in every aspect of this building. From the tall, tiled ceilings, the exposed brick walls, and the massive amount of ornate dark woodwork throughout. I imagine the finest carpenters building out each piece in here by hand. I can almost hear the sweet jazz music filling the air while they smuggle illegal booze in from below and up the spiral staircase to thirsty patrons in the bar. When the heat got too close or a rival gangster paid a visit, the spiral staircase made for a quick escape. I bet if these walls could talk, the stories they’d tell.
“We are, silly. My uncle owns this place. Ma didn’t feel like cooking tonight, so change of plans.” Melissa looks back and smiles at me. She was one of the first people that I met when I first moved here. I met her in a class at the university and we hit it off right away. Her big personality balances my shy side. Actually, over the past two years, she has rubbed off on me a little. I’m not as shy as I used to be, but I’m far from being as loud as her. Melissa comes from a big Italian family and was the one who taught me how to eat pasta properly. She was dumbfounded and thought it was hilarious how I ate spaghetti. She said I look like a cow eating hay.
“What the hell?” Melissa shouts as we walk into a pitch-black private dining room. “Wait right here. Let me find out what’s going on.” I can hear her walk away, but I hear something else. Multiple different heartbeats. I steady my breathing and concentrate on the sounds of the beating hearts. I sniff the air and realize that I’m not alone.
“SURPRISE!!!” A crowd of friends shout as the lights turn on. I jump with excitement and squeal with joy. I can’t believe it; they threw a surprise birthday party for me. I’m not a fan of surprises, especially the ones where people jump out at you. However, I’m thrilled that they went out of their way for me.
“Happy twenty-first birthday, baby.” Darren wraps his arms around me.
“Did you do this?” I look at him and smile.