“What caused these?” he whispered so quietly I barely heard him.
I shook my head in answer as my eyes drifted towards the fire, unseeing. I would not tell Quinton those stories, not ever. He was by far the most vindictive and ruthless person I had yet to meet. And that was saying something because my mother had held those titles before I met Quinton. At least he had good reasons for most of the shit he did, if not fucked up ones. He did messed up things to protect the ones he cared about or to teach the person who hurt his loved ones a lesson. Neither were concepts I fully understood, but I knew enough to be semi-grateful towards him. Quinton and Tyson both wanted to take care of me. I had thought their care would come in separate forms. With Quinton’s arms wrapped tightly around me, I wasn’t so sure anymore if his idea of taking care of me would be so different from Tyson’s.
My mother’s way of showing me she cared always ended with me being covered in bruises or taking a trip to the emergency room. It had all depended on her mood.
Which is why it was so hard for me to trust the guys. But she was dead, she couldn’t hurt me anymore. I needed
to remember that. It was hard. That part remained where the damage was still done and I wondered if I would ever be able to trust another human being. If my own flesh and blood could do such horrid things to me… what else was everyone else capable of?
I didn’t know and that scared me.
I turned my head to the side, ready to tell Quinton that he scared me, when three more hooded figures entered the clearing. I’d momentarily forgotten what was going on around us.
Julian, Damien and Dash had arrived. I did not want to see if they were naked under those robes. No, thanks. I had seen enough male bodies for a good long while.
“Time to go,” Quinton whispered urgently.
Maybe he didn’t want to see anymore dicks tonight either?
I didn’t think that was it but I could have been wrong. I didn’t really know him well enough to guess.
Chapter Five
The arm Quinton had ahold of screamed in protest as he dragged me along behind him through the dense forest. He seemed to be in a hurry so I didn’t complain. I didn’t think he knew he was hurting me.
“They wanted to see if you would be interested in going tonight but I told them I didn’t think you were ready for that yet,” he said. “If I had known I would find you out there, I would have told them to at least have some damn underwear on.”
That was interesting. What did it matter if I saw them naked now when he figured it was an inevitability? Sometimes I did not understand him at all.
“So, why are you wearing clothes when no one else is?” I blurted before I could really think better of it.
Holy shit! Why in the world would I ask him that? Stupid, stupid girl.
He shot me a dirty look over his shoulder and growled, “I was out here because someone’s got to watch your crazy ass. I saw you walk out of your house in the middle of the night in your goddamn pajamas. And I followed you into the woods. You’re not even wearing any goddamn shoes and you don’t even have a fucking flashlight. Who does that? What’s the matter with you?”
Uh oh. Seemed he was mad at me. Normally, this would freak me out, but if he was willing to let my naked comment slide then I could over look his anger issues. Right? Yeah, I didn’t think so either. Dare I try to explain myself so that maybe he will calm down? Nah, I would let him get it out of his system.
He kept on ranting, which made me think he didn’t really want to hear an explanation from me. Oh well.
“Seriously, what in the hell were you thinking? You could have gotten hurt out here in the dark, all by yourself.” He shook his head furiously. “Not smart, babe, that’s what this bullshit was. First, that shit with that idiot guy who is in love with you and is showing up at your house out of the blue because he missed you so much he couldn’t help himself. Now, you’re wandering the woods barefoot. Jesus, I’m going to have to find you a babysitter, someone to watch your crazy ass all the time. Just for your own safety.”
He stomped through the trees and into Mr. Cole’s front lawn, dragging me along behind him.
I yanked angrily on my arm, forcefully, and he let me go.
I spotted a decent size rock on the ground at the edge of the lawn by my feet. I bent at the waist, picked it up and curled my fingers around it. With it sitting in the center of my palms and my fingers curled around it, you couldn’t see it. Not too big, not too small. The perfect size for what I had in store for it.
“What the hell are you doing?” Quinton barked at me.
I stood up straight and faced him. He was wearing a black, short-sleeved t-shirt tonight. I had never seen him in anything but a long-sleeved button up shirt. The dark, blue jeans were tucked into the same cowboy boots I had seen him in earlier. His hands rested on his hips and he glared daggers at me.
Whatever.
Like he had any right to look at me in such a way. I looked at the ground and shook my head while I struggled to reign in my anger.
The things he’d said about Chucky… he was not to be believed. I was in the whole ridiculous situation with Chucky to begin with because of Quinton. Now, he made the whole thing sound like not only was it my fault but he talked like the whole thing with Chucky had been entirely my idea to begin with. Like I would do anything that would saddle me with Chucky for possibly the rest of my life. Get real.
Needless to say, I failed at getting a handle on my anger.