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“Oh, you better start,” Alex says.
I breathe an awkward laugh. “Obviously, they’re Dana’s.”
He takes a step closer. “Uh-huh.”
“I was holding them for safekeeping.”
“Safekeeping?”
“Yeah. Remember? After the hunt, I?—”
A door opens behind me.
I spin around to see Ben standing at the closet door. The open closet door.
Dana wheezes softly, her dress still loose around her shoulders. “Hi,” she says.
“Hm,” Ben hums. “Haven’t been able to get a hold of you either, sister.”
She says nothing, her cheeks aflame, her hair tangled and tossed to one side.
Alex takes another step toward me.
I back up. “Now, guys, let’s talk about this…”
Ben moves forward, too.
Run.
I sprint out the door, narrowly escaping Alex’s grasp as I burst into the hallway. Dana shouts after us, her voice faded beneath the bounding feet of her brothers close behind me. They nearly catch up to me as I reach the ground floor, but I take off, leaping over the coffee table in the living room where our mothers are sitting and beelining through the front door.
“Connor!” my mother shouts.
I hear Rose screaming after her boys, along with a few booming shouts from our fathers echoing from the kitchen. There’s no time to explain.
I am so very fucked.
I bolt around the wraparound porch to the far end, hurdling over the side onto the grass when there’s nowhere else to go. Ben follows me, Alex breaking away and racing in the opposite direction, eager to cut me off around the house.
I continue around, hoping to reach the back deck before he does. If I can, maybe I can get through the back door and cut through the house and… fuck, who knows? All I know is if I stop, I’m going to get my ass kicked.
I nearly slip on the grass, my bare feet not gaining enough traction to keep steady. Ben is right behind me, the leap off the porch doing nothing to slow him down. I should have expected nothing less from a tight end as good as he is.
Rounding the corner, I spot Alex on the opposite side, headed straight toward me. I curse under my breath, knowing there’s no way I’ll make it to the deck stairs in time to outmaneuver him. I’ll have to rely on my skills to duck and dodge to get around him and?—
“Connor!”
Dana.
I take my eyes off of Alex for one second.
One second too long.
Alex veers into my path, and I collide with the wall of his chest. He grabs me and yanks me down to the grass, an easy task with Ben tackling me from behind.
“Guys, stop it!”
I lash out, attempting to block the flurry of punches flying at me. Two against one; most of them hit. I flex my abs to take the assault while connecting a few good jabs and kicks of my own.
