Page 12 of Vexatious Queen

“But that’s the thing…maybe you should. I dragged you into this mess like I was trapped in quicksand, and you all got stuck with me.”

“Nah, man. We all knew da risks, and that included Ella and Ethan. We grew up in this world. We were already stuck in Lawrence’s web of destruction because of our parents. We dinne ask for this, any more than you asked ta be born his son. No more than I wanted to grow up with Owen. Some shite ya just can’t fix, and there be too many fingers to point and blame to pick one person and one moment in time as the cause.”

I’d never heard Myles so insightful before, but he was a hundred percent right.

Nash snorted.

“Oh, how I wish my father had been a blowjob instead,” Nash teased, but I didn’t laugh.

Instead, I took his hand and waited for him to look at me.

“But then we wouldn’t have met.”

He remained quiet, but his eyes softened.

“You guys want to go work out for a while,” Liam asked, and I raised an eyebrow.

“What do you have in mind,” I asked, suspiciously.

A wicked smile spread across his face.

“You dirty little rabbit.” Heat bloomed throughout my body. “I’m thinking we can go to the new gym and see how Nora is making out with the changes and blow off some steam. But if you want to stay here and get freaky with us, I’m down.”

“Is sex all you guys ever think about?”

I looked at Myles, Liam, and then Nash. They all looked guilty as sin as they smirked.

“You’re unbelievable. All of you,” I grumbled, marching away to change.

“So, you’re coming?” Liam called after me, and the three of them chuckled, making me shake my head.

I stopped and looked over my shoulder. They were trying hard not to laugh at the sexual innuendo.

“Children, you’re all children. Yes, I’m coming,” I said, and then pointed at them. “Don’t you dare say, that’s what she said.”

That broke them, and they started laughing. Rolling my eyes, I walked away.

Men.

Theo

I closed the door and watched as Blake pulled out some dry clothes and wandered into the bathroom. We’d all taken my mom’s death hard and were grieving, but Blake…I was worried about him spiraling.

Once the shower turned on, I changed out of my school uniform for something more relaxed, tossed my glasses on the desk, and waited.

“You don’t need to worry about me,” Blake said.

My head snapped up at the sound of his voice. I hadn’t noticed the shower cutting off. He was leaning against the door jamb, watching me.

“But I do.”

He rolled his eyes.

“Why, because I’m a junkie?”

My earliest memory was looking over at Blake in our shared bed—since we hated to sleep alone—and him smiling at me. We were little, maybe only three years old. I had no idea how I remembered that when most people couldn’t remember anything from when they were that young. But he’d been so happy. He was the happy one with a smile that could light up a room. I envied that. Now, I would have given anything to see him smile like that again.

“No, because I’m your brother,” I said, crossing the room to stand in front of him. He lost the hard look in his eyes and stared down at his feet. “Blake…I know what you’re feeling.”