“Good morning, Char. Pepper.” He said with a smirk.
“Why did he have to keep looking us in the eyes like that? This is totally different behavior than last night. I’m not sure if we should be happy or scared bitch.”
“You have a cute dog. She’s very well behaved.” I said flatly, like a babbling idiot.
“I found her this morning on the side of the road. I think someone may have abandoned her. She had a collar but there was no owner information on it. Do you like dogs?" He asked.
“Only cute ones." I said looking everywhere but him. This man did something to me. It wasn’t nervousness or fear, but it was something that I don’t know if I liked.
“Girl, come on.” Char said, giggling as she grabbed my hand.
Leading me up the stairs bypassing Gunner. The inside of the house was just as beautiful as the exterior. At a glance I really couldn’t see much of anything that needed to be fixed. It mostly just needed a good dusting and a couple of small touches to make it feel lived in.
“What’s up Pepper?” Aren said from the kitchen.
“Not much. Trying to get settled." I said, walking over to the kitchen sink and washing my hands. At least Aren and Alestar were fully clothed unlike Gunner’s fine ass. The way Char was staring at Alestar you would have thought he was naked though. I reached over and closed her mouth, and she put her head down with a smirk.
They started sitting bowls of food down on the table and grabbing juice and iced coffee from the fridge when Gunner entered the kitchen and washed his hands after placing Sage in a crate by the door. It smelled wonderful in here. They had hot buttered croissants, grits, bacon, fresh fruit, eggs, sausage, honey and peach preserves. My mouth watered as I looked around the table at the selection.
“Did they make all this?” I whispered to Char.
“Yeah, Ma made sure if we couldn’t do anything else we could, wash clothes, clean a house and cook our asses off.”
“Language girl.”
“Sorry Ma,” Char said with a smirk.
“Damn right, I wasn’t raising any lazy women or dusty men.” Ma said with pride.
“After breakfast you can get a tour of the place. Then we can all split up the chores and knock them out." Aren said as he passed out silverware and napkins.
We all sat and quieted down before Alestar said grace. Then everybody started digging in. I could definitely get used to this. It was nice to be a part of a family even if it was just temporary.
Char sat next to Alestar teasing him about how he ate like a toddler. Refusing to eat anything that contained peppers or onions. Aren had Ma laughing about his last trip to Atlanta with his boyfriend Liam and their new friend, who he promised we would all meet soon. I sat at the end of the table picking at my food with practiced emotions as my eyes drifted over to where Gunner leaned back in his chair like the king of this castle. He was quietly watching everyone as he held Stormi in his lap and fed her bits of bacon like a little princess
Inside my head Nyx’s silky voice purred.
“See this Pep. This is it. What we were looking for. Family. Real family.Not the kind that hurts you leaves you out here in the cold to fend off the wolves.” She said, with a hint of bitterness in her voice.
Who are you trying to kid? We are the wolves.
I know she perceived our parents' death as the catalyst to all of the trauma we experienced growing up without them. But that is not what happened. They didn’t leave willingly; they were taken from us. And we in turn handled the idiot that thought it was cool to drink and drive. He didn’t think so after being nailed to his garage wall and gutted like a fish. But I chose not to dwell on that right now.
“We could stay here forever.” She said softer.
“Forever doesn’t exist Nyx. You know that we are only here to start school and get on our feet and then we leave. Because ofwho we are and after what we’ve done we can’t stay. We would be putting them in danger, you know it, and I know it. I said in my head.
“They can be ours. Char and Ma are already ours. I want them all Pep. We need a family who will never leave. They are it. I feel it in the way they look after you. The way he looks at us. Tell me you don’t see it. If we just…”
“No, I won’t.” I shouted, a little louder than I would have liked, startling everyone at the table. Except Gunner who was staring right at me like he was listening to or tracking the conversation that was happening in my head. His gaze lingered like he could see right through me; past the walls I built high and the trauma that kept Nyx locked away in my mind.
“Are you okay Suga.” Ma looked at me with her brows bunched in concern
“Yes ma’am. I think I may have dozed off. I didn't sleep well last night.” I said lying with ease, turning away from Gunner’s heavy gaze.
“I’m sure that bus ride tired you out. You can sit down for a while after we eat if you need to.” She said, sweetly.
“I’m fine. I promise.”
