I leaned in just a little closer to get a better look and chuckled a little harder. “Permanent marker.”

  “That son of a bitch,” my kitty growled. “I’m gonna kill him. Neuter his sorry ass and feed it to the crocodiles.”

  I moved out of her way as she sprang from the bed and moved toward Clayton’s room. I’d never seen her this fired up before. Standing just outside Clayton’s door, she lifted her hand and started beating on it. Maybe I should have slowed her down, considering it was after two in the morning.

  Nah, fuck it, this shit is funny.

  When the door opened and a sleepy-eyed Clayton filled the space, I saw it coming before he did. She reached out and grasped his junk.

  What the fuck?

  I moved forward just as she twisted and loud girlish squeals ripped out of Clay.

  “You drew on my face, you asshole,” Blake stated each word with force. “You better hope this shit comes off or I will castrate you. I will rip your pinky dick off and then everyone will be forced to call you Clara instead of Clayton.”

  His eyes widened and I stood back as a mass of frat brothers formed to catch the show.

  “You’ve just set forth a war, my friend,” Blake told him as she leaned in close. “You better sleep with one eye open because when you least expect it, I swear to you, I am bringing your ass to your knees.”

  She released her hold on him and he did just that, slinking to the floor and gripping his junk.

  As she spun around on her feet and began walking toward me, I hissed and she narrowed her eyes at me. The reaction seemed fitting, considering he drew a pink nose and whiskers on her face.

  “She is insane,” Clayton panted, trying his best to climb up from the floor.

  “Yeah, and you just brought forth the beast in her. You’ve seemed to start something I’m not so sure you’ll win.”

  “Talk to her,” he insisted and I laughed.

  “Nah, I think this is gonna be too fun to stop.”

  Walking back to my room, I found her in the bathroom with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a rag. I watched in the mirror blotting at the marks on her face as she worked to remove the ink.

  “Should I be jealous that you just gripped one of my good friend’s jewels?” I crossed my arms over my chest when she gave me the glare of death. “You do know you just terrified the guy, right?”

  “Good,” she said as she continued to work a spot on the left side of her nose. “He’s a menace.”

  “I won’t argue.”

  “I meant what I said, I will get him back.” I nodded, because by the determined look in her eyes, I knew she would. “It’s gonna make all these other pranks seem like nothing.”

  “Are you challenging my pranks?” Now I was intrigued.

  I waited while she continued to scrub and slowly the marker began to fade. I could still see it, but it was faint. When she was done she screwed the cap back on the bottle and placed it back in the medicine cabinet. Afterward she turned around to face me and took a step in my direction.

  “I’ve been holding onto ideas for a few pranks myself.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yes.” Again with that heavy dose of confidence. “And he just signed up to be my guinea pig.”

  She stormed past me and I watched the sway of her ass as she passed. Damn, it was good to be home. For a variety of reasons, but seeing her was at the top of that list. Even if she was pissed and ready to kill someone.

  “Babe,” I hollered out as I finally started to trail behind her. “Can we still cuddle?”

  I understood I was poking the angry bear, but it was just so damn fun.

  ***

  “Do you want me to go inside with you?” I reached out over the center console and took Blake’s hand in my own. “I know they aren’t here, but I also know that you won’t ask, so this is me offering.”

  “I just want to get it over with.”

  “Then let me help.”

  When she nodded her approval I opened the car door and moved around to open hers, too. Jay’s father requested that an officer join us and he had already arrived, waiting by the front door of her old home.

  As we joined him he offered us a reassuring nod. “They’ve left and will be back in thirty minutes.”

  “Thank you,” Blake whispered as she stepped up onto the makeshift stair and pushed open the door. It was just as I remembered, dirty and unkempt. I swear the same dishes that littered the kitchen still sat in the same places.

  “I used to hold my breath when I came home every day,” Blake said. “Practically rushed toward my room so I could open a window or light a candle. Do you know how much money I probably spent on air fresheners?” She faked a laugh but I could see through it.

  “Come on.” I drew her forward toward the room at the end of the hall. Neither of us knew just what we might find on the opposite side of the door.

  She paused just outside and I could visibly see her take in a deep breath before twisting the handle and pushing open the door.

  I could instantly feel anger inside me ignite when I noticed that the bed and dresser that were once inside were gone. The pictures and small amount of decorations that were also there once before were missing.

  I followed her further inside and saw only two boxes sitting in the middle of the room, along with a large black garbage bag.

  “Looks like they made it easy,” she said with her back to me. “I don’t know what I expected.”

  “For your heartless mother to somehow find some empathy inside that cold fucking heart of hers.”

  Maybe I shouldn’t have said it but I couldn’t stop myself. I despised that woman.

  She kneeled before the boxes and flipped open one of the lids, then the other. “The clothes that were in my dresser.” She pulled at the ties of the bag and peeked inside. “And closet.”

  Everything she now owned remained in only those three containers. I felt like my heart literally cracked and I vowed that I would replace everything she had lost.

  I moved around her and lifted both boxes. “Can you carry that bag?” She nodded as she lifted it and again looked around the room. “I guess everything held bad memories anyway.” With her final words she turned around and left the room.

  I wanted to go on a rampage and destroy the things her mother and asshole stepfather owned. I wanted them to come home to find everything they possessed in shambles.

  How could a parent be so cruel?

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Catherine

  “Will you stop laughing?”

  I tried to sneak past each room holding one end of the crate. Morgan, on the opposite side, continued to laugh so hard tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “There’s gonna be chicken shit all over everything.”

  I shrug. “Not my problem. I remember once before Clayton said the best part of the prank would be seeing Eli clean up the mess.”

  “That was a room full of balloons, not chickens.”

  “This is only two.”

  I reached Clayton’s room and pulled out the bundle of keys I had snatched from Elijah’s dresser.

  “Two really big ass chickens,” Morgan corrected, still laughing and looking around to ensure no one caught us.

  When I found the key I placed it in the lock and twisted. Hurrying inside we set the crate down on the floor. “Let’s hurry so we can get out of here unseen.”

  “I think we should hide in the closet and watch this unfold.” She hunched over holding her stomach and fits of laughter still racked her body. “Can you imagine him coming home to two chickens in his room?”

  “Yes, I can, which is why I chose this prank. I told him I would pay him back, this is me doing that.”

  “Don’t you understand how this prank thing works?” I began unfastening the crate as she stood behind me, rambling on. “It is a constant back and forth repay and pay it forward. They will never stop. It doesn’t even matter if you outdo the last person, you will still get it back eventually.”

  I knew that, I understood the play of the game. “Clayton thinks I’m bluffing. He thinks I’m just some girl that got pissed and said a bunch of shit, but I’ve now moved on. So I gotta do this to prove a point. I know this doesn’t end it.”

  “Wait,” Morgan said just as I started to lift the lid, which only made me jump in surprise.

  Looking to my left, I found her backing up toward the door, her hand held out in front of her. “What?”

  “You aren’t letting those things out while we’re in here, are you?”

  “And how else would you suggest I do it?” I tried not to laugh but frankly the fear on her face over two chickens was hilarious. You’d think I had a crate full of rattlesnakes instead.

  “I don’t know,” she said while looking where my hands rested on the lid. “It’s just that they’re going to start flocking around, and what if they attack?”

  “Oh my god, you aren’t that person, are you?”

  “What person?” She wrinkled her nose, looking between me and the chickens.

  “Scared of animals.”

  “No.” She waved me off, yet her eyes were still frantic looking. “Though I never had one growing up.”

  I began to lift the lid and she backed up further, only making it harder not to laugh. “Run,” I shouted and she did, but not before running smack into the door as she forgot we’d closed it behind us when we entered.

  She mumbled “damn” before twisting the knob and bolting like her ass was on fire. I found myself wondering how she would react to a chicken being set loose in her room.

  Oh the possibilities.

  ***

  I sat on the lawn, just outside Perry Hall. Somehow I had managed to completely psych myself out over the exam I had today. It could have been related to my change in routine and lack of concentration.

  We were to move this weekend and the only thing I had to fill my room was two laundry baskets full of clothes and myself. I was embarrassed, and allowing myself once again to feel like the world was crashing in around me.

  Studying had been at the bottom of my list and now I was paying for it.

  A large shadow cast over me and I looked up into a familiar face. “You cramming too?” The blond guy from my history class took the initiative and sat down across from me without waiting for an invite. “I’ve been panicking a bit myself.”

  I still had not said a word, wondering where he was going with this. We’d been in the same class for months and next to our one conversation about my A and his well, hell I don’t even remember what grade he got, we’d never spoken.

  “Connor,” he said, holding out his hand.

  Without taking it I nodded. “Blake.” It still felt weird introducing myself by my first name, but Eli was right, I shouldn’t forget my father just because my mother forced me to. This was my new beginning and in this round I’d be Blake, my father’s daughter.

  “So you’re with Red?”

  “If you mean are we a couple then yes, we are.”

  “You must be something special if you tied him down.” He leaned in closer. “I’ve never seen him with one girl longer than one night. Don’t take that the wrong way, I mean, I’m not saying he got around.”

  Oh my god, what is wrong with this guy?

  “Just saying that he must really like you.”

  “He really loves her.” I smiled without even turning around. I knew his voice, also Connor looked like he was about to puke, so that confirmed Eli was standing behind me. “Is there a reason why you’re harassing my girl?”

  I looked back at him and narrowed my eyes. “He isn’t harassing, he’s just…” I paused as I looked back at Connor. “What is it you’re doing?”

  “Talking,” he began to stand. “We were just talking.”

  “Are you finished?”

  Poor guy, I honestly felt bad for him. He nodded, stepped backward, and almost fell on his ass as he tripped over his own bag that had managed to get tangled around his ankles.

  When he was scurrying across the lawn, I looked back again just as Eli was moving to sit beside me. “You are so mean.”

  “Aw, do you have a soft spot for the boy?”

  “Maybe I do,” I threw back and he laughed.

  “Sorry, sweetheart, but I know your type, and Connor is not that.”

  “What’s my type?”

  He leaned in and pressed a very over exaggerated kiss to my lips. “Me,” he shrugged, “I am all you need.”

  “Yes you are,” I agreed as I went in for another kiss.

  “After all,” he pulled away, taking the chance for me to get another kiss, “where else would I find a girl who could harass my brothers the way you can?”

  I smiled, knowing he was referring to the little present I left for Clayton. Or should I say the two presents?

  “Chicken shit everywhere, sweetheart.” I covered my mouth to hide my laughter. “You should have seen him running around his room chasing those little bastards. He’d catch one and then the other would come at him like it was trying to protect his friend. Clayton squealed like a girl so many times you’d think there was a pack of baby pigs.”

  “That makes me very happy.”

  He chuckles. “So does this make you even?”

  “Not even close.”

  “Babe, you’re beginning to scare me.” I’d have thought he was serious if he hadn’t leaned in to kiss me once more and allowed me to feel his smile against my lips.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Elijah

  “Keep her busy,” I said as I lifted the mattress, still attempting to hold my cell firmly to my ear using my shoulder. “We just need like thirty minutes to finish up.”

  “What would you suggest I do?” I closed my eyes tight, fighting off my frustrations. The delivery men were late bringing the furniture, which in turn threw us behind on setup. Now here I was begging Marcus to occupy my girl before she came home from work to find her room in shambles.

  “Take her for ice cream, buy her a fucking horse. I don’t know, Marcus, just please stall.”

  “You’re feisty, Red,” he said with a chuckle. “I like that.”

  Dude was insane.

  “You owe me,” he added and frankly I was seriously scared of what that meant but I’d deal with the consequences later.

  I ended the call and started directing everyone that we needed to hurry. Clayton, Corbin, Xavier, and I were moving around the room while Aunt Meg and Morgan worked on the decorations, as they called them. Pictures on the walls and a curtain on the one window Blake had in her room. I let them choose the theme because I wasn’t good at that shit, and just paid the bill when they were done.

  I’d saved up the money I’d earned when helping Uncle Miles on a few side jobs he had. I was happy to drop nearly half of it on this for Blake.

  They’d finally gotten the three-bedroom apartment, which now meant she wouldn’t be sleeping on the couch. But when I walked in to find she had just moved to an air mattress in the middle of a big ass room I felt like shit. Knowing that I’d be at home sleeping in a bed with a big warm comforter and sheets while she was here sleeping on that was something I couldn’t have.

  Now she’d show up to find a full-size bed, matching dresser, and a nightstand. I was prepared for her to complain, but I was also prepared to tell her that I loved her and this was me taking care of her.

  I wasn’t blind; I’d noticed how she melted whenever I told her I loved her. It was something she hadn’t heard over the last eight or nine years, not since she lost her father. It was gratifying enough to know that I gave her that peace with the three simple words she’d been missing.

  Twenty minutes later we all stood back and took in the room.

  Blake loved the color blue, ocean blue to be specific, so that was the tone the ladies went with. Morgan threw in a few splashes of pale purple and silver, to give it a pop. Those were her words, not mine.

  Now that I stood back observing it all I had to agree, it was perfect.

  My uncle had a bookshelf he had built for one of his clients but it ended up too tall, so instead he brought it here for Blake. It sat back in a corner with a large fluffy chair my aunt had delivered as a surprise, as well as a tall spider lamp that came out and over, providing her with a little reading nook.

  I was so glad I had the ladies here to help me, otherwise it wouldn’t have turned out so well. I reached out to my sides, hooking them both over their shoulders and pulling them in close for a hug. “Thank you both.”

  “Our pleasure.” Aunt Meg hugged me back. “This right here just confirms what I’ve always known.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You are a good man, Elijah Ray.” Tears pooled in her eyes and I ignored the use of my middle name for her benefit. “A very good man.”

  “I owe it all to the two people who raised me, because they are two of the kindest, most generous people. They helped me become the man I am.”

  “Quite frankly, Red, you’ve surprised me.” I looked over at Morgan, who managed to break the deep moment and I was glad. “I never imagined you being all gooey gooey over a girl.”

  She poked at my side and suddenly she was whisked away by Xavier. “Leave the man alone,” he told her. “When you find the one, you can’t help getting all soft.”

  “I’m not soft,” I announced loud enough to gain everyone’s attention and almost in unison they all sang, “yes you are.”

  The sound of Marcus shouting, “Honey, I’m home,” had my heart rate spiking. Suddenly we were all moving around, the guys rushing from the room and Aunt Meg spinning in circles. “Slow down, woman,” I said through laughter. “You’re gonna fall and break a hip.”

  “Always the smart ass.” She shook her finger at me. “I want to know her reaction, but I don’t want to be here when she tackles you and things get hot.”

  Morgan laughed.

  “What?” She shrugged. “If I came home to find a gorgeous man standing in my room after he spent the evening redecorating it into this masterpiece you better bet I’d be breaking in the mattress.”