Home > The Raven Four (The Raven Four #1)(17)

The Raven Four (The Raven Four #1)(17)
Author: Jessica Sorensen

Apparently, Hunter thinks so, because he gripes, "Dude, you're ruining the potential."

Jax fastens his firm gaze on him. “There’s no potential other than drama.”

“Whatever,” Hunter grumbles, totally sulking.

Jax looks at Zay. “What about you? You got any complaints about my rule?”

Zay's gaze flits to me, and for a flash of a second, he looks hesitant. But then he shakes his head. "Nope."

"I hope really hope so, but there's a couple of things that have me concerned. We'll talk about that later, though," Jax tells him, and Zay blasts him with a dirty look. But Jax ignores him and twists to face me. "What about you?"

I shrug. “I don’t even think of us as friends, so…” I shrug again.

Hunter rolls his eyes while Zay stares at me with his arms crossed, his gaze boring into me.

Jax reclines against the pool table with his arms folded across his chest. “I’ll accept that answer for now. But there’s some other stuff we need to talk you about right now.”

I shake my head. “No, I need to go home before I get in even more trouble than I’m sure I already am.”

“We’ll make sure you don’t get in trouble,” Hunter offers with a devious grin then cracks his knuckles. “Just tell us who we have to scare? Your crazy aunt?”

A trace of a smile pulls at my lips as I imagine the look on my aunt’s face if these guys showed up and threatened her. But then my uncle might get involved and …

My smile goes poof.

“That’s probably not a good idea.”

“Why not?” Hunter asks with his head tilted to the side.

I shrug. “Because my uncle’s the sheriff.”

Hunter stifles a grin as he flicks a glance at Zay, who bizarrely is as equally amused.

“Did you hear that, Zay?” Hunter asks. “She thinks we should be afraid of her uncle ’cause he’s the sheriff.”

Zay picks up a pool stick and rests his weight against it. “I did hear that.” His gaze fastens on me, the corners of his lips spasming. “Maybe you’re right, Hunter. She is amusing.” But he says it like it’s not a good thing.

“And you’re kind of moody,” I retort. “Seriously, you’re like the most hot and cold person I’ve ever met.”

He lifts a shoulder and gives a lazy shrug. “I’ve been called a lot worse.”

“I’m sure you have,” I reply haughtily.

Zay mutters something with a shake of his head.

Jax straightens his stance and crosses the room, stopping in front of me. “We can take you home, but after we have a little chat.” My lips part to reiterate my earlier concern, but he puts his finger against my lips. “That’s not up for negotiation.” He lowers his hand from my lips then crosses his arms. “If you want us to, we can talk to your aunt and uncle about you being late. Or we can help you make up some bullshit story. I really don’t care, but we’re talking to you before you leave.” With that, he turns around and strides toward the doorway. “I have to go reset the alarms.” Then he exits the room.

I raise my brows at Hunter. “Is he always so bossy?”

Hunter chuckles. “That’s actually pretty mild compared to how he can be.”

I crinkle my nose. “I’m not sure I can do that bossy. Maybe he should take that into consideration before he tries to force me into you guys’ circle. It seems like we’re gonna clash.”

Hunter moves beside me and drapes his arm over my shoulders. “Actually, little raven, I think you might fit in perfectly with us.”

“I completely disagree. Jax is way too bossy for me. And you”—I point at Zay—“are pretty bossy, too, but you give in pretty easily, so it’s not as intense as Jax.”

Zay’s brows dart upward. “That’s … What …?” He shakes his head. “What the hell’s the matter with you?”

“You’re just irritated ’cause you know I’m right,” I reply in a semi-teasing tone. “You may get mad, but from what I’ve seen, you like to storm out and have a temper tantrum instead of confronting the problem.”

His brows lower as his shock erases. Then he sets the pool stick down and ambles toward me with his hands stuffed into the back pockets of his pants. “I assure you that I’m just as scary as Jax. In fact, most people—the smart ones—think I’m scarier.” When he reaches me, he crosses his arms and stares me down intimidatingly. “And I may not confront the problem right away, but only because I like to plot out what I’m going to do. That way, I can make sure the punishment is nice and cruel.” His lips twist into a smirk. “Just the way I like it.”

“I have no doubt that you do,” I tell him. “All I’m sayin’ is that you don’t seem as bossy or as intense as Jax.”

When his face twists with repulsion, Hunter chuckles, drawing me closer to his side.

Maybe I should step away from him, but … I don’t know, his arm around me feels nice. Foreign but… nice. “This is going to be amusing to watch,” he remarks.

Zay scowls at him. “You think it’s funny that she’s pissing me off?”

Hunter shakes his head. “Nah, she’s not pissing you off. She’s frustrating you because you’re not used to people being so blunt when they’re around you.” When Zay’s eyes scorch with annoyance, Hunter stage-whispers to me, “I think one of those temper tantrums you mentioned is coming.”

Zay glares daggers at Hunter. “If you don’t knock it off, I’m gonna start plotting against you.”

“Oh, come on, Zay, you know we’re just messing with you. And I think, deep down, you kind of like it. And I know you’re not going to do anything to me or to her.” Hunter rests his cheek against mine. “I mean, look how cute we are. Would you really want to do anything that’d mess up these pretty faces?” Then he whispers to me, “Hurry and bat your eyelashes at him. He’s a sucker for that shit, whether he’ll admit it or not. Although, most girls don’t have the balls to do it to him.”

Not totally believing him—Zay doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d go for the whole batting eyelashes thing—I still do what he instructs anyway, fluttering my eyelashes at Zay.

“Now stick out your lip and say please, please don’t mess up my pretty face,” Hunter whispers, his breath dusting my cheek.

I give an eye roll but do what he says. I’m not even sure why, other than it’s been a long time since I’ve been this entertained. The circumstances are a bit weird, though, after what happened.

“Please, please don’t mess up my pretty face,” I say to Zay with my bottom lip jutted out.

Zay shakes his head then sighs. “I’m not going to mess up your pretty face, so stop pouting.” He fixes a firm look on Hunter. “You need to lay off this, though.”

“Lay off what?” Hunter bats his eyelashes innocently, and I giggle.

Zay sears him with an insinuating look. “You know what.”

“Oh, don’t give me that look.” Hunter carries his gaze. “You’re acting just as bad as I am.”

Zay rolls his eyes. “Fuck off. I am not.”

“Um, yeah you are,” Hunter insists. “The only difference is I always act this way. You never do, so the question is: why?”

Zay’s eyes shadow over as he glares at Hunter. “You better shut it, brother. You’re crossing a line with this, and that’s the only warning I’m going to give you.”

Hunter releases a dramatic sigh then removes his arm from my shoulders and holds up his hands in front of him. “Fine, I’ll chill.” His lips quirk. “For now.”

Zay scratches his arm and mutters, “You’re so damn annoying sometimes.”

I’m not sure what to make of what I saw. These guys are crazy. But so am I.

Crazy.

Freak.

Murderer.

My scars throb, reminding me that I’m barely wearing anything.

“Hey, while we’re putting out requests and demands, can I put in one, too?” I ask, stretching out the hem of the shirt I’m wearing.

“What do you want?” Zay grumbles while Hunter says cheerfully, “Anything you want. Name it and it’s yours.”

“What if I ask for a unicorn?” I ask him.

A smile curves across his face. “Then I’d say give me a couple of days and I’ll make sure to have a sparkly, glittery horse with a horn that poops out rainbows waiting for you on your front porch. I’ll even put a sparkly bow on it.”

“Sounds appealing, but FYI, unicorns don’t poop out rainbows. Not sure where you got that information from.” I shake my head, realizing I’m getting sidetrack again. “But actually, I was going to ask for some clothes to wear. Preferably mine, but I’m not sure if they’re still wet.”

“We put them in the dryer a couple of hours ago, so they should be nice and dry now.” Hunter’s gaze scrolls up and down my body. “You sure you don’t want to just wear my shirt? It looks amazing on you.”

Shaking his head, Zay reaches out and smacks Hunter on the back of his head.

Hunter gives him a dirty look as he rubs the spot. “Ow … What the heck was that for?”

“For flirting with her and already trying to break the rule.” Zay nods at the doorway. “Go get her clothes. And while you’re at it, take the time to really think about what you’re doing. And I mean in a way bigger context. Like what’s going to happen in the long run instead of in the next few minutes.”

“You know that’s not my style,” Hunter points out, lowering his hand to his side.

“Well, you need to temporarily make it that way until we can figure this out or it’s not gonna work,” Zay stresses. “Now go get her clothes.”

   
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