Page 54 of 12 Months of Mayhem

I step into the room, remove my boots and cut before falling into the bed. I barely lay my head on the pillow when I realize they got me again.

“Fuckin’ hell,” I curse and jerk out of the bed, wiping at the back of my head, pulling it back to see what it is. Nothing but wet. Picking up my pillow, I jerk it up, look inside and see the shaving cream inside. How the fuck did they manage to do that?

Outside my window, I hear the giggles of the women and decide to let it go. I wouldn’t have, but visions of April laughing pops into my mind and I like the idea of her laughing. I don’t get why, but it is what it is. It’s her birthday after all.

Though I’m not about to let her find more amusement in fucking with me. Let them play their pranks on someone else.

Maybe Hazzard. He’d enjoy a good prank or two.

Moving toward the window, I slide the bottom half up and look at the three girls before settling on April. “Y’all gonna keep fuckin’ with me all night?”

“I don’t know.” It was Mercy who answered the question, not April.

“How about instead of me, why don’t you do the room next to mine?” I suggest. “My brother gets a kick out of pranks. See if you can get a reaction out of him.”

“Your brother? Aren’t they all your brothers?”

“Yeah, but Hazzard’s my blood brother and could enjoy a bit of fun.” I smirk at them but mostly I watch April to see what her reaction is.

Kayla and Mercy both jump off the table they’re sitting on while laughing and hopping around.

“We totally have to do one more,” Mercy squeals.

“Let’s do it,” Kayla says, pumping her fist in the air. “I’ll go get the . . .”

“Don’t go get the hair removal stuff,” April blurts out.

Hair removal? Oh fuck, that would be hilarious. Hazzard would lose his shit over that one.

“I was going to say the rest of the shaving cream,” Kayla remarks with an eye roll and bites her bottom lip. “Okay, so maybe that too, but we can use the honey instead.”

“What are you going to do with honey?” Now I’m intrigued.

“Do you know how hard it is to get honey off of anything?” Mercy asks, eyes on me and shakes her head. “Not easy.”

“I’ll take your word for it. I say you have about an hour or two before he decides to head to his room,” I tell them all and step back shutting the window. I don’t know what they’ll do, but it’ll be funny to find out after they do it.

‘Til then I was gonna try to crash. At least for a little while before the nightmares catch up with me.

Chapter Five

April

“You don’t have to leave for school for another few days,” Twister grumbles, arms crossed while watching me closely.

After my birthday yesterday, I decided I wanted to get back to school. It didn’t have anything to do with Samuel. I wanted to get back and finish some schoolwork that I needed to focus on in hopes that it would help me in avoiding my tormentor and his friends a little more.

“I know, but I’ve got to get some projects done,” I tell him, seeing Horse, Thorn, and Hades closing in. It was bad enough having to explain to Twister, but when some or even all of them get in on it, it makes it harder.

I’ve seen all of these men as father figures, Twister and Horse mostly, while the others were like uncles. All protective. All opinionated. But in the best way possible.

“You can do that shit here,” Twister declares. “We haven’t had a chance to look over the car yet. Remember, you’re supposed to have it looked over when you’re home.”

“I know, but it’s only for a few more months. I think the car will be fine for a little while longer. I know how to work on it if something does happen though.”

“What’s really going on?” Horse demands, brow cocking.

“Nothing.” Okay I didn’t mean to say it that quickly, but it just came out. “I need to be able to go to the library for research. My project is half my grade and if I can get it done early, I won’t have to stress about it come time for graduation.”

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