Page 108 of Ruin

Then write on the pad.

How about backless, but with straps going from one side to the other?

Lileah lets out a breath, and thinks about it, and all her brothers, but Declan, walk away from us. I’m taking that as they agree with the new design.

“Ohhh, can we do pearls instead?” Lileah asks.

I feel Declan’s hand rubbing my back letting me know he’s here with me. “If you want.” I know it’s only three words, but it’s better than nothing for now.

“Can’t wait for you to sew it, and I’m going to pay you. I won’t take no for an answer.” Lileah smiles, and I go to say no to her, but stop when Declan talks.

“So, you have your dress, what about my girl? What have you designed for yourself?” Declan looks through the pad, and I go to sign to him and before I can he stops me. “Words.”

“I haven’t designed anything yet. I didn't think I would be going,” I tell him.

“Well, you are, and you’re going to be the hottest girl there, so make sure your dress is sexy.” He kisses the side of my neck then walks away to his brothers.

“So not fair. You can wear whatever you want, and I have to change the beautiful dress you designed.” Lileah shakes her head, grabs a few pop cans and we join the guys in the living room.

I sit next to Declan and Lileah is on his other side. “Let's design this dress of yours.” Lileah opens the pad and hands it over to me. Might as well, the guys are playing some game I have no idea about.

One thing about being here today, I don’t feel like I’m an outcast, they have all welcomed me into their house, and lives, something I always wanted and now I have it. I pray it never gets taken from me.

THIRTY

DECLAN

This has gotto be the longest day of life. I have the sexiest girl in the world next to me, and I can’t even spend the day in bed with her. Why? Because my brothers think something is going to happen to me, while I’m in my own bedroom. What the hell is going to happen to me while I'm fucking my girl? I mean it’s not the worst way to die, but it’s still absolutely crazy.

We've watched five movies to pass the time, and I've been getting a message on the dot every hour with the fucking countdown. It’s pissing me off. If you want to shoot me, then fucking shoot me.

“You know, if you keep playing poker like this, you’ll lose all your money,” I joke with Miles.

Shockingly, the man is a genius with a computer, but at poker, the man has no clue, he’s rubbish. Mason, on the other hand, could rob us all of every cent we have.

“Why would I want to learn to play poker? When I can hack a bank so fast and take the money I need,” Miles tells me, and I roll my eyes at him. He’s not wrong, he could do it without breaking a sweat.

“Yeah, and dad will kill you,” Hayden tells him.

Number one rule for this side of the family business, you can never do anything to benefit ourselves. Unless we all believe the reason is right.

“Not worried about dad, it’s mom who will make me regret it,” Miles jokes, which we all agree with.

If we do something wrong, we aren’t scared of dad, but mom will make sure we regret it and never think about doing it again. She has a way with words and the look—the look of disappointment.

Trixie and Lileah spend most of the day talking about prom and designing the dress how they want. Trixie has been mixing between writing what she wants to say to saying no more than five words. I know it’s going to take her time, and I’m good with that.

The guys finally agreed on a dress for Lileah, and I told them they don’t have to come to our prom. I’ll make sure no one comes close to Lileah, and she’s in my line of sight at all times. But I think Hayden knows if I did that, I won’t enjoy my night with Trixie, so in the end we all agree it will be me and Hayden who will be there to watch over her.

Hayden has his own reasons for why he wants to make sure Lileah is having a good time, but also safe at the same time. We don’t blame him for worrying about her.

Trixie drew seven designs for herself. Four of them were a straight no, I didn’t like them. Well, I did like them, I just didn't like them for prom. The other three I liked, but the two of them spent the day trying to combine all three designs into one. I have to admit, it looks fucking amazing.

After that was done both of them said they needed to get fabric, which made the four of us laugh, because now she knows everything about the fashion world. We joked with Lileah that she’s now become a fashion designer. Because of that joke she said the four of us are paying for her dress.

Miles' answer to it was,you have enough money to pay for our own dress.Which isn’t a lie. Mom and dad give us all enough money every month and then we also have our money in the bank which we can use once we are in college. So, she doesn’t need money from us, but she also knows we will pay for it for her.

“What are we going to do for the next twenty minutes?” I ask, looking at my phone as it beeps.

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