Page 23 of G.O.D.S Omnibus

Davis coughs from beside me, using my bluntness as his escape. He takes a seat beside Boston, who is shooting daggers my way.

“Jolie, inappropriate,” Brennan chastises.

“But is it really? You’re not my caseworker anymore.”

Brennan shakes his head, turning to wash out his coffee cup. It’s nice to see he doesn’t just leave his mess for the housekeeper.

“Talking about inappropriate, Jolie has a boy in her room.”

My jaw clenches. Davis, the snitch, better be glad he is no longer standing beside me.

Boston and Laughn jump from their chairs, looking ready to commit murder.

“I’m going to kill him,” Laughn snaps.

“Sit down!” Brennan barks.

I watch as a will to defy Brennan crosses their faces, but after a few seconds, they both sit. Interesting... Brennan holds some kind of power over them. I make a note to keep an eye on that dynamic.

“You too, Jolie.”

I take a seat beside Case and lay my head on the cool bench. No one starts talking, so I close my eyes. This is how the beginning of the end always starts. I mess up, I get the talk, and I usually just mess up again. Brennan is the one who told me I self-sabotage.

“Here,” a voice says after a few minutes.

Taking my time to sit up straight, I find a cup of water and two pills have been placed in front of me. Sighing in relief, I make quick work of downing the pills.

“So, a boy,” Brennan starts. He better not try to give the birds and the bees talk—surely he knows I dropped my skittles a long time ago.

“Marlow gave me drugs,” I blurt out, pointing towards him, trying to deflect.

“Seriously, I give up. You are all adults. Jolie, it may be best to not bring any guys back here, unless you want them dead. Laughn and Boston do not need to be bailed out of jail again.”

“Fine, but I don’t see why they care. Boston doesn’t like me and Laughn keeps a pet girl,” I argue.

“If Boston even talks to you, he doesn’t hate you, and Laughn doesn’t do anything to those girls that they don’t want,” Marlow defends on his friends’ behalf. “You are now one of us, whether we like it or not. Brennan, for some strange reason, brought you here, and we protect our own—that now includes you by extension.”

“What he said,” Case interjects before shoving half a muffin into his mouth with zero grace.

“Bloody hell. This is why I never wanted brothers,” I huff under my breath.

“Burn! You guys just got friend zoned,” Petra adds, walking through the kitchen with a mop in hand, high-fiving me as she passes by.

“I really love her,” I say as she exits the room. The others don’t say anything or even get the chance before my stomach grumbles.

“How far away is the nearest Maccas?”

All their heads snap up as if I said something wrong.

“Why?” Brennan asks cautiously.

“Because I’m feeling queasy and greasy crap food is supposed to help,” I say back, confused by our exchange. “Plus, I could go for a chocolate frappe.”

“The closest one is about forty minutes away if there’s no traffic. If you didn’t notice, McDonald’s is not the food of the people here,” Davis says.

Of course it isn’t. All these rich people with their private chefs and eating out.

“You go kick out your friend, and I will make you something to eat,” Brennan offers.

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