Page 4 of Surviving in Everton

“P-U-S-S-Y, twenty-eight points.” I smile at him.

“You’re not gonna break me, Rowe. I told you we’re not having sex tonight,” he tells me seriously and I pout for real now. He just smiles and boops my nose. “P-E-E, 5 points.”

“Oh my god! Of course you would use that word.” I shake my head with a smile.

“Thought I’d dumb it down for ya a little. You know since all my smart words were over your head,” he teases.

I jab my elbow into his stomach in retaliation.

We continue playing, me only playing sexy suggestive words, and Ayden only playing silly and completely off-the-wall words, until Kayden and Violet come home. The guys both kiss me goodnight and then head home.

* * *

I come backto the present as Dr. Johnston gently touches my shoulder. “Okay, Rowen, we’re all done. I’m going to record my notes and do some research on my findings. I’ll get ahold of you as soon as I know something, okay?” he explains the plan.

Numbly nodding, I sit up.

“Come on, Sugar, let’s go home.” Hudson rubs my back soothingly.

I don’t know when he moved in front of me, but I lean my head on his chest as he wraps his arms around me.

Hud leads me to the car and we head home to tell the guys. Oh god, what am I going to tell Violet? Hopefully, we can figure something out before she gets home. Which reminds me… “What time is it? I have to get Violet from school.”

“Don’t worry about it, baby. Declan is going to bring her home,” he reassures me, kissing my hand before he drives us away.

Chapter 2

Nate

What is taking them so fucking long? It feels like we’ve been sitting here, or rather pacing, for hours waiting for them to get home so we can finally get some damn answers. I don’t know how much more of this waiting I can take.

“Yo! Nate! You’re gonna wear a hole in her carpet. Chill out. They’ll be here soon and we’ll find out what’s going on,” Kayden attempts to reassure me. “Besides, even if she were home already, I doubt they’d tell us everything until Declan gets here.”

He’s right, they wouldn’t, and they shouldn’t. We’re all in this together. Declan shouldn’t be left out of something so important because he couldn’t get out of work.

“I know that, Kayden,” I snap. “But she would still be here. And I could be holding her right now, comforting her, instead of going crazy with all these awful ideas running through my head!” Fuck! Now I feel like shit. Kayden doesn’t deserve my wrath. It’s not his fault. “I’m sorry, Kay,” I attempt to apologize, but it still comes out as a growl.

“It’s okay, Nate. I know how you’re feeling. I’m going through it all too, so is Ayden. Poor fucking Declan is stuck at work with a bunch of little kids, having to hold it together, while I’m sure he’s a mess, worried about Rowen too,” he reminds me. “I know you’re taking this hard, so I forgive you for being a dick right now, but I want you to remember you’re not the only one who’s worried and trying not to flip the fuck out. That’s all.”

I take a deep breath and nod. He’s right. I know I’m not the only one just barely holding it together right now. I check my watch to see what time it is. Fuck. It’s been two hours. Declan and the kids should be here soon. Like I just manifested them, they walk in the front door not two seconds later.

“Can we have a snack?” Violet asks as soon as she gets inside.

“Of course, sweetie,” Ayden tells her. “Come on, let’s pick something out, then you and Logan can take your snacks to the playhouse. How’s that sound?” he asks her.

“Okay! Come on, Logan!” She smiles, as she drags him to the kitchen.

Once they’re out of earshot, Declan starts asking Kayden and me a slew of questions. “What’s going on? Where are they? Have you heard anything?” he asks in rapid-fire, not pausing for me to answer any of them.

Kayden shakes his head. “They’re not back yet and we haven’t heard anything. We figure they’re waiting to tell all of us together. Hopefully, they’ll be here soon, and now that you’re here, they can tell us what the fuck is going on,” he whispers, no doubt trying to keep the kids from hearing the maelstrom of emotions brewing right now. His frustration at the situation is clear in his tone.

Declan lets out a deep sigh in response. “This day has been torture. You have no idea how hard it was to stay at school, and teach my kids like nothing was wrong. Add not knowing if I would even hear from y’all if anything happened again… this day sucks and I’m ready to be done with it, but I know it’s not even close to being over yet.” He rubs his hand over his head as he starts pacing.

Ayden walks back into the living room and sighs. Seems there’s a lot of that happening today. “Kids are in the playhouse. I set an alarm on the door so we would know when they were coming. Figured we’d need all the time we could get, to attempt to school our expressions before they saw us,” he tells us.

“That was a good idea, Ayden. Thanks,” I praise him. No way would I have thought about that.

“Man, I’m so stressed, I don’t know if I want them to hurry up so we’ll know what’s going on, or if I want to put off knowing for as long as possible,” he admits.

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