Page 21 of My Return to the Walter Boys
Excitement sparked in her eyes. “Can you teach me how to beat everyone instead?”
Alex, who must have heard part of our conversation, stepped intothe room. “Don’t you dare.” He pointed a finger at me. “There will be no teaching your evil superpowers to my younger siblings. I won’t have you ruining my title as best gamer in the house.”
Parker stared at me in wonder. “You beathimtoo?”
My grin stretched even wider. “Whooped his ass.”
“Hey!” Alex exclaimed. “That’s not what—”
“YOU’RE NOT MY FATHER, SO STOP TRYING TO ACT LIKE IT!”
Alex, Parker, and I froze at the sound of Isaac’s enraged voice. The house stood silent for a single second, then George shouted something back that was indiscernible. Doors flew open along the hall. Nathan, Lee, Zack, and Benny poured out of their rooms to investigate. We all gathered on the second floor landing where Jack and Jordan were already waiting, their camera rolling even though we couldn’t see anything from our spot at the top of the steps.
“What’s going on?” I asked as the shouting continued.
“Isaac got a tattoo when everyone was at the block party,” Jordan whispered in a stunned sort of reverence.
“What an idiot,” Lee said fondly as he shook his head. “What’s it of?”
“I didn’t get a good look before Dad kicked us out of the kitchen,” Jack explained as he adjusted his glasses, “but it’s on his shoulder blade. Mom was upset because he wasn’t supposed to leave the house, but things didn’t get heated until she started lecturing to him about permanently altering his body and making decisions he’d regret later in life. Isaac said, and I quote, ‘Chill, Aunt Kathy. You need to pull thestick out of your ass.’ Dad was calm up until that point, but then he lost it.”
George and Isaac were still screaming at each other when someone appeared at the bottom of the steps. We all jumped back, afraid of being caught eavesdropping, but it was only Cole. Everyone relaxed at the sight of him except for me. I hadn’t expected him to arrive until dinner.
“Did you see it?” Benny asked, bouncing from foot to foot as Cole made his way up the stairs. “Did you see the tattoo? Is it cool? Can you tell us what it is?”
“A mermaid riding a narwhal,” Cole deadpanned.
“Bullshit,” Alex muttered under his breath.
“Yeah,” Parker piped up in agreement. “Tell us what it really is!”
“All of you should mind your own business,” Cole said as if invasion of privacy wasn’t a common occurrence in the Walter household. I’d have called him out on his hypocrisy—how many times had I been spied on or recorded without my permission?—but for the rigid way he held himself. The situation downstairs was more serious than it sounded, then. “Go back to your rooms before Mom comes along. She’s not in a forgiving mood right now.”
“What’s a narwhal?” Zack asked, not picking up on the undercurrent of tension.
Alex laughed and affectionately ruffled his brother’s hair. “It’s a sea unicorn.”
Downstairs, the kitchen fell quiet. If Cole’s warning wasn’t enough,the sudden silence certainly was. Everyone instinctively knew it was time to make themselves scarce.
“Is Cole telling the truth?” Benny whispered as the group dispersed.
“I doubt it, buddy,” Nathan replied, biting back a smile as he ushered him along. “Isaac doesn’t seem like the mermaid type.”
Conversations receded, doors slammed shut, and suddenly I was alone with Cole on the landing. My heart rate ticked up. This was it—we were finally going to have a much needed talk, but instead of being relieved, I felt like a criminal marching toward the gallows. Thankfully, Cole didn’t notice my nerves. He dragged a hand down his face, then silently reached for me. If he didn’t hate me by the end of the night, then the two of us would need to set some serious boundaries. For now, though, I allowed myself to be tugged against his chest. He blew out a breath, and the tension melted from his body once he’d wrapped his arms around me.
“You smell like chlorine,” he said by way of greeting. “Did the little mischief makers trick you into swimming with them?”
More like the devil’s spawns. “Possibly,” I grumbled.
Cole chuckled, and a shiver of pleasure shot through me at the feeling of his sculpted torso shaking against mine. “Cheer up, Jackie. We’ve all been there before.”
“Exactly,” I said, pulling away from him. “You all have a lifetime of knowledge, but does anybody share it with me? Of course not. It’d be nice if someone gave me a warning for once instead of breaking out the popcorn and laughing at my expense.”
“But then how would you learn?” he asked, booping me on the nose. “Come on. Let’s go somewhere more private.”
I scowled but followed him down the hall. Cole filled the silence by describing Isaac’s tattoo in detail. Too nervous to give him my full attention, I only caught bits and pieces of what he said. Something about feathers. Or maybe it was fire?
Once we reached the art studio, Cole made himself comfortable on my bed. He left plenty of space on the mattress for me to join him, but I needed to put some distance between us, so I sat at my desk chair instead. If I didn’t, I feared this conversation wouldn’t go how I planned…again. What happened in his car last night was more than enough proof that my brain would take a vacation if Cole put his hands on me.
