amount as I dragged myself out of that shit show of a memory and I fisted my fingers to make them stop. I refused to be brought to heel by memories of a bully who flexed his power above me to intimidate me. I wasn’t a child anymore. And I wouldn’t allow him to ever put me in that kind of position again.
I watched the headlights move along the street in silence, my music centring me as I waited while they pulled into the underground parking lot and I allowed myself a moment to just feel relief over their return before the anger in my soul consumed me once more.
I pulled my headphones from my ears and stood slowly, having had no sleep while I worried about Tatum and Blake and I moved out of the bar, glancing at the brief messages they’d sent to reassure me of their location. But it didn’t matter. If they’d wished to visit Blake’s father, we should have discussed it as a group. The fact that they’d chosen to sneak off instead spoke volumes about their trust in me, and the lack of it didn't sit comfortably with me at all.
I opened and closed the door to the bar, making sure my new phone was set to loud in case the camera in the parking lot detected anyone getting too close to our hideout and the motion sensors sent me an alert. I wouldn’t be caught out while punishing them. No one would get the drop on us while I had something to do with it.
The stairs which led back down to the old movie theatre were shrouded in darkness and in my black sweats and hoodie, there was no chance of anyone seeing me in the shadows as I descended them silently. I moved across the foyer like a wraith and headed up to the apartment to lay in wait for them there.
Just as I slipped inside the dark space, Tatum's laughter sent a mixture of rage and relief crashing through my chest as she and Blake came up the stairs a beat behind me. They made it to the door and I watched from my position hidden in the dark as Monroe was roused from his sleep on the couch.
I'd chosen not to inform Nash and Kyan of Blake and Tatum's absence after giving it some consideration. We had no other car here and they'd told me quite plainly where they were when they’d messaged me. I didn't like it. But the others had already fallen asleep, exhausted after such a trying day and with us having no way to be able to chase after them, it seemed pointless to wake them up and worry them.
Nash swiped a hand down his face as he got to his feet and moved towards the door, the dim green light from the emergency exit sign above him illuminating the broad slope of his bare back as he walked.
The door burst open and Blake threw his arms around Monroe's neck, leaping up to wind his legs around him too while hollering, "Honey, I'm home!" at the top of his lungs.
Tatum laughed as Monroe stumbled back a step beneath his weight and Blake placed a dramatic kiss on his forehead before leaping down again and bounding away to where Kyan was sleeping on one of the double beds.
"Where the fuck have you two been?" Nash asked in a voice scratchy from sleep as Tatum stepped close and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"We went and gave my dad a vaccine," Blake announced excitedly, a broad smile on his face as he bounced like a puppy on the edge of Kyan's bed.
"You'd better lube up if you wanna smuggle that eggplant out of here without anyone seeing," Kyan muttered nonsensically, still not waking despite the ruckus.
"You snuck out?" Monroe asked with a frown, looking over his shoulder at Blake. "That could have been dangerous. Why didn't you just tell the rest of us you wanted to go?"
"Saint," Blake replied with a shrug like him not trusting me to understand how important it would be to him to get his father vaccinated was no big deal. And I had to admit that stung.
I didn't move though, still hidden in the shadows while Tatum sighed and reached out to slide a hand inside Monroe's boxers. "It didn't seem worth the drama of an argument with him," she replied. "You know how he gets."
If Monroe had any further protests to that,