right next to Gordon just in case. The problem is that I have a feeling any one of my foster brothers might be ready to connect their fist to Cox’s face. I can’t keep watch on them all.
Cox helps himself to some pizza, and his friends lurk around behind him like bodyguards, except they are both shorter and smaller than him. When Shawna comes into the yard from the double doors of the den, Cox’s expression goes from slyly amused to furious.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he barks.
There is something very wrong with the way Shawna flinches at his words. Something that tells me that he’s harmed her in some way in the past, and she’s fearful that he’ll do it again.
Sean is up on his feet, his hand on Gordon’s shoulder, pressing down so he can’t get up.
“I don’t want to talk to you, Cox,” she says, finding her pack of cigarettes in her pocket, pulling one out, and lighting it with fingers that I can see shaking from a distance.
“Why are you smoking? You look like a tramp,” Cox says.
“It’s none of your business,” Shawna says. Her shoulders are hunched over and her free arm is clutched across her body as though she’s trying to protect herself. She inhales deeply, and I’m not sure if it’s because she’s nervous or because she wants to defy Cox.
His nostrils flare, and Harley slowly gets to his feet. All around the garden, my foster brothers are rising as though they know what’s coming and are trying to get into position to stop it. It suddenly dawns on me that maybe this situation with Shawna is exactly why Cox and Gordon are enemies. Is she the girl he stepped in to help?
“Why are you wearing that shit on your face? You want one of these guys to fuck you?”
Shawna inhales again, and this time I can see her hand is trembling. Shit. I can’t imagine what she’s been through with him if this is how he’s prepared to talk to her in public.
“Sean,” I say softly. “We need to get Shawna away from him and Cox out of this house.”
“This is bad,” he says. “Cox was bad when they were dating, but he’s worse now. He’s got bigger too. I keep thinking maybe he’s taking something.”
“That wouldn’t be good.”
“He needs to get the fuck out of my yard,” Gordon hisses, his jaw ticking with fury.
I put my hand on his other shoulder. “Stay calm,” I say. “You’re not in the best position to deal with this, okay? Let your brothers handle it.”
When Gordon turns to me, his eyes are filled with turmoil. He knows that I’m right, and the responsible part of him wants to do the right thing, but the piece of him that values fairness and justice can’t comprehend sitting by. “You need to be playing that game,” I tell him. “You guys have too much history.”
“Cox, back off,” someone yells. It’s Donovan, and he’s managed to get close enough to Shawna to get in front of her. Her hand holding the cigarette has dropped to her side, and she’s looking at Cox with fearful eyes.
Cox shakes his head, his hands already clenched into giant fists. “Back the fuck off, whichever fucking triplet you are. This is none of your business.”
Donovan puts his hands up calmly. “No one here is looking for any trouble, but it looks like you are. I’m just stepping up to remind you that this is a party and that you’re a guest here. This isn’t the place.”
“No place is ever the place for that kind of talk,” Logan says. He’s made his way next to his brother, and between the two of them, Shawna is completely shielded by a wall of man.
“You see, this is your problem. You think you’re so above the rest of us, but you’re not. This house is just a gathering of fucking reject pussies who’d rather fuck their sister than hit on any of the willing girls that are out there.”
His words hit me in the chest like a fist, knocking the air from my lungs. How the hell does he know?
“I’m going to say this again, Cox, one last time. You need to back the fuck off.”
“And what are you going to do about it? You gonna push me like your weak-ass brother and end up running laps tomorrow, or maybe even get yourself suspended?”
“Nobody is shoving anybody,” Logan says. He seems calm, but then I notice