asks, snorting with laughter. Oscar lifts silver eyes to our friend’s face, and I see murder written into the sharp lines of his frown.
“Period Dick?” Aaron echoes, because he’s the last one to know. To hear about Bernie and Oscar fucking in a pool of blood. Just thinking about it pisses me off so bad that I have to clench my teeth until they hurt. I’m trying to deal with this shit the best I can; makes sense that the easiest way for the boys and Bernie to bond would be sex. Sex is fun, and it breaks down barriers, but Jesus. She’s my goddamn wife now, and I don’t know how to share.
There’s a reason we made a pact in junior high that we weren’t going to date her. Heh. In elementary school, we made a deal to protect her. Just Havoc and Bernadette, a relationship as old as time.
“Bernie and Oscar had sex on your couch,” Callum says as I take a long drag on the joint. The weed hits my brain like a freight train, calming me down in an instant. I can do this; I can handle this. “That’s where the new bloodstain came from. Not that it mattered, since we were having trouble getting all of your blood out of the fabric anyway.” Cal shoves a handful of chips into his mouth, chewing on them thoughtfully as he leans his blond head back against the window behind him. “Might want to consider digging into the Havoc account for a new sofa.”
“You and Bernadette …” Aaron starts, looking over at Oscar like he’s never seen him before. Trust me: I felt the same way when I saw what was going on between them in the kitchen. But I need, need, need them to get along. Our group will break apart if we don’t figure out a careful dance around our emotions. And that’s not acceptable. We are a family. The world is a monster. This is our armor against its razor-sharp teeth.
“Momentary lapse in judgement,” Oscar says, pretending he still cares about the episode playing on his iPad. I know him too well for that crap. His knuckles are pale; even with all the tattoos on them, I can see that. “Does it matter? We said she was our girl when she joined, so our girl she is, whether I like it or not.”
“Aren’t you a virgin though?” Hael asks, and I swear to fuck, I can hear the screen on Oscar’s iPad break when he squeezes it too hard. “Or should I say, were you a virgin? I mean, considering you’re most definitely not now.” Hael howls with laughter, but he clearly isn’t paying attention to Oscar’s temper. He has a long fuse, but when it burns down, he’s a fucking maniac.
“Hael …” I warn, looking between him and Oscar. Aaron looks crestfallen; Callum is clearly amused.
“You were a virgin?” Cal asks, cocking his head to the side like a puppy. “How did I not know that?”
“He never talks about sex; I just sort of picked up on it.” Hael folds his hands together behind his head as Oscar sets aside the iPad, rising to his feet, shirtless and furious. I just hope he doesn’t have a weapon on him.
“Picked up on it?” he echoes, moving across the gargantuan living room in bare feet and black sweats. “Because you’re such a filthy whore, you’re suddenly an expert at sex?” Oscar pauses in front of Hael, but neither of them is going to back down if they get into a thing, so I have to intervene.
Being the leader sucks ass sometimes.
“Lay off each other,” I order, before somebody starts shit in here. “This is my honeymoon, and if one of you fucks it up, I swear on the devil’s dick that I’ll cut yours off.” I take another drag on the joint as Hael moves a step back, opening one of the two undercounter freezers to search for more ice cream.
“Look, I wasn’t judging, just asking. If I could go back in time and save myself for the one, I’d do the same damn thing.” Hael bats his eyelashes at Oscar as I stab the tip of the knife into the countertop. Both boys turn to look at me, but I don’t have to say anything else: they know I mean business.
“What happened with Bernadette was a mistake,” Oscar repeats, but there’s a bit of strain in his voice that I’m not used to hearing. We