So, here is where I’ve sat all afternoon and night with damp hair and a heavy scowl. With nothing else to do, I pull out my phone and send a quick text, knowing Nic is usually only just getting home at this ridiculous time.
I attach a selfie I took of me standing against the graffitied wall with my scrubbing brush.
Ocean - Sprung!!!!
He texts back almost instantly and I smile to myself. I’ve been missing him over the past few days.
Nic - Oh, shit! Did you get in trouble? What are you doing awake? You should be sleeping for school tomorrow.
Ocean - Long story! Didn’t get busted. Colton and the douchey butler kept it quiet, but scrubbing that wall for over an hour was punishment enough.
Nic - Shit, O. I’m sorry. That’s on me.
Ocean - Don’t be stupid. If it wasn’t spray paint, I would have found another way to fuck with them.
Nic - Good point. Go to bed, babe.
I roll my eyes at his usual bossy nature. Some things will never change. I could be apart from him for years, I could be married with kids and still get messages from him telling me to go to bed. It's one of the many reasons I love him. No matter what the circumstances, he will always be there for me, always protecting, and always taking care of me.
Knowing he’s bound to drive over here and kick my ass if I don’t do what he says, I let out a sigh and scoot down in my bed.
Ocean - Night.
Nic doesn’t respond but I didn’t expect him to. He’s not the kind to send sweet little goodnight messages. He only gets emotional when it’s important and seeing as though it’s well into the middle of the night, he’s probably more interested in taking some girl home and having his dick sucked until he passes out.
I pull the covers up over my chest and try to get comfortable. I turn off the TV and try my hardest to sleep but it’s impossible. No matter what I try, I can’t seem to find that sweet unconsciousness.
I stare out the window, watching as the soft breeze sweeps across the top of the pool and makes the smallest ripples in the water. The morning staff has already arrived so there’s a glow over the backyard from the staff quarters and without that, I wouldn't be able to see the figure cutting through the backyard.
I sit up, feeling a chill shooting down my spine. This shit used to happen all the time in Breakers Flats. It’s not exactly new for me, but here? No, this shit isn’t supposed to happen here.
I watch the figure move, narrowing my eyes at the pained way he slinks through the yard. There’s something … familiar about him.
The guy moves closer and I fight the urge to sound some kind of alarm. I don’t know what it is but my gut tells me to keep quiet.
I watch him as he moves closer to the main house, letting out a breath of relief when he sails straight past the doors of the pool house–doors that are most likely unlocked.
The closer he gets, the more light that shines upon him and as he crosses the window of the pool house, I see his face.
Colton.
I suck in a gasp, taking him in. He got fucked up fighting at school today, but this is worse. So much worse. He looks like he’s just taken a few rounds with a professional MMA fighter.
I throw myself out of bed and race through the living room, skipping over my suitcase which I’ve neglected to put away since the boys first moved us in here. Reaching the door, I tear it open and throw myself out of it, unsure why I seem to care so much.
“Colton,” I hiss through the night as he goes to reach for the back door of the main house.
He whips around, surprised to see me awake at this time of night but in doing that, he shows me exactly what his night has been like. “Go to bed,” he demands, mimicking the last words I got from Nic, only from him, they don’t seem quite so sincere.
I trail my eyes over his face and body. Someone tried to fuck him up but judging from his bloodied and bruised knuckles, Colton might have been the one doing the fucking up. “What happened to you?”