Page 141 of Knox Academy Omnibus
The doorbell rings, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Laura’s face lights up and she scurries off to answer it. For the first time all night I breathe a sigh of relief; every time I’m around that woman, I want to unleash years of pent-up anger.
“Thank you all for coming to dinner. Sawyer and I have to head to my study, stay and make use of the rooms I keep here for you all.”
Sawyer leans in for a kiss and whispers, “I will call you tomorrow.”
I nod like a lovesick schoolgirl. What the hell is wrong with me?
“I’m afraid I have business to attend to as well,” Laura announces as she walks back into the room, closely followed by a woman who is clearly a cougar, the cheap over the top kind.Her tight leopard print dress really sells the look. She walks behind Onyx and runs a long red nail across his shoulder and he shudders as a response. Amusement fills my body; he has slept with her. I will never let him live this down...my amusement suddenly dies when she repeats the gesture to all three brothers, before her sultry glare falls on Sawyer.
“Better not waste any time, your guest looks thirsty.” Sawyer grabs my wrist at the same time I reach for my glass of water. He leans over me, his lips pressing against mine and I lean into his kiss, moaning for our audience. Sawyer pulls away first with a smirk when Monty clears his throat and they say their goodbyes. Laura is quick to pull her guest away. I watch until they are out of the room and turn to the three sets of eyes watching me.
“You all fucked her...you’re all old lady fuckers.” I can’t control the laughter. “Did you see the red lipstick, oh my god did she leave stains on your cocks?” Onyx grunts, pushes out from his spot and leaves the room.
“In our defence, she is the only friend Laura had before she moved in here. We kind of tried to test how far we could push her by screwing her friend,” Slate says, trying to justify sleeping with that woman.
“I just wanted to get laid, no ulterior motive for me,” Kalen quips.
“Change of subject: Amelie did you want to head upstairs and get in some practice for our duet?”
“I have at least an hour to kill since Monty wants us to hang around, might as well use that time to do something useful.”
Kalen follows Slate and me to the stairs that lead to our side of the house, I’m still blown away by that fact. The children have their own wing. I’m relieved when he stops at Onyx’s door. ‘Thanks for the Memories’byFallout Boyblasting from behind the closed door. Kalen slips inside.
“You know your silence is killing him,” Slate says, opening his own bedroom door which is adjacent to Onyx’s.
“You know, I don’t give a rat’s ass what he is feeling right now.”
Slate doesn’t offer any excuses. He walks over to his laptop and powers it on. I flop back onto his bed before realising that move may not have been the smartest idea. I do not plan to get comfortable here. Slate takes a piece of paper and hands it to me.
“I marked the parts where we should sing. It’s easy to follow along. I figured we could run through it and if you want to change anything, just let me know.”
“Sounds good to me.” I’m grateful he printed the lyrics. I’m not exactly known for remembering anything more than a chorus.
He hits play and thankfully Onyx’s music is turned down. I know that kind of thoughtfulness is Kalen.
Slate sings first, which is another good thing because my timing also sucks. This song has him singing in a different key than I usually hear from him and I like it. I follow along, hitting all the notes I need to, and our voices mesh well together, especially where he has marked out for us to sing at the same time.
“Wow, you’re good at that. How did you know what parts we should sing?”
“I don’t know. Music is like a second language to me, I feel it.”
“It shows. My only thing is when you sing the fourth line and the word ‘know’, come down a little and let that natural huskiness of your voice show.”
He runs through the verse and smiles. “You’re right, that does sound better. Maybe you have a talent for this too?”
“Nope, I just know what makes girls go weak at the knees.”
“The only girl I want to make go weak at the knees is you.” He falls to his knees in front of me and I see that his hair has grown longer. He sweeps it from his eyes to look up at me.
“I can’t, Slate.”
“Why not? Just hear me out, let me explain.” I push against his shoulders and stand.
“No. What can you say that would make up for what you did? Sorry isn’t good enough.”
“But retaliation is perfectly fine,” he seethes, anger bristling from him suddenly, his shoulders and jaw line tense.
“I was hurt and I wanted to be kicked out, to see my family who I was cut off from. Besides a half an hour call each week. You nor your brothers cared about why you were here.”
