Cricket (Cricket Kendall Book 1), page 34
When we break the surface, he grins like he just won a medal. He pulls me into a hug with his arms around me so my boobs are pressed against his chest. This definitely doesn’t escape his notice. He looks down at my chest and smirks at me before leaning in to quietly growl in my ear. Ugh, it freaking gives me goosebumps and makes me want him so badly. He knows it, too.
Luckily, before my thoughts can wander, Cas walks around the edge of the pool and tackles us so all three of us get dunked under the water. When we come up for air, Cas is holding me and giving me an adorable smile with his cute little dimple showing. We swim over to the edge where Rory is crouched down. Theo’s sitting next to her, letting his feet dangle in the water.
“Hi, Cricket!” Rory gives me a toothy smile.
“Hey, Rory!” I grin back.
“What, you don’t like me or Hollis anymore?” Cas fake-pouts.
She giggles and shakes her head. “Mom, can I play with them? Please?”
Margot comes over and gives me a friendly smile before giving Rory a stern look. “Did you finish your homework?”
“I promise I’ll do it after! I just want to show Cricket a flip!” Rory pleads.
She’s an adorable freaking kid, and I feel so honored. I can tell Margot’s about to say no to her. Theo gives me a teasing smirk and winks before pushing Rory into the pool, fully clothed. She breaks the surface and treads water next to us with a big, old grin on her face.
“Theodore Ashbrooke!” Margot shrieks angrily.
My eyes light up and I laugh. “No freaking way. Theodore!?”
Cas and Hollis snicker, and Theo gives me an embarrassed smile. “Do we really want to talk about who has the stupidest name here?”
“Yeah, that would be you,” I say. Hollis and Cas laugh even harder, and they fist-bump me.
Margot crosses her arms at Theo. He jumps up and pulls Rory out of the water. He gives his aunt a charming smile.
“Relax. We’ll let her show us her flip, and Cricket can dry her off really quick before she goes and does her homework.” Theo smiles at Rory. “Deal?”
Rory nods eagerly and gives her mom puppy dog eyes. Margot sighs in exasperation and nods. Cas and Hollis lift themselves out of the water, and Theo holds his hand out for me to pull me up too.
When I’m standing next to the pool, Margot gives me a softer smile. “Nice to see you again, Cricket.”
I tell her the same and wave at Elsa in greeting before following Rory and the guys to the deep end. Rory is so excited, and she actually does a decent flip. When she comes up for air, the guys and I holler and whoop at her. Hollis pulls her out of the water, and we high-five her.
“Nice one, Ror!” Rylan calls out, holding two thumbs up.
She grins proudly, still dripping water all over the place. She turns to me. “Can you do a flip?”
“Without using your magic, cheater.” Hollis teases, nudging me.
“Yeah, I can. Probably not as good as you, though.” I laugh. Rory and the guys pressure me to do a flip. I wish they had a diving board here, but knowing how rough the guys are, they’d probably break it.
Getting a running start, I laugh and flip into the pool. Margot insists it’s time for Rory to go inside for her homework. Rory pouts, but we walk her over to where her mom, Rylan, and Elsa are sitting.
“Don’t worry, kid. Cricket’s staying over here for a while. You’ll still be able to play with us later.” Theo chuckles when Rory continues to whine and pout. He crouches down so he can meet her eyes better. “Now, Cricket’s going to use her magic to dry you. It kind of tickles, though, okay?”
Rory’s eyes light up, and she gives me another toothy smile. I make my eyes wide and crazy before giving her a witch-cackle and waving my fingers at her. Within seconds, she’s completely dry.
Cas, Theo, and Hollis laugh in surprise. Cas grabs my hands, threading our fingers together. “God, please. Don’t do that again.”
Margot stares at Rory in shock and reaches out to touch a strand of her wavy, red-gold hair. Rylan laughs at his mom’s face. “Cool trick, huh?”
“Better watch your son over there. He already tried to rope Cricket into doing his laundry earlier,” Theo says.
Elsa laughs loudly and smacks his arm. Rylan shrugs and animatedly describes how I dried Theo’s shirt earlier by shaking it in the air. Margot sends Rory inside. The guys and I sit and talk with her, Rylan, and Elsa for a while. Elsa tells me Eva is upstairs taking a nap, but I’ll get a chance to meet her later.
When the guys get antsy about getting back in the pool again, Margot and Elsa go inside to get stuff ready for dinner. Rylan goes back to his book. Cas, Theo, and Hollis take turns flipping over the side of the pool. All of them can do a double flip.
I tell the guys I could probably do more if I could get higher up. So, Theo and Cas decide it sounds like a spectacular idea to throw me into the air so I can do better flips into the pool. They stand facing each other and cup their hands together so I can step onto them, almost like in cheerleading. The first couple of times, they throw me high enough that I can get in two or three flips at a time. They get crazy competitive, and soon enough they’re launching me high enough that I can see over the house. Every time I’m about to land in the water, Hollis leaps from the side of the pool and catches me before we hit the water.
I don’t know how long we’ve been playing, but I am having so much freaking fun and laughing my ass off. When Hollis and I break the surface again, I call out to Cas and Theo. “How many was that?”
“Eight, I think.” Cas grins.
“Okay, let’s do it again.” I wiggle in Hollis’s arms.
“Sorry, little witch. Apparently, we’re giving our moms heart attacks.” Theo groans in annoyance.
I whip my head around to look over at the covered patio. Cas’s mom, Hollis’s mom, and a beautiful woman with light blonde hair are staring at us in utter horror. I feel my face flush, and I swear, I nearly have a heart attack. I lean in to whisper in Hollis’s ear. “You guys didn’t tell me your families were coming over too.”
“I’m sorry. We thought you might freak out, and we wanted you to act like yourself.” Hollis bites his lip and shrugs.
He swims over to the side of the pool where Cas helps pull me out. I’m trying really hard to tramp down my nerves. Violetta and Althea have been incredibly sweet to me, but seeing them together is totally nerve-racking. Plus, I haven’t met Theo’s mom. I have no idea what she’s going to think of me.
When we make it to the covered patio, I notice Hollis’s dad watching us while he talks to Rylan. Theo tosses me my dress from the pool chair. I give him a grateful smile and pull it over my head as I dry off.
Violetta beams when I’m close enough and pulls me into an embrace. “Cricket, I’m so happy to see you again!”
Before I can respond, Cas’s mom pulls me into a hug, too. “Darling! I didn’t realize you’d be here! How lovely to see you!”
I’m surprised by the hugging and their enthusiasm, and it definitely helps settle my nerves. While Althea hugs me, she turns a glare on the boys. “What on earth were you doing? You could have seriously injured her!”
The blonde woman steps forward and frowns at Theo. “I’ve been waiting for weeks to finally meet this girl, and now I find out she’s already met your friends’ mothers?”
Theo rolls his eyes. I smile sweetly and hold my hand out to her. “I’m Cricket. It’s nice to finally meet you!”
She gives me a dazzling smile. She is so pretty, it’s insane! All three of them are, but Theo’s mom seriously looks like she could be a model.
“The pleasure is all mine! I’ve heard so much about you! I’m Calla.”
“How high do you think you guys were throwing her?” Sumner asks, sliding an arm around his wife’s waist.
Cas, Hollis, and Theo raise their eyebrows at me, and I shrug. “I don’t know, but I could see over the top of the house.”
Rylan joins our circle and laughs. “I’m surprised you didn’t throw up, witchy girl.”
“Are you not at all concerned the boys could have broken her neck?” Violetta narrows her eyes at Sumner and Rylan.
“Mom, she’s fine. Cricket can fly. If they threw her wrong, she’d still be okay.” Hollis rolls his eyes.
The guys’ parents widen their eyes at me in disbelief, and Rylan grins excitedly. “Yeah, I saw her do it earlier over the pool! Except it didn’t really look like flying. It was like she was stepping on something in the air.”
“Why do you do that, anyway? Instead of just floating?” Cas asks, crossing his arms.
It’s weird to have so much attention on me regarding my magic, and I feel my cheeks flush.
“It’s just easier,” I say. Hollis asks me what I mean, and I decide it might be easier to demonstrate. “The air feels solid to me, like a real, tangible thing I can touch and move.”
I take a couple of steps into the air like I’m climbing a ladder. “This takes way less energy, mentally.” I drop back down to the ground, and I let myself float a few above the ground. “And this takes a little more focus.”
Everyone stares at me in awe. Cas, Theo, and Hollis look really freaking proud. I feel awkward, like I’m not sure what to say next.
Margot walks outside. “Cricket, how many veggie burgers would you like? Hawthorne’s about to set everything out on the grill.”
“Um, veggie burgers?” I give her a confused look and shake my head.
She frowns and tilts her head. “Theo told me you’re a vegetarian.”
I turn my head to see Theo with his nose scrunched up, on the verge of laughter. Jesus, I want to punch him.
Thankfully, Cas barks out a laugh and punches Theo for me. “God, you are such a fucking dick!”
Hollis bites his lip to hide his smile. “Sorry, Margot. Cricket’s not a vegetarian. She’ll eat anything you put in front of her.”
“Yeah, and five or six burgers should about do it for her.” Cas gives me a teasing grin.
“Are you guys calling me fat?” I widen my eyes and let my bottom lip tremble.
“No!” Hollis and Cas shout, horrified.
Theo snickers and holds his hand up for me to high-five. I raise an eyebrow at him. “I don’t think so, Theodore.”
I realize the guys’ parents are watching us curiously with weird smiles on their faces. I feel nervous again. Hawthorne steps outside with Theo’s dad, Holden. Everyone seems excited to see them, and Sumner and Rylan follow them to the grill and talk about my magic and the stunts I was pulling with the guys in the pool.
Violetta pulls me over to a pool chair, and I’m surrounded by her, Althea, and Calla. They give me pretty smiles and ask me a million questions about my family, school, what I want to study in college, and what I think of the guys. It feels like I’m being interviewed, but they seem really sweet and genuine.
Theo, Cas, and Hollis hover nearby until Rory runs outside and convinces them to play in the pool with her. Just before Margot comes out to announce the food is ready, Violetta grabs my hand. “I would love it if you’d come and have dinner with us again sometime this week!”
“She’s already coming over to my house for dinner tomorrow night.” Althea says, tossing her hair over her shoulder with a haughty expression on her face.
This is news to me, but that sounds great! I’m about to tell her just that, but Cas swims over to the edge of the pool closest to us and smiles at me. “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I’m picking you up in the morning, and I’m bringing you over to my house after school. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course it’s okay!” I give him a bright, genuine smile. He beams at me in delight and swims back over to where Theo, Rory, and Hollis are laughing.
Violetta and Althea exchange an amused look, and Calla smiles softly. “I hope the boys haven’t been too overbearing.”
“A little, but I know they’re just trying to be sweet. It doesn’t bother me.” I giggle, glancing at the guys in the pool.
Everybody heads inside to the kitchen to get food. Hollis fills a plate for me before I can touch anything. Cas opens a soda can and hands it to me, and Theo ruffles my hair. Elsa finally brings Eva downstairs. She is the cutest toddler ever, with strawberry blonde hair and chubby cheeks. Everybody sits outside around the patio. I’m quiet while I watch everyone else. They’re all so comfortable and in sync with one another, and I can somewhat see how their hierarchy works with Hawthorne as their alpha, and Holden as his beta. The women seem to listen to Margot above everyone else, which is interesting. I make a mental note to ask the guys later about female alphas, and if that’s a thing. I wonder where and how I fit in, if I really am a part of the guys’ pack.
After everybody’s finished eating, we sit around and continue talking. Elsa comes to sit beside me, complaining she hasn’t gotten to talk to me as much as everybody else has. She’s carrying Eva, who wiggles free and climbs into my lap.
She seems content to sit still with me for the moment. Elsa tells me she’s hoping her next baby is a boy. She’s due in April. We’ve probably only been talking for a few minutes when Eva wiggles and shifts into a wolf puppy while still sitting in my arms.
It surprises the crap out of me, but holy shit. She’s so cute! She’s fluffy, with light reddish-brown fur, and some patches of white fur on her feet and chest. She wags her tail and nuzzles me. I hold her up under her arms and squeal at Theo, Cas, and Hollis.
“Oh my god, she’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!” When they laugh, I grin at Elsa. “When do you guys start shifting? Or can you already do it when you’re born?”
“When we’re about a year old, usually. Eva’s a little strange. She prefers to be in her wolf form. It’s extremely stressful to take her out in public sometimes.” Elsa laughs.
I sit down on the ground so I can play with her. The guys are watching me, and I give them a teasing grin. “She’s even softer than you guys are.”
Rylan walks over and sits beside Elsa, lightly resting a hand on her knee. “So, you really go running around with these guys when they’ve shifted?”
“I nearly had a panic attack when I came home from work last week to find her and Hollis in his room while he was in his wolf form.” Violetta laughs softly.
Rylan gets a crazy grin on his face and wiggles his eyebrows at Hollis. “Well, well. Didn’t know you were into such kinky stuff, Hollis.”
I make a choking noise, and Hollis growls ferociously at Rylan. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get so mad. Theo and Cas look extremely irritated, Theo barks, “Shut the fuck up, Rylan.”
“I’m joking! It’s not a big deal. Pretty sure everyone here knows you guys want to bang her.” Rylan shrugs, looking even more amused.
Everyone gets really quiet, and I want to fucking die. I can’t even make eye contact with anyone, and I have no idea what I should do or say. Elsa hisses angrily. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Rylan tries to speak again, but Hawthorne uses this crazy, scary voice on him. “Inside, now.”
Theo slowly walks over to me and rests his hand gently on top of my head. He uses his alpha voice, his tone cold and furious. “We’re leaving. Otherwise, I’m probably going to kill Rylan.”
I look up and meet his eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever been more embarrassed, and I don’t know how I’m ever going to face their parents again. I really thought they all liked me, and I was starting to feel comfortable here.
I go to grab Eva so I can hand her back to Elsa, but I must startle her because she makes a small yipping noise and bites the side of my face. It hurts like a bitch, but I only make a small hissing sound, not wanting to scare her again. I’m about to apologize to Elsa, but Cas crouches beside me and growls threateningly at Eva.
She whimpers and trembles in my arms. I cradle her protectively against my chest and turn her away from Cas before glaring at him. “Back off, Cas! She’s just a baby!”
Cas blinks at me in shock and jerks back. He swallows nervously. “But you’re bleeding.”
Elsa snatches Eva up by the scruff of her neck and gives me a horrified look of guilt. “I’m so sorry!”
If I wasn’t so freaked out, I would find it hilarious to see her carry Eva like that.
My face throbs painfully, and I reach my hand up to brush my fingers over my cheek. I am bleeding. I need a mirror so I can see the wound to heal it. I open my mouth to tell one of the guys, but Hollis sits down heavily beside me and hands me my phone. He already has the camera open in selfie mode, and I give him a grateful smile.
The puncture wounds are pretty bad, but I take a few deep breaths and focus on my magic. When I’m calm enough, I whisper the healing spell Aurora taught me. I only need to say them once this time, and I run my thumb slowly over each mark. I’m able to heal everything so my skin is good as new. It still hurts, but I know the pain will fade after a little while.
“Are you okay?” Hollis asks quietly.
I nod and make the mistake of looking at everyone else. They’re all fucking staring at me. Theo breathes angrily out of his nose and holds his hand out to help me up. “Let’s go.”
I follow him without question, Hollis and Cas right behind me. It feels nuts to leave like this without saying anything. At first, nobody stops us until Althea jumps up and grabs my hand.
She speaks to me in French. “Please, sweetheart, don’t listen to what that stupid, immature male said. I hope you’ll still come over for dinner tomorrow night.”
“Merci. I’ll be there.” I give her a small smile.
Theo doesn’t want us to walk through the house, so we walk around. I feel terrible I didn’t get a chance to thank Margot and Hawthorne for the food, and for letting us use their pool. All I can focus on is getting away and into Theo’s jeep.
