Scartissue by T.L Hodel

CHAPTER 16

Logan

The next morning it was a fucking chore to get out of bed.

Half the night I was up holding Cherry Pie’s hair while she yakked what I was sure was the last three months of food from her stomach.

I’d be having a chat with her about that later. She’d be lucky if I didn’t slap the shit out of her. Trust me, I was fucking tempted, but the smell of Rosy’s omelets lured me away. I didn’t even take the time to brush my hair or throw on a shirt.

I yawned and headed down the stairs.

The green garland with little red bows decorating the railing told me Ma had started decorating for Christmas.

Since Riley was here, she was really excited for it this year. It was hard not to dampen her spirits. I didn’t have the same happy fun family memories other people did.

Christmas with my old man was just another day of blood and pain. Some years there was less blood, but there was always pain. Mostly for Ma. I didn’t understand why she felt the need to bake cookies and hang ornaments.

Rosy gave me a strange look when I walked into the kitchen.

“Good morning, Mr. Logan.”

Rosy wasn’t used to seeing me like this. Usually when I came down, I was dressed and ready to go. Today, I didn’t even bother to get dressed. I was still in my sweats.

I stretched and scratched the back of my head.

“Morning, Rosy. Something smells good.”

“I hope you’re hungry.” She smiled and slid a plate piled with food on the island.

My mouth watered as I flopped down on one of the stools.

“You read my fucking mind.”

That earned me a dirty look. Rosy was the closest thing I had to a grandma. She helped Ma raise me. Tucking me in at night, and scolding me when I got out of hand. Not that it did her any good. She still tried though. More than I could say for some.

“There’s plenty for your friends. Make sure they eat.”

I smiled and loaded my fork with a pile of steaming eggs.

“Who could turn down your cooking?”

“I could.”

My hand paused, holding the food inches away from my mouth.

No fucking way.

“Am I in the wrong house? I could’ve sworn Logan Hudson lived here.” I turned to see a petite blonde in three inch heels standing in the doorway. “But he’s far too full of himself to ever look that messy.”

A slow smirk spread across my face.

“You like messy.”

“Maybe my tastes have evolved,” Ava said, placing a hand on her cocked hip. “I am a college girl now.”

I scoffed out a snicker. If Ava Whitley evolved into anything, it would be world domination.

She stood there for a second, trying to look serious, but she couldn’t stop her perfectly painted lips from twisting.

“Well, are you going to just sit there, or come and hug me?”

“Okay,” I said, slipping off the stool to wrap my arms around her tiny body. “But if your brother hits me again...”

She tipped her chin up.

“Preston hit you?”

“No,” I snorted and headed back to my food. “Preston doesn’t give a shit who you fuck.”

Parker on the other hand…

Let’s just say the ‘I fucked your sister’ comment worked quite well on him.

In my defense, Ava came to me. Every guy in town was too afraid of Preston to take a swing at his twin, and she was tired of the forced celibacy role. She knew I wouldn’t give a fuck what either of her brothers thought.

On a side note, the ‘I fucked your mom’ shit worked on Silas as well.

Rosy’s brown eyes locked on Ava as she sauntered around the island. Watching every move she made.

Most people who knew Ava did the same. She was just as unstable as me, if not more so. Ava, however, just smiled brightly and plucked a piece of bacon off one of the plates.

“Your pretty eyes don’t fool me.” Rosy swung a wooden spoon through the air, like she was banishing a demon. Not too far off, considering who she was talking to. “I see the evil in you.”

“Admit it,” Ava batted her eyelashes innocently, “You missed me.”

Rosy marched out of the room, shaking her head, while muttering Spanish under her breath.

“Where’s the love, Rosy?” Ava called out after her.

I snickered and dug into my food. If she thought Rosy’s reaction was bad, wait until Micha got up. Out of all of us, Micha liked her the least.

Almost as if on cue, a loud voice boomed behind me. “Oh for fuck sakes. Who let you in here?”

“I missed you too, Mikey.”

Micha pointed at her.

“Don’t start with that shit.”

Ava gave him the nickname in the second grade. He hated it. Can’t say I blamed him. Every time she said it, I was reminded of that cereal commercial. ‘Mikey likes it’.

Micha sighed and sat down on the stool next to me.

“You could’ve warned me.”

“Where’d the fun be in that?” I said through a mouthful of eggs.

“As you can see,” Ava waved her hand at me, “He’s too busy stuffing his face to do anything else.”

“What else is new,” Micha grumbled.

Not my fault if they couldn’t enjoy good food. Shelby should be down here enjoying this shit. I doubted there was anything left in her stomach after last night. I didn’t want to wake her up though. She had a rough night and needed her sleep.

My brows furrowed at my thoughts.

Why the fuck did I care?

Shelby was in my bed. A place no other girl had been before. She should be servicing me.

Why the fuck did I put her in my bed?And more importantly, why did I like knowing she was up there right now?

I dropped the fork on my now empty plate and looked at Micha and Ava, who were both staring at me with weird looks.

Did I miss something?

“What?”

Ava dropped her eyes to my plate.

“Did you even taste it?”

“When’s that last time you ate?” I rolled my gaze over her tiny form, “And bird food doesn’t count.”

Micha snorted.

“She’s a carnivore if I ever saw one.”

“Leave Ava alone.” Ma walked into the room and dropped a box on the floor. More Christmas ornaments I assumed from the jingling. “She’s a sweet girl.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Hudson,” Ava sang sweetly.

Micha and I both rolled our eyes.

“Logan, honey, I don’t want to alarm you,” Ma leaned in and added in a hushed voice, “But Riley’s friend is asleep in your room.”

“I know. I put her there.”

I realized my mistake the second I saw Micha’s smile.

“Wait…” Ava’s grey eyes lit up. “You took a girl to your room?”

“She’s mine.”

This must be what Riley meant by word vomit. I could practically see the grandbabies sparkling in Ma’s eyes. Funny thing was, it didn’t bother me.

“By mine, you mean…”

Micha answered Ma for me.

“Same way Riley’s mine.”

That’s when the smile fell off Ma’s face.

“You got a contract for her?” I hated that sad look in her eyes. “Logan, you promised.”

“I promised I wouldn’t use her family against her.” I got up and walked around the island to drop my plate in the sink. “I didn’t.”

“But you still got a contract.”

“Yes, Ma,” I sighed. “I don’t make the rules. If you have a problem with it, take it up with Lou.”

I’d never been more happy to see my stepsister than I was at that moment. Riley walked in the kitchen, sporting a Minnie Mouse t-shirt, pink shorts, and a scowl. She did not appear happy to see a crowd of people in the kitchen.

Not that I was surprised. My sister wasn’t a morning person, and judging by the way her black hair was sticking up, she’d just rolled out of bed.

Her lip curled when her blue eyes landed on Ava.

“I hope Bitchy Barbie recruited a new minion, because I swear to God, Logan, if this is another member of the skank squad, I’ll gouge your eyes out with a fork.”

Ava threw her head back and laughed.

“I like this one.”

“Don’t worry,” I said when Riley turned her glare on me, “I haven’t fucked this one in years.”

Riley muttered out an incoherent response and headed straight for the coffee pot.

I’m not sure what was more amusing. The dirty looks Riley was giving me, or how Micha was eyeing Ava. He wanted to tell her to stay away from his girl, but saying anything would be like dangling meat in front of a feral dog. Ava was already getting ready to pounce and my sister tended to do the opposite of what she was told.

Before Ava could make her move, we were interrupted by a ruckus out in the hall.

“Go fuck yourself, Parker!” Lana’s shrill voice cut through the air. “You think you can pay me off.”

“Calm down, Koshecha.”

Ava and I shared a glance and then darted across the room to see what was going on. Neither of us was shy about spying. Had to get our amusement somewhere.

Lana stormed towards the door with Parker hot on her heels. Deep lines of anger were etched in her forehead and I could see her teeth clenching from here.

This should be good.

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” she snarled, while snatching her sweater off the hanger.

Parker rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know what you’re so broken up about.”

For some reason, that really seemed to piss Lana off. She spun around and slapped him across the face, causing both Ava and I to silently grimace.

Damn, she got him good. His face twisted to the side. He had just enough time for shock to register in his eyes at seeing his sister, before Lana stuffed a wad of bills in his mouth.

“Choke on it,” she spat, and marched out the door, slamming it behind her.

He spit out the money stuffed in his mouth and tipped his head.

“Ava?”

“Little brother,” Ava tsked and leaned against the doorframe. “What did you do?”