devouredlamb

[devouredlamb]

she pulled back, opening the door and climbing inside. matteo didn't really need boundaries, she never really set them with anyone. colby wasn't so much a stranger, they'd grown up in the same town all their life, but they weren't exactly close by any means. " oh yeah? that's pretty hot, colby shelby. careful, I'll develop a crush. "

" oh, hey colby, " she grinned when she realised who it was she was talking to. matteo shrugged her shoulder, " I think I can safely get in your car without worrying about being murdered, huh? " she leaned in, planting her hands on the seat as she leaned in more, " whatta ya say? give a girl a ride? "

[devouredlamb]

" maybe a little, " he laughed, tipping his head to the side, " it has always worked though. you draw in the younger crowd, " connor didn't feel too bad about it, he knew that dakota wasn't about to take any offence. " dad doesn't need to know everything about us, " he pointed out, " I just think whatever works you know? "

" with the music ? sure . with the preaching about hellfire and all that ? no , that's yours . " dakota's lips twitched at that as he tilted his head . " oh , are you trying to pimp me out ? " a grin touched his lips . " what would dad think . "

[devouredlamb]

gabriel hummed, nodding his head. it wasn't something he really needed to think about too hard and he was pretty glad that he didn't have to sweet talk the kid into anything, " yeah, come home with me. " he knew that probably wasn't the wisest decision he'd ever made, but he knew he wouldn't regret it.

dakota already had forgotten about bev's presence . she wasn't exactly of his interest in the moment . he hummed , lips twitching at the man's response before shrugging his shoulders . " i mean , you could just invite me over . no mass needed if it's the view you want . "

[devouredlamb]

luke wasn't exactly used to people being so bold, not around him. he looked towards dakota, brows jumping ever so slightly as he stifled a chuckle, " you're pretty funny, aren't you? " he looked him up and down, " you really a preacher's kid? " that didn't seem right, he figured any kid like that would have a father like that hididng him away.

dakota was well aware that no one would peg him as the pastor's kid and he planned to enjoy that for the time being until people became all too aware of who was who in this family . he blinked his eyes a few times before his lips twitched , " were you hoping for a different kinda suck or ? "

[devouredlamb]

connor stopped, looking back up at the other at the question, " cow? " it was a pretty suitable name, the dog really was big enough and the right colour. he shrugged his shoulders, " no, you're fine, who doesn't like some dog love? " he chuckled, taking the hand and offering a strong shake, " nice to meet you felix, I'm connor. "

" oh , well , cow has had worse reactions . " it wasn't every day a giant ass dog the size of a dinosaur came running up to meet someone . " sorry about that . my sister's dog . " he paused before reaching out a hand , " felix . "

[devouredlamb]

" oh, hey colby, " she grinned when she realised who it was she was talking to. matteo shrugged her shoulder, " I think I can safely get in your car without worrying about being murdered, huh? " she leaned in, planting her hands on the seat as she leaned in more, " whatta ya say? give a girl a ride? "

" you've never actually heard of stranger danger , have you ? " colby questioned as he approached . he imagined not since it seemed matteo was willing to put herself out there for just about any reason .

[devouredlamb]

" suppose that's true, " he hummed softly, giving the other a quiet laugh as he shook his head. this town pried far too much into one another's lives, he was just glad most people didn't want to push luke too far and typically kept their opinions to themselves when it came to the shelby children. " oh well, happy to kick anyones ass that annoys you, baby, " josh grinned.

" you know , i could , " kieran agreed , " but then that would be a lie and they'd probably just try even harder . " which wouldn't have surprised her . she was sure that would have just put an even bigger target on her back .

[devouredlamb]

he was definitely amused by that, it seemed brian had a steady head on his shoulders. gabriel wasn't totally confident that the other would stand by that in the long term but it would do for now. " glad you see it that way, brian, because I won't be changin' my mind any time soon an' the apple don't fall too far from the tree usually. although, did have the pleasure of meetin' your son earlier today, he's quite something. "

brian offered a small smile and a nod of his head , " well , i'm sure you know the door is always open but if you never walk through it , not exactly an issue with me . " he could appreciate bev's passion but he could also get how that could be a bit of a turn off .

[devouredlamb]

" oh come on, dakota, he's stuck in his ways, do you really want to take over? " they both knew that connor was the one brian intended to pass this down to, dakota had never been interested in following in his father's footsteps, but he never strayed too far from the family regardless. " maybe we can suggest something once we've settled a little, " he shrugged, " or maybe you should just parade around, that's always attracted people, even if only briefly. "

" i don't know . maybe the youth doesn't want to hear the same rendition of hallelujah or the same hymns they've heard since they were five . " maybe it wasn't so surprising that this place didn't have a huge church following among younger people . he held up his hands in an act of surrender . " just a theory . "

[devouredlamb]

it wasn't a surprise that his name had already come up with bev, he really was a thorn in her side, it seemed. gabriel chuckled, nodding his head as he settled in the seat, " sure, bet she jus' couldn't wait to tell you how I don't bring my family to mass. just ain't our kind of thing, you know? still a pretty friendly bunch though. "

" so , you're in the infamous gabriel , " brian spoke , lips twitching a little before shrugging his shoulders . " bev likes to talk a lot . i assume you know that . " it seemed as if she knew everything about everyone and everything .

[devouredlamb]

connor glanced down as the dog bounded towards him, pausing to pat the friendly animal as it briefly stopped to assess him before turning its attention to the belongings that they still had piled up outside the house. he took it as a sign to take a brief break, blowing out a sigh as he pushed the hair back from his face. the owner soon stepped into view and he gave a polite smile, " we've had worse welcoming committees. "

[devouredlamb]

" oh great, " luke didn't think this town could go all that long without the crushing guilt that only a pastor could enforce. when the last one died, he was surprised that they hadn't had another one lined up to immediately take his place, but it seemed they'd had a few weeks of free reign, and what the people in this town chose to do during weeks without confession was pretty predictable, albeit enjoyable for a man like him. " just what we need, " he chuckled, " someone to suck the fun outta this place. "

[devouredlamb]

matteo pushed herself up from her seat on the bench, approaching the unfamiliar car as though it was anybody she recognised. she leaned in slightly against the window, " oh, I'd just love you if you could give me a ride back into town. " she stuck out her lower lip, " kinda carless for the time being, I'd owe ya big time. "

[devouredlamb]

" yeah? " josh grinned, knowing he was being a little bold saying something like that in such a public place, but that was always his and kieran's way. they weren't religious, so why pretend to be for the sake of other people? he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as the two made their way down the street, " maybe you could just say you do worship the devil, might save people some time. "

kieran knew that bev wouldn't stop until the day hell froze over and the morettis stepped foot in that church . bev wasn't going to stop until she got her way and kieran couldn't decide if that was admirable or not . she hummed at josh's question , lips twitching as she rocked on her heels . " i could be into that , actually . "

[devouredlamb]

he tilted his head to the side, turning his back on bev, ignoring her disgusted sigh before listening as her footsteps carried her out of the shop. gabriel hardly cared, his focus remained on dakota now. the older man leaned against the counter, pretending to consider his answer for a moment, " well, if the view's half this cute, I ain't gonna complain about sittin' through a mass. "

dakota was aware that there was probably some surprise there . he was sure he wasn't what they pictured when they thought of one of the pastor's kids . he almost chuckled as he looked back at gabriel , " yeah , why is that ? "

[devouredlamb]

gabriel figured the new face in the diner could only be the man bev had spent half the morning bending his ear about. he decided to approach brian, greeting the other casually before brian offered his empty seat. gabe nodded, taking the seat, " jus' thought I'd welcome you to town, name's gabriel. "

brian sat in the diner , eyes down at a book . he was pretty unaware of the hustle and bustle going on around him , let a lone how busy the diner seemed to be getting . he eventually looked up , locking gazes with another before stretching his leg out , pushing out the empty seat . " you can sit if you'd like . "

[devouredlamb]

josh chuckled, shaking his head as he looked down at the floor. it was a rather bizarre town to grow up in, everybody knew everyone's business and wouldn't settle for anything less. the morettis were something of an enigma and it seemed to drive just about everybody crazy, but especially bev and whoever was running the church at the time. something about their dark hair and quiet faith had everybody wondering if they were devil worshippers or something. he looked back at kieran, " wanna come over and have premarital sex on sunday instead? " he taunted.

" i think the answer is no . " if it hadn't stopped by now , kieran was pretty sure that it wouldn't no matter how many times they always denied an invite to church or mass in general . her lips twitched at joshua's threat which seemed to do the trick . the person muttered something , holding their hands up in an act of surrender before moving on .