#and she looks like a slightly older version of renee young

[kybarchive]

[staytiny-angel]

Safe Haven 4/?

Rating: E

Pairings: Drew McIntyre/Becky Lynch, Eventually Drew McIntyre/Becky Lynch/Seth Rollins, Jon Moxley/Renee Young, Sasha Banks/Bayley/Charlotte Flair, Mandy Rose/Trent Seven, Jordan Devlin/Millie McKenzie, Ruby Riott/Liv Morgan

Warnings for this Chapter: mentions of violence

Chapter Summary: Drew and Becky get to know their new mate better while meeting members of his unorthodox family, Plans are made to rescue Roman from Heyman's evil clutches.

Taglist:

@hitory--chan @sethsevolution @finnsauroraborealis @the-beastslayers-queen @pikapuff316 @writinglionqueen @writtingrose

"SETHIE!" Seth hadn't even made it back to town before being tackled by a overly hyperactive blonde girl.

"I missed you too Liv" Seth groaned, slightly out of breath.

"You're lucky I'm here and not Rubes, she's very mad at ya"

Seth grimaced at the thought of seeing his older sister.

"Hey! Redhead!" Liv yelled at Becky. "Is this too basic" she gestured at her hair.

"Um-"

"You're right, too boring" Liv pulled out a compact mirror and smiled at it, Becky and Drew staring in shock as her hair turned bubblegum pink.

"How?" Drew asked Seth.

"Liv's a chaos fairy. Hyper 24/7, pranks everybody. C'mon brat" Liv squealed and hopped onto his back..

"Hey Livvie, Mom conjured my clothes..would you mind?" Seth asked his sister's girlfriend

Drew and Becky watched curiously as the unremarkable clothes Seth's mother had put on him morphed into dark-grey skinny jeans and a blood-red t-shirt.

"Hair too?" the fairy asked

"Yes please."

Seth shook his head and a quarter of it immediately went blond "There ya go Sethie! You look like you again, only bigger!" Liv giggles, patting the wolf on the head.

"Thanks Livvy" Seth grinned. "You're still small though"

"I'm still bigger than Millie!" Liv managed to kick Seth in the hip. "Good luck apologizing to everyone. Trent's mad because you made Tyler cry!"

"Tyler always cries!"

"Okay true, but you also made Mandy upset!"

"How long have you been away from home?" Becky asks

"I haven't lived in Haven in 8 years. I lost contact with everyone 18 months ago." Seth explained

"Dude the only reason we didn't completely lose it was because we still felt you through the pack bond" Liv tells him "We knew you weren't dead but...it was hard, anyway so why are you with the newbies?" Liv asked as they made their way to the main house.

"They're my mates." Seth said simply.

"Oooooh, Sethie's got two mates!" Liv said excitedly. Becky looking at her with caution. "I need to see Sarah, you are making me coffee later!" Liv hugged him and skipped off, Becky and Drew watching her.

"I've only heard of chaos fairies, she was...unique" Becky said.

"I need to remind Ceasero she's not allowed any caffeine" Seth said shaking his head

The three mates walked along the path back to the town in silence after Liv left. None of them really knowing what to say.

"So you guys have had this town for a long time?" Becky finally broke the increasingly uncomfortable tension

"My grandparents founded Haven. Grandfather...used to run a circus and all of the acts were different beings. When he retired, everyone just settled here. Haven was these old fairgrounds and some of the woods surrounding it."

"A Circus?" Drew exclaimed

"Grandfather was a warlock, especially skilled in persuasion and he figured it would be a way for him and his friends to not only use their abilities for profit, but to not have to hide as much. Normies will ignore most Supe shit if they think its a trick"

"Absolutely true, they're dense as hell" Becky replied.

"So, you knew Finn?" Seth asked.

"Sort of, his name was Prince back then, always wondered what happened, not surprised that vampires had something to do with it...when they helped save you. I can't believe I just said that" Becky facepalmed, remembering what Mox and Stephanie had said.

Seth smiled and shook his head "I know Haven is an odd case. Weird even amongst the weird. I mean, I'm the Wolf/Warlock hybrid that claims a Lion, a Witch, a Vampire Queen and a Vampire thats the vessel for a literal demon king for parents. Weird is kinda my thing"

"Do you remember that night?" Becky asked. Seth looked down, toying with his amulet before sitting down.

"A little. I remember being in a car with my mommy and daddy" Seth said in a faraway voice "The was a big flash of light and loud noise, and then I was flying through the woods. I had bite marks on the back of my neck. Knowing now what I know about my bio parents, I think my Mom shifted and was carrying me through the woods by the scruff of my neck."

Becky hesitantly reached over and touched the top of Seth's bowed head. Drew looking on silently. It seemed like his spitfire was already growing attached to the younger man, while Drew himself was more hesitant. Seth lived...by Drew's upbringing, an unnatural life. Haven was a lot to get used to and he'd had Becky to himself for so long.

"Do you think it's possible that your mom changed you?" Drew asked. "To protect you?"

"Could be I don't know" Seth pulled his hair. "I don't like thinking about it"

"Hey brat" A girl said, materializing next to the three. She was holding a coffee cup and had red lowlights and was so pale, Drew thought she could be a vampire.

"Hey, Ruby." Seth said quietly, "Guys this is one of my sisters."

"Yo." The girl greeted them easily and handed her brother the Chicago Bears to-go mug "One Double Chocolate Cappuccino, courtesy of Cesaro. Figured you could use it, heard you haven't had coffee in a year or so."

"No espresso?" Seth groaned.

"You know he puts too much in" Ruby said, "Besides I want to be able to sleep tonight. Your howling was obnoxious" she turned to Drew and Becky. "If either of you hurt my little brother, I will rip out your eyes and shove them down your throats"

"Ruby."

"What it's true. We lost you once, brat. Never again" She replied with a smile

"Did anyone mention that Seth is the baby?" Ruby asked

"Millie is younger then me thank you very much" Seth said rolling his eyes and taking a sip of his drink

"Millie hasn't been missing for 18 months, and gone for 7 and a half years before that. So excuse us if we're all a bit concerned about all this" she says waving a hand at Drew and Becky.

"Excuse me, who's Millie?" Becky asked.

"My baby cousin" Seth replied fondly. "She's my Uncle Shawn's kid"

"She's a fire siren, sneezes out fire like crazy" Ruby added, drinking her coffee.

"She doesn't have much in the way of control yet. So she sets shit on fire a lot...luckily her mate is a water sprite. Jordan is really great st putting out flare-ups" Seth explains "Please don't threaten my mates. Honestly, I'm a hot mess. I doubt they even want to be with me anyway"

"Nonsense" Ruby waved her hand. "Mates are mates always. Do you think I would have gotten with Liv by choice?" Seth chuckled and blushed when Becky smiled at him. " Does anyone know about Ro?" He asked.

Ruby's face fell. "Mom is working on a tracking spell, since you don't remember exactly where Heyman's compound is located. Dad is making her rest before she casts it though so that won't be done until tomorrow, the good this is that Heyman can only do his enslaving curse during the full moon...so we have 6 days to find Ro."

"Fuck" Seth pulled at his hair. "None of this would have happened if I hadn't ran away"

"Stop it" Drew said, gently pulling Seth's hands down.

Drew had sat there quietly listening to the exchange between Seth and his sister, trying to learn more about the odd man the fates had bound him and his firecracker to. From what he'd gathered so far Seth was well-loved by his mismatched pack and had been sorely missed while on his journey of self-discovery.

"Don't beat yourself up. You couldn't have known any of this would happen" Drew says softly, still holding Seth's hands in his larger ones. Seth's brother had been right. Seth did look amazingly...like a slightly smaller version of himself, less so now that part of his hair was platinum blonde.

"He's my big brother" Seth whimpered. "He doesn't even know I'm not mad at him anymore, if Paul's spell works on him, he'll be gone for good" Drew unknowingly wiped away a tear that had trailed down Seth's face.

Becky wrapped her arms around Seth's waist "That isn't going to happen, sweetheart. We are going to get your brother back and Heyman will pay for everything he's done to both of you." She says fiercely. To which Seth nodded but said nothing.

"Forgive me for asking but are you his sister from the witch side or vampire side?" Drew asked Ruby.

"Stephanie and Hunter, can't be around Finn and Violet, my blood is toxic and Bálor hates me" Ruby answered

"I only have one sibling from Finn and Violet and that's Jordan. He's the last of Finn's pre vampiric bloodline. His parents died when he was a baby, and an old woman from his clan brought him to Haven shortly after" Seth tells them.

"Is this the same Jordan that's your cousin's mate?" Becky asked. "Yeah, thought my uncle was gonna kill him, then Finn was gonna kill him" Seth shook his head.

"Haven is completely integrated? " Drew asked, he and Becky hadn't realized just how many different species of Supernatural inhabited the small town.

"Unless they can't be around each other for a physiological reason, yep" Ruby answered "One of our cousins is a sun sprite, and she glows with actual sunlight. So she can't be around Finn and Violet."

"No one gets turned away unless you give our father a reason to" Seth said, "The pack is a family"

[neshabeingchildish]

Slightly different format, because I just needed y’all who didn’t know this song to hear it, okay? Okay, so I’m about as old as the characters parents could be, maybe slightly younger, because they probably had them a little later in adulthood than I’m far off from them, but I figured, close enough to use MY childhood/youth music for Charlotte’s mom’s taste. At least the general timeline. I named songs and artists, if y’all wanna ever listen to any of it. I haven’t/don’t know if I’m making a Determined Soundtrack/Playlist.

Pretty Brown Eyes

Alright. It was one thing to lean into his kiss, reciprocate his embrace and shift herself into his lap. But, she didn't have to go off the way she did for their first kiss. Because, not only did Charlotte do these things, but she also rocked against him a little, which in turn, he took as an invitation to explore her with his big, strong hands. 

She wasn't quite sure how awkward it must've been for Henry and Amelie to see them there when they left through the front door trying not to make any noise for the pair making out on the floor of the main hallway. But, she had to guess it was as bad as her realizing that they had to have seen them whenever they left, because the front door was right down that, very, hallway.

Eventually, she was the one who caught herself and ended the fun. Her head was spinning, nerves tingling and legs wobbling, but she found her senses and pulled herself together. Jasper was a pile of mush, except for the one thing, what, with her doing all that rocking against him. Ugh. Girl, a first kiss is supposed to be soft and sweet. You're not supposed to half grind the dude into the floor of your parents' house. She shivered thinking about his hands on her body, but it was time for that kiss to be put behind them.

"We can't be doing stuff like this," Charlotte said and helped him up. "I had a point before you did that and I don't even remember my middle name right now."

"The magic of love has rendered you temporarily futile…"

"No. The coursing of hormones has thrown off my equilibrium and it does not feel good."

He panicked. "But, it did though? The not good feeling is an afterthought, right?"

"You have to go and I need to lie down." He nodded and tried to give her a hug, but she placed her hands up to halt him and took a step back. “I’m serious.” He nodded and left her, scratching his head and hoping that his stunt hadn’t done the very thing that she was afraid of - ruined things between them.

.

Morning meetups were awkward. Jasper brought her breakfast, she brought his and Henry’s, but they didn’t really say much to each other. Instead, she spoke to Henry about everything but Jasper and whenever Jasper did speak, she was weird about her reponses. 

Work was atypical. While they generally spent most shifts around each other, she now felt like the store needed to be watched at all times, but if he came up, she took that time to go make scans in the Man Cave to be sure they hadn’t missed any calls for help.

In addition to avoiding him big time, she told him that she looked into Amelie pretty deeply and couldn’t find any reason that he couldn’t “get back on track” with her.

“You’d find that reason in the mirror,” Jasper said and she just rolled her eyes and walked away from him. Whenever he told her that things were weird at home and asked if he could crash, she politely asked Henry if it was okay if Jasper crashed at his, instead. Jasper was exasperated, or as Henry said, in an attempt to be funny, exJasperated. Jasper commented that would be the name of his next podcast, and she left them to that conversation to return to the store.

“So… She’s really just moving on like it didn’t happen?” Henry wondered. He’d waited outside for Jasper that night, because he figured that Charlotte would catch herself and kick him to the curb. But, he thought that by now, she would have talked to Jasper about it, fixed their friendship and outlined how it could never happen again.

“No. It’s worst. She’s moving on like it did happen and it was horrifying for her. She refuses to be alone with me and she hardly talks to me, now. I feel like I did something bad to her, but I thought she liked it. I thought she liked me.”

“She liked it and she likes you. You know what this is really about? Self control. She doesn’t trust herself to be alone with you, because she might wind up on your lap, in your arms again and she thinks she shouldn’t be there. You gotta show her that she should be there.”

“How would I do that without being the very creepo that both you and her have told me numerous times to not be?”

“I don’t know. Maybe her family knows something that we don’t? Something that could help us get her for you.”

“Her parents never say much beyond salutations and asking about my day. But… Uncle Rox might help. He loves me and we’re friends on social media. He lived with them for a while. He had to notice something useful.”

Henry nodded, “There you go!”

.

Jasper made an appointment with Uncle Roscoe at his new house, aka his wife’s house, to set some wheels in motion for wooing Charlotte. The man was all too happy to help. “I LOVE love, Lil’ Nephew,” he told Jasper. “My niece sure can use some wooing. Does she still have an attitude about everything?”

“A huge tude… but I still love her. I find it endearing. She’s polite with people she doesn’t care about, so it’s like… a compliment of sorts when you get that sass from her.”

Uncle Roscoe nodded his head as he made some freshly squeezed juice. “Well, I had a secret weapon to soften her up when she was younger and I found out when I lived at their house that it still kinda worked, depending on the material.”

“I must know!” Jasper said, making prayer hands. Roscoe slid a glass across the island to him and he luckily caught it in his palm. Uncle Rox is super kewl. 

“You subscribe to her Spotify?” Roscoe asked.

“No. I don’t believe that we share music tastes.”

“Well, you better get used to it, because that’s gon’ be your bread and butter, Lil’ Nephew. You see, Charlotte has a love for classic R&B, particularly the late 80's/early 90's. She loves all the boy groups that were popular when me and her moms grew up, because that’s the type of stuff that her moms listened to when she was young. Now, most people stop experiencing new music as they get older. They have some nostalgia about their parents’ music, which they pretend like they don’t, like Charlotte be pretending. They have the stuff that was popular when they were growing up, that was their childhood music. And, mostly, by a certain point, they allow very little new music into their worlds. That’s how my sister was. So, a lot of her music was stuff from the 80s and 90s, and Charlotte loves a lot of it, despite her pretenses.”

“You… Think that me listening to 80’s and 90’s R&B boy groups will win over Charlotte?” Jasper asked confused, finally drinking his juice. “This juice is AMAZING!”

“That’s that Roscoe’s Tropical Trash right there. But, no. The listening is just the first step. You gotta know that music, Boi. You gotta learn it. You gotta know what to play and when. You can control Charlotte’s little ass with the right song selection.”

“That has to be made up,” Jasper said, defeated.

Roscoe told him, “Try it out. If she gets mad, pull up “You Don’t Have to Cry by Rene and Angela,” and see if by the end of that song, she won’t be a different woman. Matter of fact, before anything even happens in your day, just put on Rhythm of the Night by DeBarge and see if she don’t have the cheeriest, happiest day.”

Jasper cupped his cup in his fingers and stared at him. “I seriously can’t tell if you’re making up these songs and artists.”

“Boi, here…” He opened his phone and said, “I’m gonna send you a link to Charlotte’s Spotify. Check out them lists. She’s got some of the music by the year and some by the decade, but it’s all kinda R&B on it. She does like a few older than that, but her most frequent ones, I assure you are those 80s-90s ones, with the groups like Troop, New Edition, Boys II Men…”

“I know them!” Jasper cheered.

“Just… The songs I told you about. Use them, then get back to me when you ready to learn musical conditioning for Charlotte.”

Uncle Roscoe used to be a vocal coach for a production studio that went ass end up in the 90s. He was also a musician, DJ, and club promoter. He was a bouncer at a jazz club, at a strip club, and at a popular night club. He still tried to make music sometimes. He played many instruments and he loved to sing. None of his efforts ever worked out fully. But, he still loved the music industry and he always had a good time with his  niece, whenever a good song put her in a good mood. He knew what he was talking about, but Jasper might have to see for himself.

.

Charlotte was about to go upstairs when she heard the opening notes of Rhythm of the Night and bounced towards it curiously. Jasper and Henry were sitting around, and Jasper’s device was connected to the computer. “How do you know this song?” She wondered.

“Uncle Rox shared a DOPE playlist with me whenever I went over for juice. I can’t stop listening to it.”

“It’s a good song. A good feel good song!” She cheered, excited. “I never would have thought you’d like this, though.”

“I love a good feel good song,” he said. She just nodded, smiling and chilled for a little longer, singing along with the song and dancing by herself. It was a little weird for Henry and Jasper to see, but Jasper immediately realized that Uncle Roscoe was right! The music made Charlotte different! 

Now, she was heading to the store, but she was pulling up her own playlist, because she felt like dancing around as she cleaned up the store. Henry smiled at her on the camera and said, “This is an adorable version of Char,”

“She’s always adorable,” Jasper said, watching her, enthralled. 

Charlotte was glad for the dance party of one. She had been so stressed about letting Jasper down, trying to be his friend, trying to avoid him, trying to forget his lips and hands - she had forgotten to just enjoy herself. How lucky was it that Uncle Roscoe put Jasper onto such great music? And Jasper LIKED it? That just made him more likeable! Ugh. She was gonna groan about it, but Never Knew Love Like This Before by Stephanie Mills came on and she was right back in the feel good zone.

.

Charlotte had taken to starting her days with some feel good music, because everyday around Jasper was a struggle. She found that even when he said something frustratingly stupid, she still thought he was cute. Somehow, his ignorance was tolerable to her and even somewhat charming? She looked at him do something ridiculous and think - look at this cinnamon roll. Ugh! She hoped that whatever was going on was reversible. Until then, music therapy should do the daily trick. Today, she began her day with Square Biz by Teena Marie, which brought her mother in to jam with her for a little while and volunteer to do her hair while they hung out, singing and stuff. They didn’t often, so that was a super plus of the day. She came out of the house in the highest spirits that she had been in, in weeks.

She had two braids with puffs at the end, with some charms braided in. She had worn some makeup. Her outfit was clutch. Honestly, she was slaying, and she felt amazing heading to the bakery. The guy at the bakery saw her and almost burned himself on the oven. She pretended not to see as she fought a smile. He quickly caught himself and got her order prepared. She said, “I’m in a really good mood, so I’ll also take an assorted box of kolaches and donuts for my work. Surprise me with the flavors…” 

They were both distracted by this music outside. Everybody in the bakery looked to see where it was coming from. “Is that Pretty Brown Eyes by Mint Condition?” Charlotte asked herself out loud, right before the doors opened and Jasper came in, singing the song. 

“Pretty brown eyes, You know I see you. It's a disguise the way you treat me. You keep holding on to your thoughts of rejection. If you're with me you're secured…”

“What?” She asked herself, frozen in place at… whatever…  this was. She loved that song. There was a whole ass band outside. “Uncle Roscoe…” She said, when she saw him and his friends playing Jasper’s music. Henry was there, recording with his phone. She smiled at the clerk and pretended that they weren’t there for her. She grabbed her order, forced a smile at her friends and tried to pass by. Henry took her order and Jasper continued to sing to her. 

“You keep telling me that your time is always taken, But I keep seeing you out alone. Listen to love; Your heart is pounding with desire waiting to be unleashed…”

As he did, she tried not to blush and laugh. She walked out, and it was louder out there, with the band playing music, but Jasper’s determined self was following her and singing, much like some kind of 90’s music video. She couldn’t help but be impressed and he was a pretty good singer too.

They’d really missed out, not letting him finish his songs during the musical curse. He danced around her, singing the lyrics and she couldn’t help but bop to the music. 

“Quit breakin' my heart 

Breakin' my heart, yeah (pretty brown eyes, Uncle Roscoe was singing backup and playing his instrument)

Breakin' my heart, yeah

Breakin' my heart, sugar, yeah, yeah”

She LOVED this song! Whenever Jasper neared the end of his song, she was pretty much weak and he was so fine, and this took so much work and wasn’t she WORTH this kind of trouble? Jasper sure thought so. Maybe he was worth a little trouble too. Maybe he was worth the risks she worried about. That high pitched, “Quit breaking my heart!” Was her sign. She grabbed him, pulled him to her and started kissing him. Henry cheered him on, and Uncle Roscoe returned a favor of calling out, “Get it, Lil’ Nephew!”

Henry sniffled, “I’m so proud, right now.”

Charlotte pulled back, laughed, shook her head and told Jasper, “You’re crazy. Remember, when it sucks, you insisted on this. Now… You’ve got me.”

He looked towards the band and yelled, “We did it, Uncle Rox! She’s mine!” 

She rolled her eyes, grabbed his hand and pulled him down the street. Henry stopped recording and looked at the band, “Ummm… Well… You gentlemen, and ladies have a good day.” He caught up with his friends, holding the breakfast while they held hands and smiled at each other the whole time. “Feeling left out,” Henry said.

“You’ll pull through,” Charlotte told him. 

Jasper just laughed and gave her a kiss on the temple. “You are so pretty,” he told her. Then, with a big smile, “I can’t believe that I’m this lucky!” 

[melyaliz]

Mission Hoodie

Summary: Britney wasn’t jealous of Renee, she just wanted her to shut up. Based on this story  By @royslittleharper 

Notes: The Kids are back! based off Just some fun with the kids 

Britney is Dick’s Kid 

The Triplets (Red, May, and Antonette) are Bart’s kids. 

Collin is Roy’s kid 

"is it hot in here or is it just me?"

"Excuse me?" Renee turned to see Red fanning himself as he looked around, the hall empty except for the two kids. 

"Is it hot in here...?"

"I'm not interested,” The older teenager said waving her hand as if shooing a fly, “in case you didn't know I already have a boyfriend plus... you're too young for me."

"What... oh no I meant physically hot in this school. Although I AM pretty good looking."

Maybe it was a trick of the light but for a moment the older girl thought she saw his eyes glow red. Maybe it was hot in here. She could feel herself starting to sweat.

"Whatever loser" she mumbled turning back to her locker as she rolled up her sleeves. Then glancing back at the boy she noticed he was still standing there looking at her.

"Ok, bye..." she said making a shoo motion with her hand.

"Oh well I had another question.... so I know you're in cheer and my sister May in too and..." he started to prattle on but Renee couldn't handle it. It really was getting really hot in here. It was the middle of December and the school had a heating system that was known for always breaking down. But maybe it was the opposite of broken… like working too good. Regardless it was boiling.

Pulling off her hoodie she slung it around her arm as she pulled out her books.

"Hey Renee" her nemesis Britney said walking down the hall. Dark hair pulled up in a ponytail that seemed to bounce with her steps. Oddly cheery. Rolling her eyes Renee reached for her hoodie so she could make sure the other girl could see she still had it. However, it wasn’t on her arm, glancing down she noticed she had dropped it. Bending down she picked it up once she had retrieved her garment she noticed the red-haired boy was gone. 

Suddenly the temperature felt normal again, even a little chilly. Giving a shiver Renee quickly pulled on her hoodie again.

Weirdo’s, she would never understand why Collin hung around them. 

-10 minutes earlier-

"Ok plan shut Renee up or SRU is in motion," Britany said as they gathered her small team a few feet away from the girl who was at her locker at the moment.

She was dressed in Collin's hoodie, the same hoodie she had been bragging about all week. An endless stream of how cool she was because she got to wear "golden boy's hoodie". Flaunting how good she looked in it making sure to talk extra loud about how adorable she looked in it. She had even “accidentally” snapchatted Britney a selfie of her in it.

“Woops, lol wrong person ;P” she had said on the second picture of herself in that damn hoodie. The young Grayson almost threw her phone across the room. What the actual hell was wrong with that girl? Who even cares about a hoodie?

Knowing Collin’s cleaning habits it probably smelled anyway.

So as retaliation Britney had gone out and gotten about 20 identical hoodies (It had taken her all night and more money than it should but this was war). With the help of Lisa, who seemed to be friends with EVERYONE at the school, she passed them out to a ton of girls. Basically starting a trend and totally confusing Collin, who still didn’t know where his hoodie had gone.

But watching Renee fume all day was worth it.

That was until she started reminding everyone how SHE had the original. Which made no sense to most of the girls since they didn’t know what “the original meant” but Britney knew.

So mission SRU had begun.

Not that Britney cared who Collin gave his clothes too. But Renee was annoying so anyway to shut her up or make her look like the idiot she was was a win for Britney.

Yep, this was all about Renee.

‘More like BIJ’ Antoinette sent to her siblings telepathically as she blew a bubble with the gum she had been chewing.

‘Huh?’ May asked brow furrowed in confusion at the acronym.

‘Britney is jealous’

The girl in question turned to the triplets as the brother of the triplets laughed out loud.

“Are you guys listening to me?”

“Yep!”

“Of course”

“Ai Ai Captain”

There was a part of Britney that knew when they all flashed her that identical smile there was trouble brewing. Not to mention how easily it took to convince them to help her. Normally it took more convincing as well as TONS of focus to keep those three on one task.

"Ok, so we all know the plan?"

"I get her to take off her jacket while May climbs up behind her Spiderman style and makes the switch," Red said nodding shoving his hands in his baggy ripped jeans. speaking of cleaning habits Britney slightly wondered if those were the same pair he had been wearing all week.

"And I'm the lookout while you go by and distract her" Antoinette added blowing another bubble before defiantly popping it and chewing loudly as if making some unspoken point. Her handheld beeped as she killed another Zombie in her game. Eyes never leaving it the screen. Maybe she wasn’t the best for lookout, but she also could get to them the fastest (having her father’s speed and everything)

"Perfect" Britney smiled almost sinisterly as she let out a cackle, "now fly my pretties, fly!"  

-After the heist --

"Got it," May says waving the hoodie like a flag as she fell from the ceiling.

Britney laughed taking it from May, it still had that faint... Collin smell. Idiot probably never washed it and just doused it with cologne.

“Are you smelling it?” Antoinette’s eyes, for the first time today, were not on her game but on Britney who instantly pulled the hoodie away from her face.

“No! I mean… it reeks” she held it out for the younger girl to smell. “Smell”

“I’m good thanks.”

“I wanna smell,” May said moving toward Britney.

“How do you even know what our leader smells like?” Red asked winking at Antoinette who flashed him that mischievous Allen smile that Britney knew all too well before blowing another bubble.

She didn’t get to answer however because of her -human normal NOT hero- friend Vanessa walked up. Red frowned before grabbing May’s arm.

“Time to go”

“What! I want to smell… oh fine.” she mumbled cutting herself off as Red obviously said something to her telepathically. Antionette was already gone. Probably hiding so she could finish her game without any interruption.

“Hey, Britney? Can I talk to you for a sec?”

“We were leaving,” Red said as he pulled his sister away. Vanessa smiled waving at the two-thirds of the triplets before turning back to Britney.

“What’s up?” Britney asked noticing her friend’s nervous fighting.  

“I… I wanted to. I kind of have this thing for Collin.”

“I’m sorry.” Britney couldn’t help but laugh unsure why this really concerned her. Or maybe this is what friends did. She had never really had many friends outside of her “Family” until Lisa had told her she needed to branch out. “For your own survival, you need people to have your back.” her oh so wise cousin had informed her. 

"I mean... I know you guys have this complicated relationship." Vanessa continued glancing up at her friend who seemed confused by the confession. Or at least the level of comfort it was causing Vanessa.

"It's not complicated, we hate each other"

"Sure... anyway I value our friendship more than a crush..."

"I don't care if you want to go for it."

"Really? Or are you just saying that because your Britney"

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing"

"Honestly, go for it. In fact... here" Britney held out a rather tattered version of the hoodie she had brought to school the other day. She didn’t need to say anything else. Vanessa knew it was “The Original” It wasn’t like Britney and Renee hadn’t been obsessing over it for the past week. Those two were the worst when it came to Collin.

"But... I already have one..." Vanessa wasn’t about to get into World War 3 with those two girls. She just happened to like the guy but she wasn’t ready to go into nuclear war over his article of clothing.

"Yeah but this one is special" Then again, Britney wasn’t one to say no to. Better hedge her bets with team Britney and take the gesture for what it was.

"Ok"

"Besides, poor Collin has been cold all day he may need one."

Tagging: @royslittleharper @pinkwitch21 @the-shadow-of-atlantis @coffee-randomness @daisyboobear @werewitchling @nightwing-rules @jayne-writes  

[aleatoryalarmalligator]

About Me - Life Story Part 1

Dear tumblr,

Every few years I introduce myself in some fashion, just to keep an updated version of myself current. This year i decided to retry giving an elaborated, but still somewhat brief outline of my life story so far. I did this a few years ago, and i probably did it better back then - but i didn’t finish. And i lost half of it and the rest is on a computer i don’t really use anymore. I will write this saga in segments as to not to explode the heads of anyone who wants to read it by taking up too much time at once, or overdoing information, and it give myself time to go through the different parts. So here goes part 1.

My name is Renee Clariss Sanborn. I was born and raised in rural northern Idaho in a town called Kendrick that was ¼ meth town, ¼th Garth Brooks/hunters/trucker land, 1/4th early 1900's antiquity, and ¼ woods with no people. My house was an antique historical monument that my father bought for my mother so they could fix up based on my mother's fantasies of fixing it up to be a place where socialites from all over the world might visit (nothing of the sort ever happened). The home even has it's own wikipedia page – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kirby_House . I have two younger siblings, a brother and a sister, and two older half sisters, and 11 nieces and nephews, and two great nephews. I have a number of uncles and aunts too, but other than my grandmothers, I really have not spent a lot of time with most of them.

My father and mother met in a factory. My mom, Sandra, was very pretty and had spent most of her young life in an abusive marriage to her first husband. My father, Dave, was a failed musician, turned body builder, turned cocaine dealer. After a few years of a rocky relationship, my mother ended up getting pregnant, so my father stayed with her mostly based on that fact, and when I was three they moved us all out to Kendrick, with a population of 300 people.

My mom grew up near Couer de' Alene Idaho to a highly sociopathic and abusive father who made her and her mom and brother's lives hell. She also likely contracted lead poisoning since she lived for much of her time in a town called Smelterville where there has been very heavy lead poisoning due to the mines and stuff around that area. I don't really know what my mother was like when she was young other than she tended to follow boys around, soccer, and she sewed her own clothing. She did some modeling at a college for a short period, posing nude for artists to paint, though she never did go to college herself. My grandmother didn't like that and forced her to stop. My mom's first boyfriend took her up to Alaska when she was seventeen while they were building pipelines. She worked as a waitress at a strip club. She had my oldest sister up there, and shortly after her boyfriend ditched her. My mother refuses to say much about this time period, but from stories I have gathered from my family, the owner of the club was also a pimp, and he raped my mother and beat her and my sister Maria, and tried to force her to be a prostitute. I don't know the details of this situation, but when her and Maria escaped and came back to Idaho, they were both severely malnourished and bruised from head to toe.

My mom didn't really get along with the rest of her brothers and her own mom, and was a bit of the black sheep of the family. She moved down to Lewiston Idaho with Maria when she was nineteen. My mom, being apparently clueless, married the first man she saw in the first bar she applied to be a waitress on her first day looking for work in Lewiston. He was a very rich, older abusive drunk of a man. She stayed with him as a housewife for several years throughout the eighties, had my second half sister Roxanne, and eventually after ten years of marriage, she left him. A month later, she was working at the bullet manufacturing company and she met my dad.

My mom never really has felt love for men at all. She sees them as dumb creatures who are also dangerous who can pay your bills for you if you look good enough. So, that's how that worked out. My dad for whatever reason bought the shtick and after a few years of an on again off again relationship, and after finally having broken up permanently, was told that my mother was pregnant. Since my dad was kind of a fifties guy, he married my mom out of duty, and because he wanted to get out of disco-drug culture but didn't know how. So my existence was what more or less gave him reason to start life anew.

My dad never really knew his father. He has one very vague memory he says, of being in a highchair and seeing his father screaming at him because he would not eat the baby food on the spoon. My father's father, my grandfather I am told, was a very angry and abusive guy. They all lived in southern California. My grandfather Robert was a sailor, and my grandmother Betty who's father was a member of the mafia, but we never knew who he really was (a different story for a different day), was raised by nuns and for her entire life, both chain smoked continuously, and was absolutely phobic of just about everything. For this reason, she never learned to drive. She would cry hysterically when it rained. She talked the way fifties women should talk, only she had a slightly more baby-talk way of speaking. Anyway, my grandfather was a very physically abusive man, and it's been suggested that he was probably bipolar. But he didn't really live long enough to figure much out. He was hit by a drunken semi driver who went in the wrong lane. And so my father and his family packed up and moved to Lewiston Idaho.

My dad grew up without a father, and so he followed his older brother Bob around, who was and is highly intelligent and also quite criminal. There was always a rivalry between him and Bob, with Bob always being jealous of Davy. This is only notable, in that it came to shape who my father was. My dad was one of those very simple 50's boys who actually needed a father in his life. I don't believe that all boys 'need' dads, and I think that can be a very outdated idea that implies that male influence is better than women's, or that family structures have to have that patriarchy in them. But my dad longed for a male figure to look up to. Behind a lot of his attitude throughout his life, I think that underneath it all he is still trying to live up to some invisible male expectation that was never laid out for him.

In the late 60's, my dad became one of the few kids in the town of Lewiston to be a hippie. This was a very big deal, and he got into a lot of fights for it, for having long hair. He did LSD over three hundred times before he turned 17. He became a bassist in a band that played a sort of New York Dolls style of music, though they mostly did covers. After high school they toured all over the north west and were considered quite a popular act in their day, considering the scarcity of that kind of music in the inland north west. After three or four years however, the entire band had gotten very much into drugs, and were not able to keep a tight ship. My dad has always been sort of a fool about people. He cannot tell when people are his friends, he tends to act in a way to play all his cards. He also is very extroverted, at times quarrelsome and overbearing. So they likely started to play him like a fool. My father bought most of the instruments and speakers with money he inherited when he was 18 from a trust fund set up because of his father's death. They stole his instruments and they kicked him out of the band.

He cut his hair and at some point developed a taste for body building and Huey Lewis and the News. He applied at the local bullet factory that paid well, and after ten or so years of dealing coke and being a steroids taking self centered – and most likely totally dickish asshole, he met my mother and decided that was a good idea for whatever reason. (I apologize for my thinking that my parents relationship, and my birth were terrible ideas).

So my oldest sister Maria, who is eleven years older than me has some serious mental health problems. She displays very strong signs of Borderline Personality Disorder. I am not diagnosing her per say, but from what I have read, she really does fit all the criteria. My mom for whatever reason decided to distribute love very unevenly among her children (my mother also has some serious issues). Maria had it the worst. My mother's first husband hated Maria and made her life a fearful hell, Maria's own father didn't want anything to do with her, and my father was also abusive to her. My mom would literally push Maria away when she was a child and needed a hug. This really affected Maria for the worst. She stopped going to the bathroom on the toilet, and this was when she was eight. She started lying and stealing compulsively. And my mom kept shipping Maria off to other families, other friends from work, whoever she could con into taking Maria, some of these families also being abusive. It was very clear that my mom just didn't want Maria.

My dad came into the picture, and he being an aggressive dummy – particularly in those times, would make a habit of whipping her whenever she wet herself. This went on this way till she was twelve. Maria tried to commit suicide when she was eleven by drinking a bottle of rubbing alcohol. My mom found out, but even then, my crazily cold mother didn't seem to care. My dad did care, but he and my mother were both horrible about this, and instead chalked all of this behavior up as just ways to get their 'attention' as though that were something Maria didn't deserve, and she was scolded for her suicide attempt. I honestly, for the life of me cannot understand why nobody in my family took Maria to see a mental health professional. Instead, she was further ostracized and resented until she ran off when she was fifteen.

This behavior from my mom and dad's part really goes to show what kind of cold selfish people the two of them can be. It's confusing because they are not always this cruel, there seems to be random bursts of care at random times. It's hard to explain. But I have seen this side to my parents. I use this as a reference because anything I might say from personal experience is bound to be a bias interpretation. Maria's case is clear cut abuse and I can site it to make my point when I need to.

Roxanne, my second oldest half sister had a much different life than Maria. Roxanne was very hyper and giggly. She was my mother's pride and joy. She would go on to spoil Roxanne terribly. Buying her whatever she wanted on a whim. She was considered everything Maria was not. Maria grew up with this little impish angel dancing around her, and Maria grew to hate Roxanne to the point of putting Roxanne in some very dangerous situations hoping she could get Roxanne maimed in some way. Roxanne was also one of those little children that wants to start dating when they are kindergartners. I grew up with Roxanne as a sort of role model in some ways. She always seemed really cool to me. I didn't have her energy though. I also had a different father, and was raised under different circumstances. I was always fearful where she was always foolishly fearless. She was tall and thin, where I was clumsy and pudgy. Roxanne would laugh on a roller coaster, and I would always cry. In this way, we were just very different. The similarities are mostly in our facial structure – out of all my siblings, I look like her the most I think. And I tried very hard to be a cool 90's girl like her.

When Roxanne was thirteen, her father's girlfriend sent photos of her to seventeen magazine. They accepted her, and for a short while, it looked like Roxanne was going to be a model. But at the same time, Roxanne had been sleeping with boys and partying. She was only twelve when she started doing this. I remember very vividly that we shared a room. Roxanne would always torture me in some fashion, but then she would wait till she thought I was asleep, and she would climb out the window and off into the night to go do god knows what. I never told on her.

So, at age twelve, she got pregnant. It was kept as a secret from my father for a time, but then he found out and all hell finally broke loose completely in the family. My father didn't feel like Roxanne had any business raising children and thought she should put the baby up for adoption. Roxanne wanted to keep the baby and my mother stood by her on this decision. On top of this, my mother had stopped working for a few years around this time and had ran up 80,000 dollars in debt – mostly on things you order on television and clothing for Roxanne. So my dad was working constantly trying to keep up with my mom's spending. She simply would not stop. They had half finished fixing up the old house, but it was clear at this point that half done was all it would ever be. Also, my mom had my brother and sister as babies around that time, so that added to the stress of it all. Maria had caused fights until she moved away to live with her boyfriend. I had had a brother William who, due to a drunken doctor, was born brain dead and died five days later in the hospital. This loss kind of ruined my parent's marriage. It was all just crumbling.

So there was a bitter war in the house, and general tension that my dad would explode. Roxanne had grown to hate my father for being the meathead who tried to keep a patriarchal order in the home who called the cops on her when she ran off to do drugs for days at a time. My mother resented my father because he didn't like her spending, because he talks constantly and over everyone else (he still does), and he never seemed to listen at all, and by this time it was clear that I was his favorite person in the family, so at six, though I was not aware of it at the time, I was resented by my sister and my mom.

So, what happened next, during this time was, Roxanne made up a story that my father had molested her when she was young. It was shocking, and it caused a lot of problems for my personal morals – not knowing the truth of the situation until I got much older and Roxanne confessed that she lied. This basically made my father evil in my mother's eyes. So, she kicked him out of the house. And then my mother drove off to party. My dad was living in a camper somewhere at this time, working three jobs, still paying the bills. Roxanne had accused him of the most foulest crime ever. It was really something.

At this point, I want to take a step back though and explain that even though this sounds bad, and in some ways for me it was, I personally did not live this life that everyone else had chosen for themselves. My personal world was quite magical and I was not fully affected by the circumstances in my family.

From my perspective, my mother was always distant. This might have affected the kind of nurturing person I am, or rather, am not. I felt very distant from my own femininity because I didn't really get allowed in the female circle of my family. I was pushed away, and this essentially made my father the major influencer over me. I am not like other girls. I don't know why, but I think it is because of my mother's lack of involvement with me whatsoever after age three. She didn't play with me, hug me, or talk to me. I remember her as a silent statue while my father just blabbered and blabbered. It may be one of those mysterious favoritisms my mother has, but it might have simply been that she resented that my dad loved me more than he did her or her other daughters. In any case, it wasn't my fault. She favored Roxanne over me, and so having been rejected by the mother figure, I went to my dad for reassurance. This kind of set the stage I think for how I am able to fit in in female social circles as a whole. I have female friends in my life, but they are never like other female friends. And the girls I hang out with have always been social outcasts. And I usually feel like an outcast even to them.

However, my mother was good at providing me with a sort of homemade way of living. She sewed half my clothes, which were generally frilly old fashioned outfits. Half my toys were actually antiques. I was taught to pick up after myself. I became quite organized. Breakfast was made for me every morning on an antique tray, that I would take into my antique table, and chair, and I would eat my meal and then put it outside the door. I was very self sufficient when I was young and I never got bored. The bread we ate was homemade. She was really good this kind of thing. I think growing up in an old house, with a wood stove, with old fashioned furniture, clothing, living in a town of old fashioned brick buildings with old men that still dressed like it was the 20's gave me this really strong sense of bygone eras. I was somewhat immersed in antiquity from a young age.

My best friend in the world growing up was actually my grandma. Until age five, my phobic chain-smoking afraid-of-everything grandma lived in a few upstairs rooms in the house. She always owned cats. She always smelled like cigarettes. I would visit her just about every other day and we would watch Bob Ross, and Mr. Rogers. I used to hold her hand and push on her big mushy veins. When the weather was bad, my mom and dad would not let me near her door, knowing that she was secretly crying in fear. I only found out later what was happening. She had two cats, Stanley and Booker. My father hated cats back then, and he resented her love of animals. My grandma Betty, and my mother however, did not get along. My dad didn't agree with either one of them, but they put him in the middle of their squabble. Eventually, my grandma moved to live with my dad's younger brother Steve. It was very hard for me, and my family didn't tell me till she already moved.

I had a lot of structure when I was young. I do remember the sorrow in the house when William died. That kind of changed things. But everyone was quite nice to me, aside from Roxanne, who delighted in picking on me. I had a friend up the street named Colt, who would come to my house and we would make mudpies. There was a public pool that was open in the summers, and a creek that ran through the town. It was a beautiful place to grow up when you were very small. The old people that my grandma Betty would sometimes visit down at the diner would always dote over me, in my antique style dresses my mother sewed for me. I remember these days very positively.

I mostly looked forward to my father coming home after work. I used to eat dirt for some reason and I think I got worms at some point for this. I found scissors one time as well, and I chopped half my hair off. My mother had to chop off the other side to make it even, and I cried thinking I looked just like a boy. I used to play games where I made ants have competitions to see which one could live the longest in water. It was probably the meanest thing I ever did. I was generally a very calm and well behaved child. There were only three times I ever got into trouble. The first one was, I decided I wanted to be a black person. I am not sure at all where this came to me. I just felt that I should be black. I didn't know anyone who was black. I just thought black skin looked better. I just felt like my family didn't understand me for this. I decided I was going to change my skin color with dirt. I realize this story might seem kind of racist to anyone reading it, but I am attempting to just be honest about what happened, I was four and I didn't mean anything at all to be insulting, other than having an honest need to change the color of my skin. I wasn't trying to be funny. I seriously thought mud would do the trick somehow. I got naked, went outside, filled up a basin with mud, and completely soaked myself in it. Then I proceeded to walk around covered from head to toe in mud naked in broad daylight down the street. My father came home from work, he saw me and I not only got hosed down with cold water that made me cry, I also got whipped. My dad is racist too, so he probably indoctrinated me with some terrible bullshit to defer me from wishing I had dark skin.

Aside from my mother buying things online, she also would buy animals we could not take care of, birds, fish, iguanas, cats, dogs, pigs. We'd keep them for a short while, before they would eventually die or we would have to get rid of them. She never would talk to my dad about it at all. She would just wake up one morning and buy the animal. My dad would come home and there we would have three iguanas, or a new dog, or whathaveyou. We had a pig for a short time named Angie. Angie was my friend. I would pet her and feed her popcorn. She was a very sweet little pig. Eventually my father got rid of her, selling her to essentially be slaughtered. After this I refused to eat meat. I didn't know that meat was animal flesh until that point where it was explained to me by Roxanne, and it took a a lot of firm punishment to get me to eat meat after that. I eventually did of course go back to the brainwashed world of meat eating, but I never really forgot it entirely, which is why I eventually went vegan as an adult as soon as I was able to as an adult.

The third thing I did was uncharacteristic of me and shocked my family. My best friend Colt had a cousin named Carrie. Carrie was very well liked by the adults. All the kids wanted to play with her. She lived far away, so her visitation was also taken as a celebration. Even Roxanne liked her over me. She said so herself. I remember sitting off away from everyone else by the trees. Carrie wasn't mean to me or anything, but I remember feeling like I needed to set things right in some way. I felt like Carrie threatened my place I guess. I was instantly left out the second she came to visit. I was a very introverted child and I didn't know how else to get attention other than to be at the right place at the right time. So I went and found a big stick. It might have been Carrie's birthday, I cannot quite remember. I walked straight up to her friendly smiling face, and I remember mindlessly whacking her as hard as I could in the face with the stick. The funniest thing about this incident is that I was not mad at Carrie. I did not do this aggressive thing because I was mad at her. I remember feeling compelled, but not by strong emotions. Which was why I was equally confused when everyone around me began scolding me. It even confused me why Carrie was crying. Nobody could understand why I did what I did. I didn't feel guilty because I didn't understand it either. It just happened. Everyone around me was angry at me or in shock. I just felt confused by the entire event.

A week before I started school, my friend Colt (who moved at the end of that summer), convinced me to put a bead up my nose. I remember it very well. It was a pretty red sparkly one. I put it up my nose, and I could not get it out. Eventually Roxanne found out, then my mother. Everyone did everything they could but it was lodged into the very back of my nostril at this point. So I was driven forty miles to the hospital, where they used some strange doctor's equipment and pulled it out. I remember feeling very relieved. A week later, I turned five. My father found this obscure Japanese cartoon that I fell in love with – which just so happened to be Totoro.  They took me all the way up to Spokane to Chucky Cheese (which wasn't really as fun as I had hoped – all the kids seemed really wild and the pizza was sub par). It felt like the rites of initiation.

Anyway, school officially sucked. Kindergarten was probably the hardest year of school I ever had. My grandmother had moved away. Maria had moved out, and despite being a pain to the family or whatever, she was actually quite sweet to me, always letting me look at her stuff, she would read the bible to me, teach me cheesy songs by guns 'n' roses. I didn't really know about how often she stole, or lied. I didn't know about the orgies or how she ripped up her papers in class. I thought Maria was a beautiful princess. Anyway, she was gone. My grandmother had moved. Colt moved away as well. He had been my best friend for two yeas of my short life, and he was gone. I had just gotten a bead pulled out of my nose.

Maria had me watch Crybaby for the first time. I was enchanted. At five I was madly in love with Johnny Depp in Crybaby. I didn't see it as a satire, or a comedy. I thought of it as a really intense romance. I was absolutely obsessed and consumed by any passion that a very little girl that I was could possibly feel for someone. I was probably more in love with Johnny Depp than my parents had ever been with each other if I am going to be honest. My mom, though obsessed with her boyfriends, has never actually been in love at all. I am not sure she really actually likes men, or trusts them. And my father is not a romantic person. I think by definition he would be considered aromantic by scales of sexuality/gender/and romantic inclination. He just sees utility in human interaction and no poetry at all. I kept trying to draw Johnny Depp over and over. I also by extension thought Elvis was pretty nice too. It was never good enough. I was a bit of a perfectionist. I remember crying because my drawings kept looking like a typical ungifted child's drawings. I wanted to make adult art. I was not capable of it. I remember the frustration. But it was this early age that I decided I wanted to grow up to be creative. I realized that with art, you can take the beautiful things in the actual world, and you can insulate them and pack them together into music, stage, words, and pages of lines and color. And you can study those beautiful things and work with them in their purity in a way that life rarely provides the opportunity for.

[lovelyparanormalbooks]

Book Blitz: The Boy I Hate by Taylor Sullivan (Excerpt + Giveaway)

The Boy I Hate Taylor Sullivan Publication date: August 12th 2017 Genres: New Adult, Romance

Samantha Smiles and Renee Montgomery have been best friends for over a decade. They’ve shared laughs, secrets, and a mutual hatred for one person: Tristan Montgomery, Renee’s older brother. He was the guy every girl wanted, and every guy wanted to be, and it wasn’t uncommon they’d befriend his little sister just to get closer to him. Which was exactly how Samantha became Renee’s saving grace. She was the only girl Renee could trust not to fall in love with her older brother. Until the one night Samantha spent with him alone, leaving her questioning everything she’d ever known about the blond headed heart-throb. Years later, Renee asks Samantha to be her maid of honor. With no other option, Samantha is forced to drive cross-country with the focus of their teenage ire. He was her first kiss. Her only secret. Can Samantha survive the trip cross-country with the reckless Tristan Montgomery? The guy who did what he wanted, whenever he wanted, without worry for tomorrow? Or will she discover a different side of him. One that’s sweet, funny, and maybe a little bit vulnerable. And fall completely and helplessly in love for the first time in her adult life with the one man who could cause her to lose her best friend forever?

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

She looked down to the parking lot, seeing his Mustang still parked below, and knew she was about to lose it. She headed for her own room, placed the breakfast on the nearby table, then rid of every last drop of patience, began pounding on Tristan’s door. “Wake up you lazy bastard! Wake up, or I swear to God I’ll beat this door down with my fists.” A large boom sounded from inside the room, and Samantha smiled with satisfaction as she continued to pound. “That’s right,” she whispered. “Get up you lazy ass—” But before she could finish her sentence, the door was yanked out from under her. She stumbled forward, barely able to catch her footing, and slammed face first into warm, solid, skin. She froze, because the glimpse she caught on the way down wasn’t one she ever thought she’d see. It was a very large, very bare, and very “Good morning” version of Tristan Montgomery. “Please tell me you’re not naked,” she whispered, but it was mostly to herself, because she didn’t really need him to answer. She squeezed her eyes shut, took one step backward, and turned around. They both stood there, quiet and still, and she tried to recover her heart. The sight of Tristan in nothing more than his birthday suit left her feeling dizzy. She’d seen many naked men in her days, though until now, the only one she’d seen in person was Steven. Especially this close up. “Well?” he finally asked, when she remained silent. Well? Well… Tristan was much…larger than Steven. Much larger in every way imaginable. She cleared her throat, knowing her voice would’ve cracked otherwise. “It’s ten in the morning,” she answered with more confidence than she felt. “And?” But his voice was thick and husky, and she could swear he was having as difficult a time recovering as she was. “It’s time to go.” “Is it?” “Yes,” she said, hating how the tone of his voice sent a shiver down her spine. “And you should really put some clothes on. The people of Utah don’t want to see…that.” He chuckled, but shifted slightly behind her. “Hate to break it to you sweetheart, but a lot of people want to see that.” She cringed, because she knew it was true. Like in high school, she knew women lined up to catch the barest glimpse of Tristan. He moved quietly behind her, his steps so soft you’d never know they came from a man of his size. “You can turn around now.” She raked her teeth over her bottom lip, taking the very corner and chewing it before turning to face him. He still had no shirt on, his feet were bare, but he wore a pair of old gray sweats resting so low on his hips you could tell he wasn’t wearing anything underneath. “Aren’t you freezing?” she asked, feeling a shiver run through her own body. “No,” he said, leaning against the doorway and crossing his feet at the ankles. A tiny grin teased at the corner of his mouth, and she knew he was having too much fun at her expense. She turned toward the Mustang, not attempting to hide her irritation. “I brought you breakfast,” she said quickly. “That’s nice of you.” “It’s not nice. Just my way of getting your lazy ass out of bed.” He threw his head back with laughter. “Are you always this pleasant in the morning?” Pressing her lips together, she wasn’t about to let him to pull her into another argument. “We need to go,” she said, turning on her heels and opening the door to her room. She walked inside, hoping the action would give him the hint to do the same. “I’ll have your breakfast waiting for you in the car.” But before she closed the door, she could swear she caught him smiling. “My God.” she whispered, resting her forehead against the wall, taking in all the air she’d forgotten to take over the last two minutes. “Three more days. Just three more days of Tristan Montgomery.” She repeated the last words over and over, gathered up the rest of her belongings, and headed for the car.

Author Bio: Taylor is mom of three young (or not so young) children she loves more than life. She runs them around endlessly, hoping she looks presentable enough to be out in public, and day dreams about fictional characters. Maybe she's crazy, or maybe she craves the barbie games she played as a little girl a little too much, but that's where her stories are born. It's where they blossom, and grow, and eventually breath life on the page of her stories. She'd love to hear from you. (Or I'd love to hear from you. I wrote this in 3rd person to sound cooler)

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