Chapter 0006

"Four!" Kate squealed, causing Hale to laugh. "Holy, shit... You mean like one, two, three, four… the number four… Four brothers."

Talon groaned, looking at me in disapproval, "why does it matter how many of us there are?"

"Oh, well because there are these things called a four–" I slapped my hand over her mouth, staring at her in shock as I shook my head no. As much as I tried to muffle what she was about to say when I looked back at Talon and Hale, they wore shocked expressions.

"We have to be going… have a great day!" I had never pushed a cart so fast in my life. The embarrassment of the situation making my face red as Kate laughed hysterically from behind me. I wasn't mad at her, on the contrary, I was intrigued by the idea she was proposing.

Talon and Hale looked incredible and more than once I wanted to reach out and touch them. Shaking my head, I tried to wipe the thought from my mind. I couldn't allow myself to get caught up in those kinds of ideas. There was no way that was right by any means.

They may not have been related to me by blood or marriage, but they still were raised by my step-mother.

I made a point to quickly move myself and Kate through the store, trying to avoid running into Talon or Hale again. Every corner I took I found myself looking over my shoulder to make sure they weren't right behind me.

"Thank you again for bringing me back here. I had an awesome time this afternoon."

I looked to Kate as I popped the trunk slowly helping her grab bags out, "I had fun too."

"Hey, let me see your phone. I'll put my number in there so we can keep in contact."

The offer was warm. I hadn't had close friends in a long time. The only person I used to hang out with when I lived in Georgia was Mary, and she moved away overseas our senior year when her father got stationed at a base in Germany.

"That would be cool. Are you sure you don't want help taking the stuff upstairs?" I asked, her watching her fill her rucksack and grab a bunch of bags.

"No, I have it. But I will see you on Monday. Meet me at the small coffee shop in the middle of campus. We can grab coffee before orientation at nine."

By the time Kate and I said goodbye, I was feeling more comfortable with how things went with us. Driving home, I parked the car in the garage, and took out the small collapsable wagon I purchased from the trunk. I loaded all of my groceries and a few small appliances I purchased and made my way towards the cabin.

As soon as I got close, however, I felt like I was being watched. Spinning around, I watched Damian strolling down the path after me and quickly I turned making haste to get inside my home before he could say anything to me.

The last thing I wanted was to hear his mouth again. He was doing nothing but getting on my last nerve. "Ivy!" He yelled at me as I pulled the wagon inside and attempted to close the door.

His hand coming up to stop me, he pushed his way inside, his blue eyes staring down at me with anger. "I know you heard me."

"Yeah, I did. Now get out." I snapped back trying to get him to leave.

"No, you need to learn that you can't just leave and not tell anyone." He retorted as if I was a child who needed permission to leave.

"Excuse me? I am an adult, and I will do as I please. Now get out of my house."

"Your house? I think you will find that this is all part of my home, and I will come and go as I wish." If I didn't think Damian could be more of an asshole than he was already, I was wrong.

"The last time I checked this was my father's home. So get the fuck out now before you do something you will regret."

A growl resonated from him and caused me to step back. I could have sworn I saw a glimmer of gold reflect in his eyes for a moment as he stepped closer towards me.

"Watch who you speak to like that. I would hate to have to show you who is in charge around here."

Something about the way he said what he did sent shivers straight to my core. Damian was incredibly sexy and everything about him drew me in. I wasn't a virgin, but I was not very experienced. The only man I had slept with was at senior prom, and he barely lasted ten minutes before he was sleeping next to me.

"Don't promise something you know you can't follow through with."

My challenge seemed to spark something in him and quickly he turned and marched out of my small home, slamming the door behind him. I wasn't to sure what his problem was but at the same time, I wasn't looking to find out anymore than I had too.

Damian was dangerous and men like him were always bad news.

I had four years to spend here, and with everything I had going on, I needed to make sure I didn't ruffle feathers. I didn't want to show signs of weakness and have them thinking they could act however they wanted to with me, but at the same time, I didn't want to cause more problems for myself than need be.

With a sigh I tried to not think to much on everything and pulled the wagon towards the kitchen, unloading things into the few cabinets and the fridge. I had to make this place feel as much as home as possible because I didn't want to have to go into the main house if I didn't need too.

One thing I found that would help with that was the exterior door to the garage on the side of the house. Which meant no longer did I need to go through the house to get to my car. Damian was making me feel uncomfortable, and I had only been here two days.

As I made a cup of coffee, I sat on the small sofa turning on the TV as I pulled out my phone. Kate had texted me, asking how things were going with the brothers again and her idea of how I could have fun with them sunk in my mind.

They were incredibly sexy and each of them had their unique mannerisms that made me want to know more. If I was going to have a chance of getting close to any though Hale and James seemed to be a lot more light hearted that Damian and Talon.

A chime on my phone caused me to look down thinking that Kate had texted me back. The only problem is that it wasn't her. It was the same number that called me earlier when I left.

'Challenge accepted, little one.'

Damian's text sent shivers through my body. I wasn't stupid. I knew exactly who sent that message, and if he thought he was going to play with me and make me leave...

Well, he would be wrong.