The Very Naughty List

12. Hailey

12

HAILEY

Reid holds my gaze for a moment, and my stomach flutters as an expression I can’t quite name passes across his face. I can feel Sebastian and Nick watching the two of us, and the warmth in my cheeks deepens as I realize how easily my words about only being a brat to Reid could be taken as flirting.

But we’re not in public right now, so there’s no reason for us to pretend to flirt… or for him to be looking at me with heat in his eyes, the way I could swear he just was a second ago.

Then Reid clears his throat and shifts his gaze away from me, breaking whatever that moment between us was.

I’m still reeling a bit, to be honest—from the kiss, from the dates, and now from Nick hulking out on Ted and getting all protective of me before moving me in with the three of them.

But I have to admit, it feels nice to be in a familiar space with the three Cooper brothers right now, nursing a glass of whiskey instead of trying to drown out the sound of Ted’s guitar while breathing through my mouth to avoid the worst of the musty smell in his house.

I take another small sip of the amber liquid and am about to ask the guys where I’ll be staying, but before I can speak, a low growl cuts me off.

I jerk in surprise, looking over to see a big hound dog with slightly floppy ears and saggy jowls pad into the room. He’s got his eyes fixed on me, and although he doesn’t growl again, I swear his expression says something along the lines of, who the hell are you?

“Easy, Bruno. She’s our guest. Come here.”

Nick reaches out a hand to the dog, who perks up instantly and swings his head toward the burly firefighter. His nails tap against the floor as he trots quickly over to Nick and happily receives a pat on the head and some scratches behind the ears.

“Don’t take it personally, trouble.” Reid chuckles. “Bruno doesn’t like anyone. He’s only attached to Nick. He doesn’t growl at Sebastian or me anymore, but he basically just ignores us.”

“Yeah, so someday soon, you can look forward to him ignoring you too,” Sebastian jokes, topping off his whiskey. “You don’t need to worry about him biting or anything though. He’s perfectly harmless. Bruno just likes to act like a giant grumpy asshole. You know what they say about pets starting to resemble their owners.”

Nick rolls his eyes at his brother’s remark, and I watch as he leans down to let Bruno give him a big, sloppy kiss on the cheek.

“Hi, Bruno.”

I reach out a hand slowly, knuckles forward, hoping he’ll maybe give me a sniff and decide I’m not too bad. But the big hound rebukes my attempt at being friendly, making a quiet huffing noise before walking away to lay down under the large window in the living room.

Okay. I get it. I guess I can respect the feeling of not wanting to be bothered by someone you’re not sure about yet. And although I’m determined to one day make friends with Bruno, especially since I haven’t yet met an animal who hasn’t liked me, I let it go for now. I have my hands full sorting through everything else first, then I’ll try to win over Nick’s dog.

“Where will I stay?” I glance through the open doorway into the living room, and the stairs that lead to the second floor. The Cooper brothers’ house, which they inherited from their parents, is substantially larger than my folks’ house. As much as I don’t want to intrude, I’m also secretly hoping that if I’m going to be staying here, maybe I’ll have to bunk up in a room with one of them.

The thought of sharing a room, or even a bed, with one of the three brothers sends an instant thrill down my spine. It would be like playing with a live flame, considering how wildly attracted I am to all of them and how tangled up and confusing things between us have gotten ever since I returned to town and they agreed to fake date me.

It’d probably be a bad idea, but… aren’t bad ideas the most fun sometimes?

“We have a spare room,” Nick answers, immediately dashing my secret, salacious hopes. “Come on, I can show you.”

He stands up, and he and his brothers help me carry my stuff upstairs. Honestly, it’s not much, and I could carry it all myself, but there’s something about having all three of them around me at once that makes me feel like I won some sort of lottery. It’s like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold night and not wanting to get out of bed. That’s how I feel when I’m with all three of the Cooper brothers together.

I follow Nick into the bedroom, already feeling more at home here than I did at Ted’s. Their guest room is clean, neatly furnished, and has a pleasant piney smell.

“Thanks,” I say as Sebastian and Reid set down my bags on the bed. That single word doesn’t seem like enough, so I add, “You guys have gone above and beyond since I got back to town, and I owe you so much for everything you’ve done. Standing up for me, the fake dating, and now giving me a place to stay? I’m seriously never going to be able to repay you for all of this.”

“You don’t need to repay us, trouble . ” Reid takes a step closer to me, his voice taking on that bossy tone I remember well from my youth. He’s always been an interesting mix of charmingly laid back and demanding—and right now, his bossy side is out in full force. “That’s what we keep telling you. Of course we’d do all of this. We’ve gotta look out for you.”

I wince a little internally at the phrase “gotta look out for you.” It makes me feel a lot like the hot mess of a teenage girl they all once knew, crushing on them from afar and never quite having her life together.

“Well, thanks,” I say a bit lamely, feeling some of the wind come out of my sails. “It means a lot to me.”

“We’ll let you get settled in.” Nick jerks his head at his brothers in a not-so-subtle hint that it’s time to leave, and all three of them walk out together.

It’s fairly late by now, and I can feel exhaustion stealing over me. I’ve only been back for a few days, but they’ve been jam-fucking-packed. With the bedroom door closed, I sit on the edge of the bed for a few minutes, trying to wrap my mind around this new change in my circumstances before getting up to unpack my things.

Through the door, their voices muffled and distant, I can hear Nick, Reid, and Sebastian talking.

Nick is going on about what a shit hole Ted’s place was, and the other two are commenting in agreement with his quick decision to move me out of there and into their home.

I stop in the middle of pulling a few sweaters out of my suitcase, blinking back sudden tears as a rush of warmth fills me.

This is what it feels like to be taken care of .

Just being in this house gives me such a happy feeling. I can remember coming here sometimes when I was younger, tagging along with Lucas or coming for one of the parties their parents would sometimes throw.

The triplets and their older sister, Addison, were so close with their folks and I could always feel the love inside these walls, like it had somehow permeated the wood and plaster. I know how hard all four of the Cooper siblings took their parents’ deaths. I can’t even imagine going through such a sudden and unexpected trauma as that.

At least in my tattered past, no one died .

I finish unpacking quickly, and even though my eyelids are drooping and I’m starting to drag a little, I decide to hop in the shower quickly before bed. Standing under the hot water always helps relax me and usually makes me sleep better, so I grab my toiletry bag and slip out into the hall.

If I remember the layout of the house right, there are two bedrooms downstairs and three upstairs, along with two bathrooms on the second floor. One of the bathrooms is already occupied, and I can hear running water behind the closed door.

Clearly, I’m not the only one who likes a late night shower.

I pad farther down the hall, trying to keep my steps quiet without actually tiptoeing. Once I reach the second bathroom, I set my toiletries in the shower and get undressed, letting my mind wander as I step under the hot spray and breathe deeply.

It’s impossible to hold on to any tension here in this quiet bathroom, with nothing to focus on but the cascading water from the rainfall shower head and the smell of my wildflower and honeysuckle body wash.

A few humming breaths fall from my lips, and I don’t even notice the exact moment when I start singing. It just sort of happens, which isn’t unusual. I always like to sing in the shower since it’s the only place where I can sing easily without getting any stage fright.

I used to just sing unconsciously everywhere, without any fear at all. But after Dylan and all of his needling remarks about the sound of my voice, I started to freeze up under pressure anytime I had an audience listening to me. It doesn’t even matter if it’s one person or one hundred. I always choke.

That’s why singing in the shower still feels like my safe space, I guess. There’s no one in here but me and the sound of rushing water as my accompaniment.

I start to truly lose myself in it, running my hands through my wet hair as my voice gains more and more strength—but just as I’m rinsing the last of the shampoo from my hair, the lights in the bathroom flicker. Once. Twice.

Then they blink out entirely.

Shit.