Troubled with Tattoos

Chapter Thirteen:

Ducky

I grew more comfortable with the boys after we raced around till midnight. It was two o'clock in the morning and we were just putting away the karts. I still had to find a place to sleep. I hated to ask but he was the best option.

"Cam, can I crash at yours tonight?" I asked, watching as he took a drag of Austin's cigarette. He smirked with a smug look written all over his face.

"I knew you'd come around eventually." He grinned, slinging an arm over my shoulder. He smelt like smoke but I was used to it and managed to keep down my gags.

"So, come back to my place, and if you don't like it I swear I'll give you a full refund." His hair glowed in the night and his hazel eyes looked black in the dark. Luke chuckled from the side.

"He's still using those on you?" Luke asked with the boys trailing behind him.

"She's a keeper." He squeezed me into a little side hug and I could feel the air being stolen from my lungs. He let go reluctantly and I filled my lungs with air.

Austin stared with an unfamiliar look in his blue eyes. I couldn't help but scrunch my eyebrows a tiny bit in curiosity.

"Can I have that back?" Austin hissed. Cam took one last drag and handed it back to him.

We were quiet for a few minutes, just standing around. But then the same noise went off that seemed to scare only me. The same three gunshots that went off that night with Austin. 

"We need to go," Luke spoke, the look on his face was serious. The familiar feeling from back at the car garage that night came back. 

The boys shared a look, but it wasn't of worry or fright. Something told me they knew what was going on. They must know why there was always three shots and I was determined to find out.

I followed Cam to his car, the boys left in the other. We sped out of there fast, I nearly didn't have enough time to buckle up. I wasn't as scared as I was when I first heard the shots, maybe because now I knew I was safe with the boys.

"Who are they?" I asked. He gave me a side glance before running through a red light. I didn't know who 'they' were but I wanted to know. I wanted to know who attacked Austin that one night.

"Who?" He avoided eye contact which I made note of. He was trying to play it off as nothing.

"Don't play stupid. I know you know what's up with those gunshots." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"That was probably just some hunters, nothing to worry about." He shrugged off before giving me a sly smile.

"Hunters? There are no woods what so ever here." I couldn't help but slightly giggle at his stupid excuse. I covered it up fast. He never answered and the car filled with silence. He pulled into a small, two-storied home right behind Declan's car.

It was a cute home, their grass was probably the greenest I had ever seen. It was painted a dark red to match the neighbors.

However, I couldn't picture Camden living here. I followed the boys into the home which Declan led us to. A woman stood in the doorway of the living room who didn't resemble Cam one bit. She had a stern look on her face until she saw me.

"Violet, this is my mom. Mom, that's Violet." Declan introduced in the quickest way possible. Well, that's why she didn't look like Camden. She had long brown hair and dull silver eyes. She was aging and it left her lines on her forehead and bags under her eyes. Yet his mother's face still sparkled as she smiled brightly.

"Oh my! My baby brought home a girl?" She crushed me into a giant hug whispering something in my ear, "He's not a big hit with the ladies." I chuckled at her humor and she pulled away.

"Mom! I bring home lots of girls." Declan blushed, looking slightly mad. I could see the resemblance between the two, the long brown hair and the high cheekbones. He must look more like his father since that's all he had alike with his mother.

"Yeah, OK Ducky." She said sarcastically using the most adorable nickname I have ever heard.  I've got to remember to call him that from now on.

"Mom, we're just friends." He said getting close up in her face. He had to bend a little to reach her face. She looked disappointed but patted his back anyways. This had to have been the awkwardest situation I've ever been in.

"Yeah actually, I brought her here," Camden said making a clicking noise with his tongue. He caught me looking and winked. A blush crept upon my cheeks that I couldn't help. She rolled her eyes in return. I picked at my nails like they were the most interesting thing in the world right now. If I asked Camden to stay at his place, why'd he bring me here?

"Well, have fun then." She waved bye but then turned on her heels. I had wondered what his mother would possibly be doing at two in the morning but I stayed quiet instead. 

"Who wants to play Go Fish?" Camden said ripping open a new deck of cards. The boys groaned in annoyance as I watched the plastic rip away.

The cards spilled everywhere, a king landed on my shoe.

"I think you meant; who wants to play fifty-two pickup?" Luke laughed stepping over the cards. Camden left them there on the ground, no surprise really.

"Well, we better get going, got shit to do tomorrow," Austin spoke up grabbing his jacket off the couch. Luke followed in pursuit grabbing his keys off the coffee table.

"You're not staying?" I asked with a bit more disappointment than intended. I puckered out my bottom lip in an attempt to make then stay. 

"Did you want us too?" Luke asked almost surprised that I wanted them to stay. I nodded having a loss for words as Austin's eyes burned into mine. Do boys have sleepovers or was that against 'guy code'?

"I have air mattresses you can use." Declan offered. He marched his way up the stairs, the rest of us followed. Down the hall, there were pictures all over. I recognized most as Declan when he was younger. I couldn't help but notice he was the only child.

We were mainly quiet as we passed his parents room, but then Cam called Luke a loser for stepping on his toe causing a brawl to break out. Camden was currently in a headlock.

"Guys. Really?" Declan whisper yelled. I chuckled quietly to myself. I wondered what Ash would be like as a teenager. Would he be like Camden, a player, or maybe like Austin, mysterious? Or he could even be kind of dorky but I'd still love him.

He pushed open the door to a large bedroom. There was a twin-sized bed in the corner and another close by. Did Camden live with Declan? 

A boy who can't get a girl for the life of him and a boy who gets every girl. That's quite the combo.

His room was plain, besides the nasty posters on his walls of a half-naked woman. There were a few clothes on the floor but besides that, he kept it pretty tidy.

"Come help me with the mattress, Cam go get the extra blankets and shit," Declan ordered, taking Luke and Camden out of the room.

"Does Camden live with Declan?" I asked.

"I guess you could say that," he said scrunching his eyebrows at the thought.

"Are they related?" I asked tucking my blonde hair behind my ear. I gazed up to see Austin staring right back at me. It's a good thing it was dark in his room otherwise, he'd see the blush on my cheeks.

"No." He answered.

The boys returned before I could ask another question. They laid out the mattresses, turning on the loud machine that blew them up. One was near the door the other closer to one of the beds. There were two beds and two mattresses, that made four sleeping spots but there was five of us.

"Violet it's your lucky day," Camden grinned that grin that made me roll my eyes because I knew what was next, "you get to sleep next to me." I rolled my eyes. It'd be more uncomfortable sharing a bed with the others than it is with Cam. I wasn't close enough to other guys yet and sleeping even a foot away from Austin would keep every part of me awake.

"Oh yay," I said sarcastically. The mattresses blew up fully and came up to my knee caps. It was pretty big, if Camden laid on one side and I lay on the other, I may get to avoid that awkward closeness.

Luke ended up in Cam's bed and we laid on the mattress since it was bigger. Unfortunately, I didn't bring a blanket, that meant we'd share. I currently laid as close to the edge as possible without falling off. I've never slept in the same room as a boy besides Ash and here I was in the same bed with my friend, who was the world's biggest player and three other boys.

The mattress lifted on my side as he laid down on the other side.

"You don't have to lay so far away, I don't bite." He winked.

"You just stay on your side and I'll be good." I could trust these boys. Camden might make a lot of jokes but he had his head on straight. He wasn't a creep. He stayed on his side, which was surprising really. It was quiet for a few minutes until Camden ruined it.

"I lost my teddy bear, can I cuddle with you?" Cam asked.

"Camden, shut up." Austin glared flipping over on the air mattress. He had that same look in his eyes as before.

"Is someone jealous?" Camden teased him. My eyes widened but Austin looked unaffected.

"Violet, would you rather cuddle with me or Austin?" He pouted, sticking his thumb out at him. Austin's eyes perked up and I found myself stuck at the question.

"Neither," I answered figuring that was the safest thing.

"It just so happens that 'neither' is my new nickname," Camden smiled innocently. Austin rolled his eyes before flipping his head back so he was facing the other direction.

Did he know how good his back muscles looked? I wondered if he was secretly a player too. That thought pulled at the strings in my stomach. He was different than Camden, he barely noticed girls, yet he found me roaming the streets alone.

My mind mindlessly went back to that other night with the gunshots. What was going on that night? And tonight as well? I haven't heard anything on the news about it and Austin acted as if it didn't happen. I'll have to get it out of him somehow.

I glanced around the shared room for a while, I snuck a few peeks at Austin but I couldn't see his face. I couldn't tell if he was awake or not since he still laid facing the opposite direction. Declan snored annoyingly, Luke was sprawled out on his air mattress. Camden was half-naked, there's a surprise, and he stole the blanket. But Austin was still, he hadn't moved in the last twenty minutes which led me to think he wasn't asleep just yet.

I wanted to know what he was thinking. What went on in his mind?

I slowly opened my eyes forgetting that I stayed the night at Declan's house. I was surprised to see the boys already up, in fact, I had no idea where they went. The mattresses were empty and it was just me in here. I don't remember falling asleep or what the last thought on my mind was. But there was no doubt that it probably had to do with Austin.

There were shadows outside his door between the gap his long frame had. That must be them. I heard a few whispers but they faded away into silence. My curiosity got the best of me and I found myself getting out of bed as silent as possible.

"She keeps asking questions." I heard a whisper from outside the door. I shuffled over to the door, my feet creaking against the wooden floor. Were they talking about me? I pressed my ear to the door listening in on their private conversation.

"She can't know. When else has she been near them?" I recognized this as Luke's voice, full of authority. 

"With me, at the garage," Austin spoke, the quietest whisperer. My eyes widened in fear. He was referring to the men who showed up at the garage.

"What happened?" Luke whispered. I frowned remembering Austin telling me to run. I could nearly hear Austins short take of breath as he hesitated.

"I told her to run and she wouldn't. Next thing I know she's on Jagger's back. She got knocked out by Axel." Jagger? What kind of name was Jagger?

"We're backing out, it's official. The deal is off," I could practically see the tense look on Luke's face.

I heard them mumble something else, the jiggling of the doorknob startled me. I gasped, the shadow under the door now covered the gap. I quietly sprinted back to the bed, pretending to just be waking up. My inner actress came out and I fake yawned as I stretched my arms above my head.

"Good, your up," Camden said right as he walked through the doorway. Luke came in last, his serious face still on. I smiled pretending that I didn't just hear everything they said.

"Let's go eat, I'm starving," Declan complained as his stomach let out a roar. I ripped away the blanket that Camden stole the whole night and followed them down to the kitchen.

They had a really nice kitchen, better than Aunt Cherry's. They had all dark cabinets with granite counters, a shiny stainless steel fridge and a state of the art flat top stove. Their backsplash matched the whole dark brown theme as did the walls.

Overall I was impressed, then again I guess they would have to have a nice house if they owned a go-karting business. Declan told me that his father wasn't a businessman, he was an inventor and he designed those go-karts himself.

My stomach rumbled for the first time this morning which was apparently louder than I had thought. 

"I'll make you something." Camden piped up digging through a cabinet with pots and pans. The boys' eyes widened quickly which was quite funny to watch. I sat down on the stool in front of me.

"No!" The boys objected ripping the pan out of his hands. Camden frowned as he sulked over to me, he plopped down on the stool.

"You suck at cooking," Declan said with honesty dripping from every word. I couldn't stop the smile forming on my lips.

"Bitch, please. I'm so good at cooking that the fire alarm cheers me on." He joked and couldn't help but laugh at himself.

"They're not exactly cheering," Austin mumbled. I giggled louder than I should have and he gazed up at me.

"I'll cook, what do want?" Luke offered as he threw himself in front of the stove. Luke didn't strike me as a cooking type, let's see what he has up his sleeve.

"Pancakes?" I said turning in the stool left and right repeatedly. Luke nodded grabbing a box of pancake mix from the cabinet. All the boys felt at home here, it made me wonder how long they've all known each other.

"How long have you all been friends?" I asked curiously. They all shared glances but it didn't seem like they knew.

"Um ten years, I think." Declan was the first to speak.

"Eleven," Austin corrected, "I was 8". sitting next to me on the other stool. Being near him caused my stomach to erupt with butterflies.

"Whatever." Declan scoffed offering me a drink. I asked for water simply because I didn't know what else they had. But hey water was good right.

"Camden!" Declan's mother yelled putting her hand on her hip. Recognizing the tone in her voice, his lips curled in an 'O' shape.

"I didn't do it." He yelled back as she jogged down the stairs. He slung an arm over her shoulder casually as she gave him a look. She nodded her head at the mess of cards on the floor. He looked down a smile spreading across his face.

"Oh, you mean that? Yeah, I did do that." He admitted a little bit more proudly than he should've. She gave him another look and he sighed rolling his eyes playfully.

"I know, I know, I'll pick it up later." He whined putting his head on her shoulder.

"No, you'll pick it up now." She demanded as she pried him off her shoulder.

"Fine." He gave in bending down to pick up the cards. Declan burst out laughing before blurting out a joke he didn't mean to in front of his mother.

"Face down, ass up." He laughed. Austin choked on his water as Camden just wiggled his butt in the air. The boys laughed as Mrs. King's face grew of horror at such perverted words.

"Declan! Is that why the girls don't like you?" Mrs. King said sternly. I couldn't help but laugh as she pulled his ear until he said sorry for his inappropriate word choice. He winced, glaring at us all. The boys held back their laughs using a cough to disguise it.

"Well we should get going, otherwise, we're going to miss the first period," Camden grinned grabbing his car keys off the counter. I frowned realizing I didn't even get to experience Luke's cooking. Hanging out with the boys was peculiar and it was actually kind of fun. But in the end, their whispers were the only thing that kept replaying in my mind and I was determined to get answers.