It All Started With Hate

jump

Saying the words sounded right, but running them through my mind made me want to kick my own ass. My stomach turned before I pushed it away.

Kade looked unconvinced. He crossed his arms, his eyes hanging over me. "Really? So I guess you won't mind if I call her a—"

"Kade," I hissed in warning. "What if I talked about Kimberly? You'd be pissed."

That was hypocritical as shit, considering how badly I treated the girl when I first met her. The only piece of information I had on her was that she aided in the death of Kade's brother, and I went with it. After Kade kicked my ass, and told me a bit more of the story, though, I reeled back from my standard hatred. I felt shitty as fuck for giving it to her after so long, but I couldn't change the past.

Considering all of the bullshit I'd said to Kimberly before that, though, I didn't expect her to forgive me. I didn't want, or deserve it, honestly. But, she had my respect, whether eyes wanted it or not. When I had the opportunity, I knew that I had to give her an actual apology, too. Despite Kade threatening to beat my ass for it, I knew that she deserved one.

Regardless, though, she was Kades, which meant that she was apart of this dysfunctional ass family, now. If someone hurt her, then they hurt Levi or I, too. Raven was in those standards, too. No matter what, they would never be harmed without our retaliation behind it. Kade and Levi were my brothers, and I stood by, with, and for them, no matter what. That included their girls, as well.

A deadly glare crossed Kade's expression. "I've kicked your ass plenty of times over her, so if you want a fresh reminder, go ahead."

"Yeah, and I've had to break it up, and get my own ass kicked in a fight that wasn't even mine, so both of you shut the fuck up," Levi added with annoyance before moving his gaze to mine. "Hold up."

My head shook, immediately. "No—"

His head tilted, laughter skipping from him. "You do realize that you just compared his girlfriend to Maggie, right? So, by pussy-whipped standards, you just technically claimed Maggie as your girl." I nearly cursed him for using my own shit against me.

I blinked a couple of times as I thought over it. Fuck. He was right, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. "Shut up, Levi."

Kade was busy tending to something on the stove. "That soup," he started without looking at me. "You needed to know because of her, didn't you?"

I didn't even know how he pieced it together, but regardless, I shook my head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Jesus. Why did my voice sound like that? It was obvious I was lying.

"Uh huh," he responded with a shake of the head, and a chuckle. "Whatever you wanna believe."

The agitation was biting me in the ass; I knew that this was karma. "I'm not believing anything, I'm saying the—" I directed my eyes toward Levi, who was still staring. "Can you quit smiling at me like that?"

He lifted his hands in surrender, attempting to reel the grin back in. "Someone's defensive."

Kade reached up, then pulled down two plates. "Very."

"I'm not defensive," I snapped much defensively than intended. "You're both just jumping the shit out of me."

Damn. I was getting hot. Or, maybe I was blushing.

Why the fuck was I blushing?

"Don't be dramatic," Kade chuckled, pulling open a drawer. "We've never jumped you."