Stay Away | Eric Coulter [1]

twenty-four

"I can't, I already promised to meet Uriah and the others on the roof."

He leans forward, pressing a kiss to my temple. "After, then. How does ten sound?"

I perk up, "Sounds perfect."

"For now," Eric pulls me against me by the waist and kisses me deeply, "I need to take a cold shower."

A surprised laugh bubbles out of me at what he just said and he kisses a trail up my neck, "You think this is funny, huh?"

"Just a little," I smile and he returns one that's just as bright.

"I'll see you later," He pecks me on the lips, "Happy Birthday."

I watch as he leaves before picking up the card that was left on my cabinet. I didn't need to flip it open to know who it was from. I'd recognise that handwriting anywhere. Still, I do and quickly scanned through the short message written on it.

Happy Birthday, you idiot.
Love, T.

✧

"Cake!" Uriah exclaims when he sees me munching on the cake Tobias had left for me, opening his mouth for me to feed him a bite.

"No way!" I decided I wasn't in the mood for sharing, "This one's mine, get your own."

"Damn, Nessie." Uriah pouts, "When'd you become so selfish?"

Taking another forkful of cake, I pop it into my mouth with a smile. "Since, it's my birthday."

"It's your birthday?!" Uriah exclaims jumping to his feet, "Why the hell didn't you say anything?" He says before dashing off and yelling down the stairwell, "Guys! Get the beer, it's Nessie's birthday!"

After a couple of minutes, the rest of them- Zeke included- emerges from the stairwell.

Zeke leads the group with a six-pack in hand and a shotgun slung over his shoulder with Marlene trailing behind him with her arms full of muffins and Lynn brings up the rear with two more shotguns in her hand.

I frown at the scene before me, "What are the guns for?"

"We're celebrating, aren't we?" Zeke drops the beer beside me and offers me a theatrical bow, "Since your brother can't be here, I will be celebrating with you in his place. Which is lucky for you because we both know I'm the fun one."

I snort as I watch as Marlene balances a muffin on her head instead of eating them and positions herself in front of a target of the shooting range not too far from our spot and Zeke starts to aim for it.

"Woah! Are you guys insane!" I yell, jumping to my feet. "Put the damn gun down, Zeke!"

The guys just burst out laughing, "Relax, Nessie. They're filled with rubber bullets. What's the worst that could happen?"

I throw my hands up in exasperation, "I could think of a few things. Like- oh, I don't know- shooting out someone's eye, maybe?" I retort sarcastically.

"Aw, come on," Uriah slings an arm over my shoulder, "You need to live a little, Nessie! It's your birthday!" He grins widely before turning to Marlene, "Ready?"

Marlene nods and Zeke aims then pulls the trigger.

A red bullet that looks like it could be made out of silicone flies through the air and knocks the muffin off Marlene's head, sending perfectly edible crumbs across the gravel and I frown again.

"You're wasting good muffins."

"Don't worry, Ness. We'll save some for you to eat,"  Marlene chirps, switching places with Zeke.

"Hold up, let me shoot!" Uriah snatches the shotgun before Marlene could get a hold of it and she rolls her eyes but doesn't complain.

Like Marlene, Zeke places a muffin on his head and stands in front of the target with his hand shielding his crotch, belting out the song 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' at the top of his lungs.

As they always say; be careful what you wish for. Rather than shooting the muffin off of Zeke's head like he should, Uriah switches course at the last second, shifting his aim from the muffin to Zeke's stomach before firing.

The muffin topples off of Zeke's head as he doubled over in pain, clutching at his stomach.

"Bitch!" He curses viciously at his little brother, "I've helped practically raise you and this is how you repay me, you ungrateful little shit!"

I can't help but burst out laughing at the scene, "Are you okay, Zeke?" I ask between laughter.

"Yeah, yeah." Zeke waves me off as he straightens out, still holding on to his stomach like how a pregnant lady would. His eyes land on Uriah, who is practically sprawled out on the ground laughing his ass off and he scowls, "You're going to pay for this." He doesn't give any other warning before taking off toward Uriah.

Uriah seems to have already seen this coming and takes off running with Zeke right on his tail as he screams at the top of his lungs.

By the time the clock strikes ten, I'm wiping tears from my eyes, before thanking them for all the fun and making up some excuse to leave. The last thing I wanted to do was spoil the night for Zeke by telling him I was off to meet with Eric.