Sorry guys! I never realized chapter seven wasn't here, or it disappeared. Here is it...again? Ah well, enjoy!
Peace, <3, :)
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Lacey's pov:
"Okay, get ready people! Thane's gonna be here any minute," I announce in the music room, where most of Thane's party is all set up and ready to go; the rest is throughout the house except the rooms and study.
The guys had to move some of their instruments to another room, so we could set up in the music room since it was plenty big enough; also, it was the best room where sound could travel best through. All of Thane's friend arrived, even a boy who had had hearts around his name, and the music was ready to be played.
Gunner was on drums, Max on guitars, Will on bass, and Ryder doing any extra instruments needed; of course, I was lead vocals. "Hey guys, you look good."
"Not as good as you do," compliments Will, eyeing me. I was wearing a white dress with hot pink tears, some black lace fingerless gloves, a cute red leather belt, and black boots. I had combed my hair it was so it was shiny while curly, and my eyes are adorned with heavy eyeliner. I smile at Will. "Why thank you, Will. Now focus."
"Ma'am, yes ma'am," the boys on their instruments say. Harvey and Lewis were at the snack table serving the friends. Mr. Jacob came in with a nod to me. I announce, "She's coming!"
The lights were turned out, and we heard Darren's, Vince's, and Thane's voices coming down the hall. "Darren, Vince, is this some prank like last year?"
"Not at all. Darren?"
"I have grown, as have you."
"Okay what's up with the weird voices?"
"Just flip the switch, Tan-Tan."
Thane flipped the switch, and everyone shouts, "Surprise! Happy birthday Thane!"
"Oh my God," Thane squeals as she hugs her brothers and her father. I call in my microphone, "Alright let's get this party started!"
I nod to the boys, and we began to play "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne; every song we were going to sing tonight was by Avril Lavigne. I dance around the stage to the beat of the music, but for the most part, I stay in one place in front of the mic, swaying to the music. All the songs were up beat and perfect for teens high on sugar to dance. We played Thane's favorites: "Sk8ter Boi", "Things I'll Never Say", "My World", "My Happy Ending".
Then came MY favorite, "The Best Damn Thing". During this song, I totally flirt with the boys with winks, smiles, and hand gestures; I tease them, by pointing out the line to them that I "am the best damn thing your eyes have seen". They know it and laugh about it, sometimes blushing. At one point, I jumped on the snack table (but avoided the food) while I sang in front of Darren, Vince, Lewis, and Harvey. At the end, I even pull Thane on stage and she shyly flirts with the guy I mentioned earlier, Chad.
That had worked well enough. When she gets off stage, she and Chad start talking and laughing. While we took a break as Darren and Lewis got the cake, I point this out to the brothers. "Isn't young love so cute?"
"Well...depends," Vince agrees, sliding closer to me. I block his face from mine with my hand and push him back. "Watch it pretty boyo."
"Lacey! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the best party ever! Thank you so much!" Thane stuck to me like glue in her embrace. I finally pull her free. "This is what your father assigned me to do, and that's why I spent less time with you. I did it for you, kiddo."
Her face fell and her shaky voice croaks, "You lied?"
"Technically, she didn't lie to you," Harvey remarks, remembering what I had told them. I nudge playfully. "Anyways, you haven't seen anything yet. Wait till you see your cake."
"You didn't!" Thane gasps, her beaming face returning. I nod. "I sure did with Vince, Max, and Will. I did most of the work though."
"Hey!" the three boys defend. Thane and I shot them a look. Just then, people started to sing "Happy Birthday" as Thane's cake rolled in. Even when she just caught a glance at it, she beamed as I guided her up on stage where she would be able to blow out the two candles. Everyone finished off the song when the cake was in place, and Thane blew out the candles. Everyone devoured the cake piece after piece.
Thane pulls me aside and whispers in my ear; I nod at her request, and I grab my band boys. On stage, I quiet everyone. "Okay, the birthday girl has requested this song personally, and she has a few words to say before we sing. Come on up, Thane!"
Thane comes up and grabs the mic as we ready ourselves. "Okay, I want to hear this song because, as you all know, my mother disappeared almost three years ago. This song always reminds of her, and Lacey reminds me of her. And I think it's a great combination. Lacey?"
"We're ready when you are," I tell her. She hands me the mic as I was at the piano. Gunner signals us; one, one, one, two, three... I began my piano solo and the song.
"I always needed time on my own.
I never thought that I'd,
Need you there when I cry.
And the days feel like years when I'm alone.
And the bed where you lie,
Is made up on your side.
When you walk away,
I count the steps that you take.
Do you see how much I need you right now?
When you're gone!"
I play perfection and with much heart just for Thane. I knew this song was for her and her family; she also let sing it for me. When the final note was played, everyone applauds, some tearing, and we took our bow. Thane got back up on stage. "I want to thank you all for coming and for all the great gifts. Y'all are amazing."
Everyone claps as the number quickly retreats to just me and the Richmonds. Thane hugs all of us. "Y'all are...beyond awesome. Thank you for everything."
"Does that mean we're the best siblings again?" Max asks for the brothers. Thane and slung an arm around my shoulder. "Sorry boys. I'm afraid that still belongs to Lacey here. She is the one who planned everything."
"We helped!" the boys' protests. Thane and I giggle, and I gave her a knowing look; she nods. "You guys are the best brothers in the world. Any girl would be lucky to have you guys for brothers."
"Come here squirt." Darren embraces his baby sister, as did all the other boys. Aww, touching sibling moment!
All of them went to their rooms, but I linger behind in the music room; I stood on the stage. I felt like I was home with the instrument; like I was where I belonged. "You were amazing tonight," Max praises from out of nowhere; I nearly jump out of skin. "Thanks. You were great on the guitar."
"I know," Max agrees, flexing some muscles, and his eyes meet mine with amusement. I laugh bit. "Arrogant much?"
"It just makes me cuter that way, and you know it," Max answers. I roll my eyes; I seem to be doing that a lot nowadays. He was standing right in front of me, making me look up a bit; I wait for his next move. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why me? Why do all of you like me?"
"You're damn gorgeous, sweet, funny, and really brave along with tough. Things we can't seem to find in a girl at the same time too often. Plus, we can't help the pull towards you."
"What's this pull you guys keep bringing up?"
"You know about werewolves, right? You know how in some tales they imprint? Or how they just know the girl is their mate by looking at them?"
"Yeah. The werewolves just know it, and they can't help but fall hopelessly in love."
"Exactly; it's like that with us. But with our kind, we can easily mistaken it; it's some error that we've found. Only one of us will be right about you being a mate in the end. Whoever it will be is going to be the luckiest man in the universe."
I feel myself blush and I look down. Swiftly, Max cups my face and pulls me in for a sweet kiss. Startled at first, I try to pull away, and then I really felt the kiss; it was better than Vince's, and that's something to say. And so I kiss back, rubbing his lean muscles on his arms. Then he pulls away to look at me. "How was that?"
"Why are you Richmond so damn good at this?"
"I take that as yes."
His lips met mine again, but not before pulling away again to inquire, "Better than Vince?"
"I don't know."
He chuckles, "So better?"
Our lips lock again as he pulls me closer to him by my waist. I wrap my arms around his neck, and I giggle a bit when his tongue licks my lower lip, asking for entry. I let him in and the kiss was even better; I even felt my foot go up like those stars do in movies when they receive first kisses, though this is far from my first.
It feels like it's been hours when we finally pull away from each other and smile. He slings an arm around my waist, and he guides me to my room. At my room, I gave him one last kiss on the lips then smirk at him. "Don't expect it be easy anymore."
I shut the door on his shocked face. Oh yeah, that was fun.
Darren's pov:
Next morning, I'm down with my brothers when Max comes wearing the smuggest smile of all time. I raise an eyebrow at him. "Kiss Lacey last night?"
"Damn right I did," Max answers, sitting on the counter next to me. "And you know what? She said it was better than Vince."
Vince chuckles with the rest of us while Max continues on, "You know what else she told me?"
"What?" I ask, purely curious. Max leans to us a bit. "She asked why we Richmond are so damn good at this."
We laugh, and Vince inquires, "Is there anything else that happened?"
"Well...I did escort her to her room...where she may have given me something else," Max smugly answers. We all gape, and Ryder shouts, "You got her to...you know?"
Max starts laughing with a smirk, and the rest of us couldn't help but join in, though we were humorless. Then we hear Lacey's voice over our laughs, "Ha, ha, ha...yeah right..."
Lacey's pov:
"Ha, ha, ha...yeah right. You wish you did," I exclaim over the boys' laughter to Max. They all jump a bit to see me. I stood on the other side of the counter to stare at them. Darren inquires, "So you two didn't do the deed?"
"In his dreams he may have, but no. I shut the door on his gorgeous face after telling him it wasn't going to be easy anymore," I explain to the boys, staring at Max. He shrugs. "So you admit I'm gorgeous."
"I won't tell a lie, you all are, but that could be because all of you have about the same face," I amuse them; they chuckle. I shook my head at them. "Darren, you might want to step up."
"Oh and why is that?"
"Well because...two of your brothers have already made out with me, and a third one may receive a kiss from me personally. You're not so Mr. Smooth, are you now?"
"What?" the brothers exclaim; I smirk. Then Thane came in. "Oh, really guys? You're doing this game with Lacey. Come on."
"Morning kiddo." I give Thane a one arm hug; she looks irritated. "Hey, Thane, think about it. If I do fall for one of these 'seductive werewolf' and we get married, we'll be sisters...in-laws, but still sisters."
"That sounds good. Are you making it a challenge?"
"What kind of a question is that? Of course I am, but unfortunately, your brothers are pretty good at this too." I glare at them, but their smiles didn't fade; in fact, they got smugger. Thane giggles. "Hey Ryder, remember when you made that ridiculous burnt cake for Elise? That was hilarious!"
"A burnt cake?" I repeat, laughing; Ryder turns bright red. I laugh even more. "Wait...who's Elise?"
"Remi's wife," Harvey informs me. I nod. "Ah, I see. The last girl that all the Richmond brothers felt the pull to, but the eldest, Remi, swooped her off her feet."
"Yeah, yeah, enough of that. Lacey, what do you mean when a third may receive a kiss from you?" Ryder presses, clearing our past subject; all the brothers lean in a bit for my answer. I smirk. "I mean exactly that. That one of you may receive a kiss from me; what it clearly says."
"Is it me?" all the Richmond brothers exclaim over and over; Thane and I laugh at the sight. I shook my head. "Okay, I'll help you out. It won't be Max or Vince, since they already kissed me, and you can cross out Darren because I was insulting him when I said it the first time."
Darren shakes his head with his smirking smile. Ryder inquires, "You can't give us another hint?"
"Maybe...maybe not. I can, but I might not."
"Will you give us another hint?" Harvey corrects his younger brother's question. I'm at the very end of the counter, close to getting to the doorway, when Gunner comes straight in front of me, leaning on one elbow of the counter, center of balance. "It's me, isn't it Lacey?"
"Oh, and I was trying so hard to hide it," I say dreamily. I lean to him, and he leans to me. Then at the last second I shove his elbow off the counter then shove my hand to his chest as I kick his foot from under him; totally caught off guard, Gunner fell onto the floor on his ass, and the room erupts in laughter. I lean down a bit while still standing over him. "Falling hard for me, eh?"
I step over him then rock back and forth on my heels as I made my way back to the doorway. "I think I will give another hint. I just may kiss a smart brother."
With that, I left with Thane behind me. We giggle as we heard Harvey, Lewis, and Gunner say, "It's me."
**************
"Jesus!" the Richmond brothers exclaim while jumping a bit when they turned around the bush wall that covered the outdoor pool in the sunshine. Thane and I look up to see them all gaping at my bikini, technically Thane's bikini, my burrowed one. It was white with navy piping, and it was a classic bikini that wrapped me closely as well as a low V neck that cured a bit; I could see why the brothers were gaping because it looked great on me. I smirk. "You like what you see?"
"Hell yeah," the boys course, still keeping their eyes on my body. I scoff then wrap a towel around myself. They snap back and groan and whine like three year olds. I roll my eyes. "I'm not gonna be here if you keep staring at me like this."
I copied their expression, though it was a bit dramatic, and Thane tries not to laugh but doesn't do too well. Darren says, "Okay, I see how that's creepy. Now stop it."
"Are you gonna stop staring at me?"
Darren smirks and nods to his brothers. "I don't know; what about you?"
"What?"
Then I understood. Each remove their shirts to show their amazing six pack abs and lean muscles; I held my breath as I stared at their faces but glances too many times at their abs. Darren and the boys start laughing, and I snap back, though I glanced at their abs more than once. "Shut up!"
I threw the towel aside, and Darren whistles. I scoff. "I thought I said shut up, boyo."
Darren shrugs as he and his brother cannon ball into the pool. I nod to Thane, and we grab the squirt guns. Immediately when they came up for air, Thane and I nail them hard; they nearly jump out of their skins from the ice cold water, and Thane and I high five each other. Then we exclaim, "Suckers!"
"Oh yeah?" Darren asks. He came faster than I imagined, and he grabs me by waist and fell back into the water; Max did this with Thane. Thane and I emerge and gulp in the air as the boys roar with laughter. We yell, splashing at them, "Jerks!"
"You were asking for it," Darren tells us, and we girls roll our eyes. All of us went to the diving boards and took turns showing off. I smirk at my first turn. "Prepare to be amazed, boyos and kiddo."
I run, jump, and did three front flips before diving perfectly into the water. I got up to see them gaping at me; I smirk with triumph. The boys went on diving, trying to beat my epic dive, except for Harvey, who I chatted with. "So, Lacey...which smart brother are you gonna kiss?"
"I said I may, and I'm not telling you. It's a surprise."
"So it's me? I knew I was the smart brother."
"Wow...all of you Richmond boys can be so arrogant. Thought I wouldn't live to see the boy, or boys in this case, that were more arrogant than Hector."
"Your clingy ex-boyfriend?"
"Yep." I popped the p, as always. "Tell ya what, Harvey."
"Tell me what, Lacey?"
"Since you think you're the smart brother, how about a race? You and me. You win, I give you a kiss. I win, you just admit that I'm the master. What do ya say?"
"Alright. Prepare to be beaten. How many laps?"
"There and back two times. We end on this side."
"Deal," we agree together, shaking each other's hand. Then I shout to the Richmond kids, "Alright everybody, clear the way. Harvey and I are gonna have a little race with some stakes."
"What stakes?" Gunner inquires as he got out with the others. Harvey answers, "I win, I get a kiss from Lacey. I lose, I admit she's the master. Right?"
I nod. "That's the plan."
The boys went to Harvey's side while Thane was on mine. I glare at the boys. "What? No one wants to cheer for me besides Thane?"
"Harvey is our brother," Will explain. I add, "Your brother that you are competing with to get me."
"Ooh, good point. Sorry Harvey," Darren says. He sat between the two sides, and so did the other brothers. I cross my arms in front of me. "You're not picking either side?"
"Nope," they answer, popping the p. I shake my head and got ready. Thane counts down for us; at five, I stretched so that Harvey could get a good look at my chest and my own well toned stomach. It worked; Harvey sees them with me looking like I didn't notice my plan was working, and he had a hard time focusing since he kept glancing at me. Then Thane shouts "GO!" and I took off, leaving Harvey behind dazed.
I swim with speed and ferocity as I hear Harvey get in after me. I hear him catch up, but I was already on my way back. Almost together, Harvey and I spun back to other side, away from where the brothers and Thane cheer. A little before Harvey, I surge off to where Thane and the boys were, Harvey hot on my tail. Then I felt the concrete and exclaim, "Done!"
"Done!" Harvey finishes just a millisecond later. I smirk. "Looks like you lost, sucker!"
"You cheated," he protests. I scoff, "Oh and how did I do that?"
"You...you know what you did! You may have done it 'innocently' but I know you did it on purpose," he argues as I got out of the pool. I loom over him. "Harvey, it was your own fault you couldn't take your eyes off me. Tell ya what: you don't have to admit I'm the master. Sound fair?"
I hold out my hand for him, and he takes it; but then he pulls me into the water. The others came piling in after us. What felt like hours later, the Richmond pack it up while Harvey lags behind; I came over to him. "Good race, Harvey."
"Yeah, whatever," he replies glumly; he looks disappointed and quite irritated that I had weaseled my way out of bet. A bet's a bet, and you can't take it back; my plan for this was working. Putting it to action, I sigh then pull his mouth to mine by his neck. He's shocked at first, I could tell, but he then relaxes and kisses me back with passion. After a few minutes of this, I pull away to see his astonished face. "What was that for?"
"I did cheat," I admit, a little deviously. I wink at him, peck his lips, and leave the pool area to my own room. From the steps outside the door, I could hear his shout of triumph, "Yes!"