Scarlett Bound

Chapter 15

“Stop looking at Scar like that,” Jackson warns. When I hear that nickname I groan. I have and always will hate that ridiculous nickname.

“Don’t f*****g call me that,” I growl at him. Taking my shoes off, I leave them on the concrete to walk through the grass to Devin. He’s holding onto the spot the ball smacked him in and wincing.

“Look at her like what?” Devin asks, confused.

The dark green grass tickles the bottom of my feet as I walk through it. When I make it to Devin he bends over for me to take a look. He's still so tall that I have to stand up on my tiptoes to get a good look. A small red blotch forming at his hairline is the only evidence he was hit in the head.

"Like she's an attractive girl," Jackson yells at him.

Stunned, I look over at my brother with my mouth hanging open. Thankfully no flies take the opportunity to fly in there. 

"There are so many things wrong with that sentence. I don't know if I should be more offended by the fact it blows your mind someone finds me attractive or that you called me a girl when I am clearly a grown-ass woman."

"I'm just going to shut up now but he still can't look at you like that." He says, pointing a finger at Devin in a warning.

"He can look at me however he wants. He's a grown man and I'm a grown woman. Plus I look incredibly fuckable in this dress." All at once, my brothers let out groans. Gabriel adds in some fake gagging to really bring the point across. How I survived growing up in this house, I have no idea. I've been here all of five minutes and already I want to punch every single one of them.

"Those are words I never want to hear come out of my baby sister's mouth again," William says when he stops groaning.

These guys are such hypocrites. They can brag about there hookups or girlfriends but I can't bring up my s*x life without them duct-taping my mouth shut within two seconds. You count imagine the nightmare it was being around Jackson, Emmett, and William when they started going through puberty. It was dirty jokes twenty-four seven and a weird hive-like mentality for boobs.

It only got worse as they got older. Sneaking girls in the house or sneaking out to meet them. All the crazy parties they would go to. I count my blessings that I didn't attend college with any of those horndogs. It really would have been the death of me.

Rolling my eyes, I turn back to Devin who has somehow gotten away with staring at my ass this whole time. It's probably because the big babies were trying not to die from what I said. I smack him in his stomach to get his attention. 

"You'll live. Now it's time for us to kick their ass. First to three wins. Dinner is almost ready but we should have time and I'll prove I can kick your asses even when I'm wearing my f**k me dress."

"It burns!" Gabe screams dramatically as he falls to the ground covering his ears. He has always been the drama queen of the family. That boy can put on a really good show. It wouldn't surprise me if he pursued a career in acting one day and became very successful. 

I wiggle my skirt up a little higher to free my knees up. This was a terrible idea. Playing ball with the guys is always messy. I'm more than likely going to end up ruining my dress but they've all managed to piss me off and this is the only way I can think of to let off some steam.

Once my dress feels high enough I do some quick stretching to warm up my legs and loosen up the muscles. Playing a quick match with my brothers was a weekly habit for us. It would usually be every Sunday before our family dinner. Mom would make sure to make extra food that night because we would all be starving by dinner time.

"You guys can have Gabe on your team. Scar and Gabe count as one player so now we're even." Jackson taunts as he tosses the ball from one hand to the other.

Gabe and I share a quick glance before we both give Jackson the middle finger. Great minds think alike. Plus being the two youngest in the family you learn to have each other's back.

"In the enigmatic words of my big sister, I am a grown-ass man," Gabe says with a goofy grin.

"Yeah in the eye of the law. You may be eighteen now but trust me you aren't a grownup yet." Will chuckles knowingly. On this one, I have to agree with him. 

When I turned eighteen I felt the same way but it's just a number. It doesn't show how grown-up you are. I was in for a rude awakening When I started having to take care of everything on my own. Bills, grocery shopping, making all your own appointments, cooking your own meals. The list was endless. On top of all that I was also setting up my business. Having all that happen at once was incredibly overwhelming. 

There were many nights that I called my mom in tears. Whether it was from the stress, feeling like I wouldn't make it, or a combination of a bunch of different things. She was always there to comfort me and help me get past it. One big thing that the whole situation showed me was that when I had turned eighteen I was not even close to being an adult yet.

"Alright, jackass, stop playing with the ball. It's time to get started." When Jackson hears me call him that he glares at me and presses his lips together turning them into a straight line.

"Don't call me that.*

"As soon as you stop calling me Scar I'll stop calling you jackass, jackass." I laugh. Gabe holds his hand up for me and I give him a high five as I walk by. He tries to use his other hand to cover up his smile but I still see it.

We split up onto opposite sides and get the game started. The sun starts setting, cooling the night. With the sun not beating down on us so hard and a good breezing coming in it makes the game a lot more fun. Feeling like you’re going to pass out from heatstroke during a play is never fun. 

For the most part, we play a clean game. Except for when I stuck my foot out and tripped Jackson. He fell flat on his face but no blood was drawn so it doesn’t count. My brothers' would never admit it but my arm is just as good as theirs. Playing volleyball for years helped with that. Men have fragile egos though and can never compare themselves to a girl. Just the thought makes me roll my eyes.

I back up with my arm prepped to throw. Will is running at me while Jack is covering Gabe. Devin raises his arm to show he’s ready as he starts running toward the end zone. Bringing my arm back, I then bring it forward releasing the ball. As it leaves my hands it grazes against my fingertips and sales in a perfect arc to Devin. He catches it and cradles it to his chest like a precious baby as he runs the remaining distance to get a touchdown.

“That's two to two. Next point wins.” I announce.

“Don’t go crying to mom like you did when you were little when we beat you.” William goads with a cocky grin.

“Alright, team huddle,” Gabe says as he runs over to Devin and I. We huddle up in a little circle away from Will and Jack. “Scarlett, I want you to do a fake pass off to me then make a run for it. They’ll fall for it, guaranteed.” He whispers.

“I can barely move my legs in this dress. How the hell do you expect me to outrun then in it.” Gabe places his hands on his sides and looks up at the sky as he thinks. He gives the darkening heavens a perplexed look.

“Don’t worry about it, Letty. I got you.” Devin winks at me then breaks off to go set up the play.

“What the hell does that mean?” I ask Gabe. He shrugs and jogs off to his spot. Throwing my hands up in the air, I grab the ball and join the line.

I fake the pass to Gabe and like he predicted they fall for it. He starts running as if he has the ball. Jack and Will go after him forgetting about Devin and me. As I'm about to attempt to start running in this dress, I’m suddenly lifted into the air over a shoulder. My face is suddenly looking at a very familiar and fantastic ass.

One of Devin’s arms wraps around my back while the other wraps around my thighs right under my bottom. Devin makes a run for it. Even though he’s holding onto me tightly, the fear of being dropped courses through me. A bird-like screech escapes me drawing Jackson's attention over to us. I hear him curse then he’s running after us. 

“Hurry up,” I shout as I give Devin’s ass a smack. It’s right in my face and is so irresistible. “Jackass is coming after us.” I clutch the top of his shorts to help stop me from bouncing around. A few escaped curls swing in and out of my view. For the most part, I keep my eyes training on the flexing ass cheeks in front of me. 

I’m so distracted by the sight that I don't notice it when Devin stops. He lets out a loud cheer and throws the arm around my leg up into the air. The realization that we won hits me. I toss the ball somewhere behind me and join Devin in celebration. It’s a little awkward to do but I manage to pump my arms around and kick my legs a bit. Devin spins us around a few times turning my cheers into laughter.

“Dinner’s ready. Head inside kids.” My mom yells at us.

Devin sets me down on my feet. When I go to take a step I stumble around and notice the world spinning a bit. Devin wraps an arm around my waist to help steady me. We stand there for a moment to get our bearings. As we hang onto each other for purchase the two of us laugh our asses off. 

Once the world looks flat instead of floaty I attempt to take a step forward. Devin and I are still holding onto each other and somehow my hand has ended up resting against his stomach. I try acting as nonchalant about it as possible. As if there is nothing out of the ordinary with me touching him and his arm wrapped around me in front of my brothers and parents. No big deal at all. 

“That didn’t count! You can't carry someone like that.” Jackson tries to argue. Out of all of us, he’s the sore loser. The man cannot stand it when things go his way.

“Don’t be a b***h about it, Jackson. You lost, now accept defeat. Or you could go whine to mom about it.” I tease as Devin and I continue making our way to the house. Looking up, I see my mom wiping her hands on a dishtowel. She’s looking at the two of us with a knowing little smirk on her face.

“Hey, I’m just saying that wasn’t a clean play. We get to replay that round after dinner.” He walks backward to keep an eye on us as he speaks. 

“Clean play? We had no rules set for this game. You weren’t upset when Letty tripped your ass and you guys still managed to score.” My shoulders bob in silent laughter as I shake my head at how ridiculous my brother is being. It’s nice of Devin to have my back. He also makes an excellent point.

“Hurry your slow asses up. I want to know what this big surprise is that mom has for us.” William yells at us. When I look back up my mom isn’t there anymore but her knowing little smirk is stuck in my mind.