CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Rise and shine Mother Humper!”

The instant my eyes snap open something covers my head. I'm being flipped to my stomach in my own goddamn bed and the next sound I hear apart from the idiotic chuckles is the distinct sound of duct tape being pulled from the roll. “You motherfuckers better not—” My head gets pushed into the mattress, muffling my shouts. My hands are pulled behind my back and taped together. I bend my knees trying to sit up.

“It's better if you don't fight it, Prez,” Chase says through a chuckle.

I get lifted off the bed and onto my feet. I keep my eyes shut and my head lowered because he's right. It's better this way. “What the hell is going on, boys?”

“Shem, pack his clothes,” Chase orders. “Here's the thing, Tyler. You've kind of sucked lately. A lot. And we don't know what happened to you but for some reason…Well, you suck. So we're having a KBD day.”

“What the fuck is a KBD day?” I snap, shaking my head to try to rid, what I assume, is a pillowcase off my head.

“Kunt Brother Day.”

“Kunt Brother Day? Really? And do I really need this thing on my head?”

Chase removes the fabric. I blink a few times, adjusting to the light. All the brothers are in my room, dressed in full camo gear. Some of them even have camo face paint on. They look fucking ridiculous. I feel fucking ridiculous.

“I've cleared the roster for the day,” says Chase. “And we've hired out the entire paintball skirmish field. Time to cheer you up, Tyler.”

“Fine.” It’s not like I have a choice. Besides, how much damage could a day of skirmish do?

A lot of damage, apparently, considering we're in the emergency room and Troy's getting his nut surgically removed. Just one though, so it's all good.

“Troy's fine,” Chase tells me. “His Mima's coming to hang out with him.”

“He wants his grandma with him?”

He nods. “Apparently she's the only one that can comfort him in this life-changing moment.” He motions his head to the exit. “School bus is out front. We're ready when you are.”

I stare down at my phone at the last unanswered text to Allie.

Chase sits down next to me and nudges my elbow to get my attention. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I say quickly. Then I sigh and bring up Allie's last text sent over a week ago. “No. Not really.”

“Is it Allie? You know it was her idea to take you to skirmish. She said it always cheered you up when you were kids.”

“You've spoken to her?”

He nods. “So is it her?”

“How did you know?”

“The last time you were like this was when you invited Allie to that 'fancy dress' party we threw. You forgot to mention the double meaning. You meant to dress fancy and she took it as a costume party, so she showed up as Miley Cyrus… and not the cute Party in the USA one, I'm talking Wrecking Ball Miley.”

I laugh, remembering her reaction when she showed up and we were in suit and ties and all the girls were in ball gowns. “She was so mad.”

“Yep. She didn't talk to you for a week. You had to drive down there and get on your knees and beg for her forgiveness.”

“I remember.” I lean forward on my elbows. “It's just not that easy this time. It's so much worse. And I don't think I can fix it.”

“Did something happen at Shem's party?”

I nod and look down at the floor.

“Did you guys sleep together?”

My eyes snap to his. “What? No.”

“It's not completely far-fetched for me to think that. You guys…” he trails off.

“We what?”

His eyes narrow a moment as if confused. “Do you know about ‘The Allie’?”

“The what?”

He clears his throat and copies my position. “It's no secret I'm a virgin and why. It's not like I'm saving myself for marriage or anything. I'm just saving myself for the right girl. There are a lot of things in this world we have no control over. My body—my virginity—is something that's completely mine. I don't want to regret the choices I make. Not the next day, or the next month, or even the next year. I mean, the girl that I give that to, she doesn't have to be my forever girl. She just has to be my everything at that moment girl. If I look back at that time in my life and I can tell myself that at that specific moment, I'd never loved anything more, then that's enough for me. That girl for me—that's The Allie. Or at least that's what the boys and I have nicknamed her. Or the idea of her. The Allie. The way we all see it, she's your everything at that moment girl. We're just waiting for you to realize that.”

I inhale sharply, his words hitting me right in my chest. “I need to fix it, Chase.”

“So fix it,” he says, like it's so fucking simple.

“I-I don't know how.”

He pulls out his phone and taps a few buttons. “Her Facebook says she's at her brother's birthday dinner—some place called The Grand? We have an entire day. A bus. And a bunch of guys in camo. I don’t see how this could be a problem.” He pauses a beat. “The way I see it, we have three options. Option A means going to her. You just need to talk to her, man.”

“And what's option B?”