Chapter 29

It was ten thirty at night and I was pretty sure all the other guys were asleep already. At least they were dead silent in the room. But still, I tiptoed to the bathroom, turned on the shower, and sat down on the floor with my phone.

I dialed Logan's number and prayed that he'd answer.

"Hello?" His voice brought a smile to my face.

"I have had the weirdest evening." I whispered.

"Uh yeah, I must admit, you kinda left me hanging earlier." Logan laughed.

"Yeah, sorry about that." I replied. "Uh... Well Mark was snooping on my texts with Nicole and then he saw your snap and then..."

"Oh my God." Logan whispered. "Don't tell me..."

"And he opened it." I managed, closing my eyes.

"I'm going to throw up." Logan groaned. "You're kidding me..."

"I wish I was." I sighed.

"I'm dead. I'm absolutely dead." Logan laughed. "It was nice knowing you, Marley."

"No, but listen. Mark and I fought it out, as we always do. The others are totally chill." I reassured him. "So I think we're all good."

"Marley, the guy saw my dick, I don't think we're good." Logan said seriously.

"So? Don't guys like walk around the locker room naked anyways or something?" I laughed. "Isn't that normal? He's your best friend."

"Okay yeah but not when I've got a hard on." Logan laughed. "Not when it's in a sexual setting. Jesus, I'm not gonna be able to look him in the eyes now."

"It's okay. He'll get over it." I offered.

"Anyways... How are you doing? You said you and Mark fought?" Logan asked carefully. "Are you talking like verbally or physically?"

"Both." I admitted. "But we're fine."

"Marley..."

"I'm fine! I have a bruise on my hip and a nasty scratch on my arm but Mark is totally worse off." I said proudly.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I tackled him and he's got a big old lump on the back of his head." I said happily. "All is fair in love and war, babe."

"You two..." Logan sighed. "Well what did the other guys say?"

"I don't know. I've been avoiding them."

"Seriously? How big is your dad's house in Ohio?"

"Oh it's two bedrooms and we're all in the same room." I laughed, stretching out my legs. "But I've stuck with my dad and grandma while the guys have been off whispering to each other and being all weird."

"Yikes."

"It's fine. I'll let them take Mark's side for now. He deserves it." I shrugged. "If I need their support, all I have to do is ask and they'll back me up no questions asked. Benefits of being the baby."

"More like benefits of being the baby sister."

"Hey, don't be sexist."

"I'm not!"

"Uh huh."

A beat of silence went by and a smile crossed my face.

"I love you, Marley Ryder." Logan whispered.

"And I love you, Logan Hamilton." I smiled. "But I should get back to bed before the guys notice I'm missing."

"Alright, Merry Christmas, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Merry Christmas." I smiled before hanging up the phone.

I turned off the shower, flicked off the lights, and tiptoed back to the room.

But as I was about to walk into the bedroom, I noticed that they were all talking, and I hesitated outside of the door to listen in.

"Guys be quiet or you'll wake up dad." Alex said, his voice in a whisper but firm.

They all fell silent.

"So what if she's dating someone. Did you seriously think she'd go through high school without a boyfriend?"

"Well I certainly hoped she'd be a little bit older and she wouldn't be going after Logan of all people." Mark snapped.

"Hey, at least it's someone you know and like." James offered. "We've known the guy since he was a little scrawny thing in sixth grade."

"Still." Mark mumbled.

"Yeah I'm with James on this one. Of all the guys at East High, Marley chose a good one." Justin agreed.

"Guys, he sent her nudes, what if she's sending them back?" Mark said seriously.

"That's not really any of our business. And you really shouldn't have been on her phone." Michael spoke up.

"How are you all so okay with this? She's our baby sister, our little Marley, and she's..." Mark trailed off. "Shit."

"Plot twist, Mark cares about her the most." Wesley let out a laugh.

"Shove it." Mark hissed.

"I mean I don't quite get how you didn't all figure this out before. Remember that weekend back in October that James and I came home to see Jane? They were eyeing each other up and down and we were only all together for fifteen minutes. I've known something was up since then."

"And you didn't tell us?" Mark snapped.

"Chill please." Alex laughed. "You need to tone it down."

"Seriously, Mark, it's a little bit sexist." James added.

"Bullshit." Mark hissed.

I narrowed my eyes, the feminist in me yelling at my feet to carry me into the room to stand up against it. But I kept myself back, knowing my brothers would sort it out.

"Yeah seriously, you don't see me freaking out because all of you are dating. And you're younger than me." Alex pointed out. "Just because she'd a girl doesn't mean she can't handle herself."

"Yeah, Mark, look at that welt you've got on your back from her. She's tough." Justin teased.

"I think it all comes down to this. We love her, yes, but I think we need to take a step back and let her do what she wants to do." Alex said seriously.

"Agreed." James said instantly.

"Same here." Michael agreed.

"Yeah." Justin said with a slight laugh.

"Hell, I just want her to be happy." Wesley mumbled.

"Fine." Mark hissed.

"And listen, if he breaks her heart, we'll trash his car and be there to console her." Alex added. "But we need to be showing her how much we love her, not how much we don't trust her."

"If he breaks her heart, we're breaking him." James said.

"I know plenty of guys on the Michigan football team already." Michael said firmly. "And they'd be more than happy to help."

"Okay, unnecessary." Alex laughed. "The six of us can take any punk who messes with her."

"So if you're trying to be all gender-equal and shit, does this mean we should all go track down Carson Calhoun and beat her ass?" Mark teased.

I winced and the entire room fell silent.

"You are a piece of shit, Mark Ryder." Alex said harshly, his voice surprisingly cold.

"It's late, it's Christmas Eve, all of you should be sleeping." I said seriously as I walked into the room. "I appreciate this whole 'support Marley' movement, but it's late and I'm exhausted."

Everyone started talking at once, wondering how much I'd heard and what I thought and where I was and what was going on.

But in the end, I laid down in my corner with a pillow and a sleeping bag, a smile crossing my face at how much I loved my brothers.

"We love you, kid." Alex said quietly as I closed my eyes.