To Be Claimed

✙ Chapter 20 ✙

Hey!

Hope you enjoy the chapter! Sorry for mistakes!

~Lissa

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Watch this," Brody said, a smirk stretching onto his face. In the morning, I found myself in the kitchen, eating fresh strawberries with Ryker next to me at the counter, silent. Believe it or not, but we had spent the entire night talking, mostly about myself - mainly because he didn't enjoy talking about himself. The only new things I had learned about him during the entire seven hours was he despised seafood and his favorite animal, other than a wolf, was an elephant. Brody picked a grape and cheerfully, tossed it into the air. With his eyes trained on it, he moved his head, catching it with his teeth. I laughed and applauded him as he bowed. "Thank you, thank you - I've been offered a position in the circus, but I'm just too busy, you know?"

I shook my head. "You're good."

"I was the one who taught him," Cole entered the conversation, pulling his oatmeal out of the microwave. "He won't admit it, but I've taught him everything he knows." He winked at Brody who rolled his eyes, grinning.

"No, he didn't," Brody said, picking another grape. "I was born with natural talent."

I held back a laugh as Cole chuckled and started stirring his steaming oatmeal. I turned my attention back to Brody, noticing the dark circles underneath his brown eyes. Ryker grabbed a strawberry from the bowl in front of us and glanced at me, a glint in his emerald eyes. For some reason, I felt like he was keeping something from me, besides the situation with his father. But, I wasn't over-thinking it because Ryker was a secretive person; I knew several secrets floated in that head of his. And, while I often found the mysterious behavior attractive, it was frustrating. How the hell was I supposed to know what he was thinking? About us?

"Laura, I see the jealousy on your face!" Brody sang, looking over my shoulder. I turned around in my stool, seeing Laura seated at the kitchen table. Her feet were propped up on the hard surface as she balanced on two legs of the chair. Like usual, her hair was braided and judging by the circles underneath her eyes, she didn't get much sleep last night, either. Her blue eyes flickered Brody's direction as she started peeling another tangerine. "And, I heard you pacing last night in the hallway - you should lay off the coffee."

Laura frowned. "It's called 'watching the area, so nobody kills you in your sleep'." Her words came out harsh and I pinched my lips together, awkwardly. "I was protecting your as*es. You're welcome, Brody."

He shrugged. "Still, lay off the coffee."

"I don't drink a lot of coffee," she retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Three cups a day."

I nearly laughed when she flipped him off, carelessly. She shoved a piece of her tangerine into her mouth and started chewing. Cole dropped some raspberries into his oatmeal, before he cleared his throat and looked at Laura. "You know, you didn't need to stand guard. Drew wanted you to rest; these past few weeks have been hard." Laura didn't respond, but instead, shoved another piece of her fruit into her mouth. It was obvious she wasn't the friendliest person, but she had saved my life with Katie back at the motel and for that, I owed her. "You look exhausted, Laura. I don't know why you keep - "

"One big brother is enough, Cole," she interrupted, raising an eyebrow. "Stop worrying about me, alright?"

Brody made a sound with his tongue. "Dang, she's cranky." Ryker shook his head, obviously not interested in the conversation. "It must be all that coffee." I fought back a smile when Laura glared at him and shoved the last of her tangerine in her mouth. Then, she stomped out of the kitchen, leaving behind her peels. Brody exhaled loudly, nearly spitting out a chunk of the grape in his mouth. "She's overreacting - ever since Nora rescued her from Killian's dungeon, she's been acting like this. Maybe some McNuggets will make her happy. . ."