Navy's Sons: Bullied by Quadruplet Stepbrothers novel Chapter 24

about the unexpected intrusion.

“Jeez guys, you could’ve at least knocked,” Jace grumbles, rolling his eyes. For once, I agree with him.

I fumble on the helm of Jace’s shirt as Reed, Luca, and Evren stare at me in a mixture of surprise and concern- interesting. They have the same almost tender expression when Jace was tending to my wounds. What’s up with them today?

“What the hell happened?” Reed’s demands, his eyes fixed on the bandage ground my shoulder.

“She ran into the greenhouse and slammed into the glass wall because she wasn’t looking, and it shattered and cut her,” he explains.

“What? Why would you run inside the damn greenhouse, Tabitha?” Reed looks at me as if I just did something stupid.

And maybe he’s right. Running inside a narrow space filled with fragile glass wasn’t exactly my smartest idea. But I’m not about to admit that in front of them.

So, Jace answers for me instead, “We just had a little argument. That’s all.” Well, that’s basically what happened.

“A little argument led to her crashing through glass?” Luca’s gaze cuts sharply to Jace.

“She panicked and ran off. What was I supposed to do, tackle her?” Jace shrugs like it’s out of his hands.

“Damn it, Jace. That shirt looks like a mess!” Luca points at my bloodied shirt that is now laying poorly on the floor.

“You said you were going to talk to her, not injure her!”

“I didn’t injure her!” Jace fires back, looking frustrated.

“You might as well did. Look at all that blood.” Reed surges towards his brother  anger stirring in his eyes.

I don’t understand what’s going on right now. I’m both confused and overwhelmed by the way they’re acting. I didn’t expect this kind of reaction to my injury. Evren, Luca, and Reed look furious, and Jace looks genuinely remorseful. It’s strange. They’re not supposed to care about me or what happens to me. But here they are, acting like it actually matters. And now, watching them direct all their anger at Jace, I feel guilty.

“I—uhm… Jace isn’t really the one to blame here,” I say, the words slipping out before I can overthink them. “It was me who ran. I wasn’t watching where I was going, and I wasn’t exactly thinking 09:03 straight. I just… wanted to get away.” My voice dips, not quite ashamed but not proud either.

Evren lets out a sigh. He sounds frustrated, but certainly not as pissed as he was when he first entered the room.

Meanwhile, Reed still looks annoyed, but some of the sharpness in his glare eases. Luca presses his lips into a line, and Reed drops his shoulders just a little.

I expect them to say something, maybe shift the blame to me. But instead, Luca silently steps and crouches in front of me, his eyes lowering to the bandage on my shoulder. His hands rest on his thighs as he leans in to get a better look.

“Looks nasty,” Luca murmurs, reaching out carefully. His fingers ghost near the edge of the dressing. “Did it go in deep?”

“The largest one did quite a number,” Jace is the one to answer.”

I glance down at my shoulder. The bandage is clean, but I remember the sting, the glass, and the ooze of blood. Still, I shrug. “I’ve had worse. I used to get scrapes like this all the time back in high school. I was always tripping on something or running into stuff. Kind of comes with being clumsy.”

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