Prologue

Kota's POV

It had been a long week.

I'd spent two full nights on stakeouts, one evening invading a school principal's office, and one night meeting with Mr. B to discuss our plans going forward.

If the lack of sleep wasn't exhausting enough, most of my waking hours were spent trying to contain an incredibly enthusiastic little blonde girl who could outshine the sun on her worst day.

Hendricks was caught and put away on Tuesday for his insurance scam. It'd taken a few months, but we'd finally found proof that he had an inside man at the insurance company that was assisting both him and the football coach. They'd inflated the football roster, told the school board there were 120 players on the team so they'd write a big check, then the accountant at the insurance company would only account for 80 players and siphon the rest of the check.

It wasn't even that much money being scammed, because student athletic insurance isn't expensive, so Hendricks was also getting his hands on the athletic supplies.

I'm no sadist, but it felt good to watch the desperation on his face as he was manhandled into the cop car.

Another achievement was McCoy being taken care of outside the law. We couldn't risk Sang's identity getting out if charges were pressed against him, so the Academy stepped in. McCoy would do whatever possible to get back at us, so we had to pay up ten favors to get him taken care of. It was a good thing my team had just finished this job, or we wouldn't have been able to afford it.

Sang had taken all of these events exceedingly well and has spent the majority of her time bouncing around in excitement or getting into trouble with Luke and Gabe. Apparently, completing this mission for Luke meant that it was time for a prank-fest. The only problem was that he recruited Sang to be his partner-in-crime this time. In the past, we could yell or hit him for his annoying antics, but with Sang we had to pretend to be entertained by his diabolical torture.

They had put blue Koolaid in my showerhead on Wednesday, which I was still a little miffed about. Luke added something to the mixture which made it completely impossible for me to wash out, even after fifteen showers. Gabriel had to scrub some baking soda concoction into it first, which he conveniently couldn't get a hold of until yesterday. If Sang hadn't started giggling with happiness the moment she saw my new appearance, I would've given them both an hour.

I guess it didn't hurt that she also said blue looked good on me before attacking me with her lips in one of the most passionate kisses we've shared yet, either.

Mr. Blackbourne surprised us all when he told Sang we could do anything she wanted to celebrate the mission being completed. Anything. It wasn't like Mr. Blackbourne to leave options open like that. Heck, she could've chosen to paint his toenails or get a puppy.

Gabe jumped in right away saying we could go to a club. Luke suggested going to SkyZone and the Circus. Victor said we could go to Italy for a week.

And what did my Ten choose, with the biggest smile on her face beaming back at all of us?

The park.

She wanted to go to the park.

This little girl has the entire world open to her, no strings, and she chooses to go to the park.

More specifically, Ten wanted to spend the day at the park with all of us, playing games and barbecuing.

Which is how I found myself standing against a tree, waiting for Nathan to grab his frisbee from the car and watching my family enjoy a day in the sun. Mr. B and Dr. Green were playing a game of chess next to me under the tree. I can't remember the last time I'd seen Mr. B do something athletic that wasn't Academy related, so I shouldn't be surprised that he wasn't joining Nathan and I with frisbee. North and Silas were throwing a football a dozen feet away from the tree. Victor, Gabe, and Luke were chasing Sang all over the playground. She'd spend about a minute at each area before running off for something new. I looked over to see her climbing on top of the monkey bars, something I'm sure Luke talked her into, and I had to tear my gaze away before my blood pressure rose.

I trusted the other boys to not let her get hurt, but that didn't stop me from counting to twenty.

Another part of me, the under-sexed sixteen year old boy that my brothers didn't think actually exists, would've preferred to run over there and see if I could get a good look at what's underneath Sang's short, pink skirt. I forced myself to count instead.

We may have all been "dating" Sang for a few months now, but I hadn't gotten anywhere near being underneath her skirt yet. I hadn't even gotten underneath her shirt, which I know some of my other brothers have by the goofy grins they've been wearing lately. We don't really compare notes or anything, but anytime I've gotten even close to going further than kissing with Sang, I completely freeze up.

I love her. I love her more than anything, and I don't want to screw it up. Despite the temptation of what's under her skirt and how much I want to touch all of her, I'd be happy to just kiss her as she lies in my arms for hours. I can have as many perverted thoughts as the next guy, but I don't think I'm ready to go there yet. If it was just Sang and I in a relationship, I'm pretty sure we'd be going at a slow enough pace that Jessica would have grandchildren before we even got to third base.

Technically, she's not even my girlfriend. We've been following Mr. B's instructions of letting Sang follow her heart, and it's been up in the air ever since. Victor took her on a date one night, and that started a domino effect until Sang's schedule was so packed with dates that Mr. B had to give us a monthly limit.

Things were going smoothly until New Years Eve. We had our own sleepover with games, movies, and sparkling grape juice that made Sang took quite a liking to. Sang had a little trouble staying up the entire night, but we were all wide awake when Dr. Green pulled her into a dip and planted a big one on her at midnight.

Two boys ended up with black eyes during the following brawl, and we all had to wake up at seven the next morning to do an hour. It probably wasn't the best foreshadowing to bring in the New Year with punches, jealousy, and Sang crying herself to sleep.

In a way, Dr. Green opened up the door for us to become more comfortable in the relationship. Sang would always sit on our laps around each other, or give us hugs, but now we started openly kissing "hello" and "goodbye" around the group. It wasn't much, but things were definitely progressing. It was a whole new world in private, though. Sang has become more and more confident with kissing, and I know we spend the majority of our alone time snuggled up somewhere together with few words exchanged. I don't know what Silas is teaching her during their alone time, but I don't feel guilty for reaping the benefits.

Mr. B called a family meeting for Wednesday this week to discuss how the dating is going. I have a feeling he wants to make things official, and I don't see anyone disagreeing with that.

He also wanted to make Sang's "transfer" to a new school as official as possible, so we're all are staying at Ashley Waters for one more week.

One more week not being able to show her affection in public. One week watching her only be able to kiss Silas. One week hiding the adoration I feel for her shining through my eyes.

It was going to be the longest week of my life.

Sang's POV

My boys.

Standing on top of the slide, I felt like a queen overlooking her kingdom.

I knew there'd been a smile plastered on my face all morning, and I might have been unable to sleep last night because I was so excited, but I couldn't care less because I had a full day with all of my boys.

Besides, I had an extra frappuccino this morning to make up for the lack of sleep. I expected Nathan and Kota to be just as exhausted from all the times I woke them up because my body was vibrating with excited giggles, but those Academy boys acted as if they'd been sleeping for days.

Not fair.

As Gabriel continuously poked my back, I turned to look at him over my shoulder before sticking my tongue out and giving the tip of his nose a quick lick. Abruptly pulling away and sitting down before he could grab me to administer his own territorial lick, I slid down to the sound of his outraged cry.

Spotting Victor and Luke, I ran over to join them at the monkey bars before Gabriel could catch up..

I don't remember ever being this happy.