Beast

by Elizabeth Reyes

  The first several days of Lila’s honeymoon Leo and Ali spent every evening of the week together. After she hung out at Leo’s place for a few hours, he’d follow Allison out to the freeway entrance, and she’d go home for the night. But by Friday night, since Allison had mentioned she had no weekend plans other than doing what they’d done all week, Leo brought up the suggestion he’d wanted to since day one.

  “What’s the point of going back and forth all weekend? Why don’t you stay the night and tomorrow you go home and pick up a bag so you can stay the whole weekend?”

  “But Nine and O will be here this time,” Allison said, looking a little surprised by his suggestion.

  The only other time she’d spent the night was the weekend his roommates had been away. But they’d been here all week when she was over in the evenings, and no one seemed to mind. In fact, after she’d put together a few home-cooked meals three nights in a row and made enough for his roommates, Nine had already asked that morning what was for dinner tonight. So, despite her cooking mostly healthy shit, Allison had already worked her way in with Leo’s roommates’ good graces via their stomachs.

  Tonight, they’d stopped at the dollar store on their way to his place. Last night, she’d asked if he had chicken in the fridge. They had lots in the freezer. Most of the times they were supposed to be cooking they opted for takeout or threw together a sandwich or something. Since he’d taken it out that morning for her to put something together tonight, she wanted to stop and get some key ingredients.

  “This is a marinade I’ve been perfecting for a few years now,” she’d said when she first pulled the bottles out of the bag in his kitchen. “As you can imagine, Lila and I did a lot of shopping at the dollar store when we were on a budget, but I still love shopping there.” She’d showed him the bottles of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and rice vinegar she’d be using for their chicken tonight. “Three bucks and you’ll have a lot left for future dishes.”

  Leo had sat on the counter, sipping on his beer while she put it together. She insisted she didn’t need help, so he sat and enjoyed the view as she talked him through it instead. After she put the key ingredients together, Leo took advantage of the time they had to wait for the chicken to marinate and the time they had before O and Nine got home, by taking her into his bedroom.

  Now they stood out on the back deck, grilling the chicken, along with a few other interesting things Leo had never thought to grill, but Allison assured him he’d like them. Now, his only concern was if she’d agree to stay the weekend. He still couldn’t get over how good it’d felt to sleep with her in his arms all night and then wake to her beautiful sleeping face the next morning.

  “If you don’t think Nine and O would mind . . .”

  “Why would they mind?” Leo turned away from the grill to look at her. “You’re not like the typical girls any of us have ever brought around. No one has to worry about anything going missing or things getting ugly. They like you, baby.”

  “I think they like my cooking,” she said with a smirk.

  “Yeah, that too.” He leaned over and kissed her. “Even if Nine complains about the healthy stuff, he still eats it.”

  “Aside from grilling, do you guys really never cook?”

  “Breakfast.” Leo shrugged. “Omelets are hard to mess up, and we throw whatever’s in the fridge in them” That reminded him of something that made him laugh. “Nine threw pizza in his one morning.”

  Allison laughed. “No way.”

  “Yeah,” Leo said, flipping over a piece of chicken. “Said it was good too.”

  “Something smells good,” Nine said as he and O walked out to the deck.

  “Yeah, it does,” O added. “You better be making enough for all of us.”

  “We made plenty.” Allison smiled proudly.

  “The fuck’s that?” Nine said, staring down at the grill.

  Leo smirked because he’d known it the moment he saw Allison slicing the zucchini and eggplant and then brought the asparagus out to the grill. Nine would be the first to protest their side dish.

  “It’s parmesan garlic grilled veggies,” Allison responded as if she thought it might excite Pizza Omelet Man.

  “I ain’t eating that,” Nine retorted, staring at the vegetables in that same disgusted way as when he first spotted them.

  “They’re really good,” Allison insisted. “You can’t have any chicken if you don’t at least try them.”

  “Nah, fuck that,” Leo said, matching Nine’s disgust. “You don’t have to convince him, babe. He can heat up a cup of noodles for dinner and be done with it.”

  “Easy with the cup of noodles,” Nine said, hopping onto the deck’s ledge. “Not with all that chicken on the grill. I’ll try some of that rabbit food if I have to.”

  Orlando was busy changing the channels on the small TV on the deck’s corner table. “Ooh, College World Series.” He set the remote down.

  “Those are chicks,” Nine said, once again his face all screwed up.

  “Yeah, even better,” Orlando said, taking a swig of his beer. “It’s hot.”

  “No, it’s not,” Nine argued as Leo pulled Allison in front of him, bringing his arm around her neck while they both listened to his roommates’ debate. “Softball chicks are thick as shit.”

  “Not all of them.” Orlando pointed at the girl on the mound talking to the catcher with her mitt over her face. “She’s cute. So’s the catcher.”

  They all watched as the ump approached the mound. Leo closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath because the ump was as butch as they got and he already knew what was coming.

  “See that’s another thing.” Nine pointed at the screen, right on cue. “I’m not into butch chicks. Look at that shit. How do you even address that thing? What’s up, dude?”

  Thankfully, Allison giggled and wasn’t offended by his roommate’s embarrassingly offensive attitude. But Leo readied himself to tell him to shut up if he had to. Allison’s curves were very feminine, not thick the way he knew Nine meant. Most of the girls on TV were full of muscle and not like Lila either. They weren’t nearly as defined, therefore did look on the heavy side, and yeah, a bit manly. Allison wasn’t anything like that, but he knew Allison considered herself heavy.

  Fortunately, they dropped the subject when the game went to commercial. Highlights of the news after the game had their attention instead when there was mention of a high-speed chase in the area. Then the broadcaster mentioned the other local story: a woman in Burbank paid over a thousand bucks to have a tumor removed from her beloved goldfish.

  “Get the fuck out!” Nine said with what Allison probably now thought was his only expression—disgust. He shook his head. “Swear to God, white people. A goldfish?”

  “Jesus,” Leo muttered under his breath as Allison walked away to move the vegetables on the grill.

  Nine was still staring at the TV, looking all irritated. “This is why I’ll never get white people.” Thankfully, his rant was interrupted by a honk out front. Orlando turned to them from the TV. “You expecting someone else?”

  “I am,” Nine said, jumping off the deck rail. “That’s gotta be Mariana.” He bounced his brows. “Now this shit’s what I’m into!”

  Great.

  Leo could only hope Mariana wasn’t spending the night tonight too. For all the shushing Allison did when she and Leo were messing around in his room and his best friends were home, Mariana was just the opposite. It’s like the bitch wanted everyone else in the house to hear her coming. She was loud as fuck.

  This was the kind of stuff that worried Leo most about this relationship. Allison lived in a luxurious mansion with housekeepers and drivers who were likely always on their best behavior and never said the kind of shit his roommates did. From what she’d told him about the place, it was so big they used an intercom or texted each other sometimes to say goodnight or announce they were leaving. Now here she was in this dump, and if Mariana spent the night, they’d h
ave a play-by-play of what Nine would be doing to her all night.

  As if this shit wasn’t bad enough, Nine didn’t walk back out to the deck with just Mariana. She’d brought her friends Blanca and Carla with her. All three were dressed in their “eat your hearts out, boys” attire, the kind that made it hard to tell if they were street walkers or just regular girls out for a night on the prowl. The smell of their food grilling was temporarily trounced by the stench of their overpowering perfume as all three stepped onto the deck.

  Instantly, Leo was working his jaw. Even as Blanca went directly to Orlando’s side and Carla stood there taking in Leo from top to bottom, Allison seemed oblivious as to what Mariana might’ve had in mind tonight. Before meeting Allison, Leo would’ve been all for it. Except now this was awkward as shit.

  “Allison, this is Mariana,” Nine said then motioned to the other two respectively. “And these two are Blanca and Carla. Allison here is Leo’s new girl.”

  Of course, Carla would be the first to address Allison. “Really?” She smiled sweetly enough at Allison; though the surprise in her tone was a little too fucking over-the-top. “Nice to meet you, Allison. Isn’t this a surprise? How long?”

  “Few weeks,” Allison said as Leo pulled her back against him.

  He hugged her from behind, leaning against the deck’s railing. He kissed Allison’s temple, and his eyes met Carla’s with a telling glare. She knew him well enough now. As many times as he’d fucked Carla, he’d never once been this openly affectionate in front of others with her or anyone else for that matter. He hoped she was smart enough to know Allison was different from any of the other girls Carla might’ve seen around him in the past. This was not a competition or even an invitation to join them. Like Nine, Carla had an unpredictable mouth, one he never minded before, given who they were around. But the way Leo felt about Allison now, girl or not, things would get ugly if Carla even thought about getting catty with Ali.

  Ironically, Nine’s stupid comments about the softball game on TV took center stage again. The girls all turned to the small television as his commentary continued with each girl that got up to bat.

  “I played all the way up into high school,” Blanca informed him. “Then I discovered boys, ditching, and weed. Forget about it. My days on the mound were over.”

  “What’s wrong?” Allison asked in a lowered voice, turning around slightly to look up at him. Leo shook his head, but her brow went up. “You think I didn’t notice how tense you got when they all walked in?”

  Leo stared at her but refused to discuss this now, especially with Carla standing just a few feet away. Allison turned all the way to face him, bringing her arms around his waist. “I know you had a life before me, Leonardo.” Thankfully, her voice was a near whisper, and she didn’t seem upset in the least. “It’s inevitable that we may run into people from our pasts.”

  “Oh, you don’t want me running into anyone from your past.”

  “Really? That’s how it’s gonna be?” She smirked, still looking up at him. “Should I get ready to start swinging?”

  “No.” He chuckled, holding her a little tighter, then whispered in her ear. “You’re not me. Remember that.”

  To Leo’s relief, after about a half hour of awkwardness, his roommates left with the girls to a party. The food turned out to be a hit. Aside from Allison, none of the girls ate and still every bit of it went. Even Nine had no choice but to concede, “These veggies are pretty fucking good.”

  Allison insisted on cleaning up before they headed for his room. Leo explained about Carla as they cleaned up. She was just another body whom he took care of business with.

  “But now that things have changed with me, I’ll be letting Nine know I don’t want her around.”

  “If it bothers you that much,” Allison said as she rinsed dishes, “so be it, but don’t on my account. As long as she’s as respectful as she was tonight, I’m not opposed to her being around.”

  “Nope,” Leo shot back immediately, “because I’m absolutely opposed to being around you and anyone from your past. So, fair is fair. Fuck that. I don’t like the awkwardness of it anyway. There’s no reason for her to come around here anymore.”

  Discussing Carla was nowhere near as uncomfortable as Leo had anticipated it being. They finished cleaning up the kitchen then sat and watched TV. It was supposed to be only for a few minutes, but they got caught up in a movie that had just started and ended up watching the whole damn thing.

  The evening came to an end with a long lustful shower that moved on into the bedroom. Leo had just slid into Allison when they heard the front door open loudly then giggling. There was no mistaking Nine’s voice as they trudged through the house, stopping every now and again. There were moments of silence followed by groaning and moaning as they moved it along until Leo heard Nine’s bedroom door close. But the moaning didn’t stop. It only got louder.

  Leo had all but stopped, and he could see through the moonlight that came in from the window that Allison was smirking. “I guess she’s not as shy as I am about being loud.”

  “You don’t know the half of it, sweetheart,” he warned with a nervous smirk.

  The headboard banging against the wall started up, and Mariana’s moans along with Nine’s grunts continued. Instead of protesting or being appalled, Allison covered her mouth to muffle her giggling.

  “Harder!” Mariana called out as Leo pulled himself off Allison and lay down next to her.

  Another reason Nine had blown through so many of his lives, was his competitive streak. They’d learned over the years to never challenge him to anything: street races, downing the most shots the fastest, playing chicken on the highway. You name it. But even something like this broad yelling out for him to go harder he’d consider a challenge. Taking a deep breath, Leo decided now wasn’t the time to share this fun fact with Allison. But no way was he continuing with that noise going on.

  Allison only laughed more as they got louder. Leo banged the wall so his friend could have a little consideration, but in the past, this never worked. It seemed once Nine was into whatever he was doing, especially if he was drunk, which knowing Nine he probably was, he wasn’t hearing shit.

  There was more indiscernible talking going on. Maybe Mariana had heard the knock, and she was telling Nine about it. Leo could only hope. The headboard banging and moaning continued with Leo taking solace in Allison’s now nearly uncontrollable laughter. She laughed into her pillow as an apparently just as drunk Mariana continued to demand Nine fuck her harder. There was some other muffled exchange between the two as Leo kissed the side of Allison’s head playfully, since the rest of her face was buried in her pillow where she continued to laugh.

  “I’m sorry,” Leo whispered in her ear. Allison shook her head but wouldn’t lift her face. “I am. He’s an inconsiderate asshole when he’s drunk.”

  And when he’s not, but Leo would keep that to himself. His friend was a good guy with a heart of gold that would stop short of murdering someone for Leo. Even then, Leo wasn’t so sure Nine wouldn’t snuff someone out for Leo if he had to. He was as loyal a friend as they came. But still he could be such a shit-for-brains when it came to some stuff.

  “You asshole!” Mariana yelled out.

  Leo stopped nibbling Allison’s ear as something crashed loudly in the other room. “What the fuck?” Nine yelled back.

  Mariana yelled something else as the footsteps stomped around Nine’s room. Allison’s head was now popped up from the pillow as she stared at Leo wide-eyed. The bedroom door next door slammed open, and the noise was in the hallway now. “You told me to slap you!” Nine protested loudly.

  “Not that hard, you fucking asshole.”

  There was more stomping and yelling through the house as Leo got up and put his pants on. “Fuck!”

  “Where you going?”

  “To make sure his ass doesn’t go out there and make a scene and the cops get called.”

  To Leo’s relief, Nine stood
at the front door in nothing more than his underpants, listening—quiet for once—as Mariana continued to rant all the way to her car. He turned to Leo when he heard the footsteps. “These crazy bitches,” he said, shaking his head. “Probably for the best anyway.” He closed the door and started back to his room as the car outside skidded away. “I didn’t see myself finishing anytime soon. I’m all fucked up. Sorry if I woke you.”

  “Woke us?” Leo asked incredulously. “You two probably woke the whole damn neighborhood. Do you have to be so fucking loud? Allison’s here, remember?”

  “Oh shit.” Nine laughed as he reached the fridge and pulled out the milk gallon. “I forgot about that.” He chugged the milk straight from the gallon then wiped his mouth with the back of his arm and continued to laugh. “Sorry, Ali, baby!” he yelled out obnoxiously. “Hope I didn’t traumatize you.”

  Before Leo could strangle him, Allison responded. “No worries. I’m fine.”

  Turning back to a glaring Leo, Nine put the milk back in the fridge, making a show of how scared he was, and scurried away. He hit his toe on something and cursed the rest of the way, limping.

  Leo hung his head as he took the walk of shame back into his bedroom. What the hell had possessed him into thinking having her here all weekend with his two roommates home was a good idea? Allison was sitting on the bed, sheet up to her chest, smiling big. “Never a dull moment?”

  Leo groaned, slipping into the bed next to her. “I should’ve known better.” Allison laughed, which only made him appreciate her sweet sense of humor even more. He buried his face in her neck. “I’ll talk to him when he’s sober. I promise.”

  “Don’t worry about that.” She giggled. “Just fuck me.” Leo’s body froze, but his face jerked up to her. It was only then that he realized she was only half serious because she seemed to be stifling a laugh. “Fuck me so hard I wake your neighbors. Just don’t slap me.”