by Mary Martel
“Thanks for the room,” I rushed out in my most sincere voice. “It’s lovely.”
The corner of his lips twitched, and I stopped breathing. He wanted to smile at me.
“Take your house key upstairs while we take the food to the dining room,” he ordered.
I did as I was told. I usually did.
When I got back down the stairs after placing my key on top of the dresser they were all in the dining room, waiting for me.
I hesitated in the doorway as I took in the scene.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The three of them were seated at the large dining room table. Dash at the head with Julian and Damien sitting across from each other. That meant I had to pick between Julian and Damien to sit next to. No brainer. I picked Julian, he was the safer bet, the nicer bet.
They watched my every move as I strode up to the table. I pulled out the chair beside Julian and sat down.
An empty plate appeared in front of me. I grabbed it out of the air and sat it down with a clunk on the table.
“Dig in,” Dash ordered gently.
I looked up to see him watching me and I gave him a hesitant, half smile. My palms were sweating fiercely, and I was thankful I had already set the plate down or it would have probably slipped from my fingers and that would have been embarrassing.
Dash tipped his head towards the food on the table and continued to watch me. I noticed no one else was eating even though they already had food on their plates. I hoped they weren’t going to watch me eat because that wouldn’t help at all with my nervousness and I would likely choke on whatever it was I was attempting to stuff in my face.
There were dishes on the table filled with food. A bowl with salad mix in it. Four different kinds of salad dressings. A plate with a pile of breadsticks on it. A casserole dish with what looked like creamy chicken alfredo in it. The table was littered with things. A plastic bottle of parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper shakers that were cute little ceramic cats, one black and the other white. I could guess which one was the salt shaker and which one was the pepper shaker. A half empty roll of paper towels and a small pile of silverware.
Who was supposed to eat all this food?
When I continued to sit there stupidly staring at all the food, Julian picked up my plate and started filling it with things. He skipped the salad entirely and piled the plate high with alfredo. He plopped two breadsticks on top of it and smothered the whole thing in parmesan cheese. The plate thunked down in front of me and I stared at it in open mouthed horror. I couldn’t eat all that.
He placed a fork on the edge of the plate and pushed the ceramic cats towards me.
“Uhh…”
“Eat,” Julian mumbled. “You’re too skinny and you’ve lost even more weight over the last few weeks. Are you eating every day? Are you eating at all?”
I tore off a hunk of a breadstick and dipped it into the alfredo sauce before stuffing it in my mouth. I chewed as I thought about how to answer his question. After I ate the first bite, the other three picked up their forks and stated eating. They had been waiting for me to take the first bite.
I ate without taking my eyes off of my plate. The rest of them were quiet as they ate too.
Had I been eating properly these past few weeks? I thought I had been but now I wasn’t so sure. I had been sleeping through breakfast, eating a piece of toast for lunch with a cup of coffee to chase it down and eating dinner with Mr. Cole on most nights which was usually some kind of take out. Huh. Guess I hadn’t been eating as much as I should have. I didn’t think one crappy meal a day and a piece of toast were going to cut it with them.
Before we had moved in with Mr. Cole I would have been more than happy to be able to eat a takeout meal, toast and coffee every day. It would have been a decent change from the normal of ramen and crackers that I ate almost every day.
I chose not to answer Julian’s questions and he didn’t ask again. It wasn’t any of his business how much I ate every day.
“So, Ariel,” Damien said quietly. “When are you planning on going back to school? You’ve missed what, three weeks now? You’re going to fall behind.”
I choked on the breadstick I’d just taken a bite of and had to take a few sips of water to get it to go down.
School.
I coughed.
Of all the things he could pick to talk about and he wanted to talk about school. What would he think if I told him I had zero intentions of going back to school. Being a high school drop-out wasn’t something I thought they would find cute or endearing.
How was I going to explain to them that I wasn’t going back to school? How would Quinton and Tyson take the news? Should I really not go back to school? The thought of going back had me cringing in my chair. The GED test was sounding better and better by the day.
“Hey,” Tyson shouted from the front of the house. “Where is everybody?”
I sat back in my chair and breathed out a sigh of relief. Saved by Tyson. Now I wouldn’t have to answer any uncomfortable questions.
“What’s he doing here?” Damien muttered angrily. He was staring into his plate of food with a scowl on his face.
“Brother,” Julian said in warning.
“Are you brothers?” I asked curiously. They didn’t look to be related and no one had said anything about them being brothers. I would have heard about it by now.
Julian winked at me. “We’re all brothers. It doesn’t matter that the only blood brothers are the twins. We’re all family and sometimes the family we make for ourselves is the best kind.”
I wrinkled my nose at him and asked in a serious voice, “Does that mean you’re going to start calling me sister?”
“Wha… What?” He sputtered.
“Sister,” Damien spit the word out on a disgusted sneer. I didn’t know what he had to be so disgusted about. He had a girlfriend and didn’t see me like that.
“Please, tell me you’re joking,” Julian whined.
This was by far the most awkward dinner I had ever been a party to. And nobody had really said anything. I sincerely hoped Dash wouldn’t expect me to have dinner with him every night. Then again, it was bound to be different with just him and me.
Tyson’s heat hit me. His chin rested on top of my head as he moved into me. He wrapped his arms around my chest and squeezed gently.
“When you didn’t answer me back I got worried,” he mumbled. His chin rubbed against the top of my head with every word he spoke.
Tyson squeezed me tighter and swayed from side to side, rocking us slowly.
“I left my cell phone upstairs,” I told him. “If I had thought you were going to come over here if I didn’t text you back right away, I would never have left the thing upstairs.”
“Do you like your bedroom?” he asked quietly, ignoring our avid audience and changing the subject.
I, for one, was having a very hard time ignoring our audience. Looking through the people seated around the table, I noticed all of them were watching Tyson and not me. Dash’s gaze was drawn towards where Tyson’s chin rested on my head and the sad look was back in his eyes. Why did seeing me with Tyson make Dash look sad? I didn’t understand him. Julian was looking a little higher, at Tyson’s face, and he had a thoughtful expression on his face. And Damien, well his eyes were locked on Tyson’s arms wrapped around my chest. A muscle ticked in Damien’s jaw, indicating he was upset or angry about something. Was he upset because Tyson was touching me? Or, maybe, because I seemed so comfortable with his touch?
Apparently, I didn’t understand any of them. Except for maybe Tyson, I knew what he wanted from me. And Quinton, he was a little too forward with what he wanted from me and I understood him all too well.
“It’s perfect,” I whispered, answering his question about the bedroom that had been put together for me. And this was no lie, the room was perfect for me. Except for that outrageous unicorn poster. I did not like that thing at all. The rest of it was absolutely perfect. Even the ti
ny, coffin sized closet worked for me. And, I even loved the love seat that had been brought in to replace my window seat. It wasn’t the same as what I had at Mr. Cole’s but that didn’t mean it wasn’t amazing. I didn’t have much in my room at Mr. Cole’s house. Don’t get me wrong, every little thing I did have was lovely and I took pains to take care of it, all of it. I could lie and say they were just things, but I wasn’t going to do that. I was done lying to myself about anything. When you grow up poor, with second hand everything your whole life, you tend to learn the value of brand new, only ever been yours things. I’m not ashamed to say that by value I sometimes meant monetary value. I always expected Mr. Cole to get tired of my mother and her insane behavior and kick us out to the curb. We would need money to survive in that scenario, so I had made sure I knew what everything I had been given was worth. But another part of me, the better part of me, had always been ecstatic to have something of my own, something nice and new, something bought solely for my use. I loved the things Mr. Cole had gotten for me and I went out of my way to keep them in perfect condition. Not just for resale purpose if it came down to that, but because I simply enjoyed having nice things and wanted to keep them that way. I had been slacking on this lately. Like, I hadn’t been making my bed every time I left it and I was developing a really bad habit of tossing my dirty clothes and towels onto the bathroom floor. Maybe that would change now that I wouldn’t be having my own bathroom and would be expected to share with Dash?
The room they had put together for me suited me far better than the one I had put together for myself at Mr. Cole’s house. I couldn’t wait to put more things on the wall and fill my closet floor with things like knee-high boots. And, I wanted to put makeup and lotion and nail polish on top of my dresser.
I could see my new bedroom quickly becoming home.
“It’s absolutely perfect,” I repeated on another whisper because it was worth repeating. Emotion threatened to rise up my throat and I forcefully shoved it back down. Now was not the time.
“I got you a present,” Tyson said. “If you are done eating you should go up to your room and I will meet you up there with it after I get it out of my car.”
A gift.
Tyson had gotten a gift for me.
Did I want it? Yes, absolutely.
I looked at my plate which was only half empty. I really could not eat any more.
“Let’s go,” Tyson said as he moved back, away from me.
Apparently, he didn’t require me telling him what I wanted, he simply knew.
“She’s not done eating,” Julian barked at Tyson.
“You don’t get to order her around,” Damien said angrily.
They were annoying.
“You’re giving me a headache,” I blurted and they all snapped their mouths shut. “Dinner was great, really, but I can’t eat anymore.”
I pushed my chair back from the table and stood up. All three of them were glaring harshly at Tyson. Better him than me.
Tyson smiled broadly at them. It wasn’t his normal bright and beautiful smile, but a smug, condescending one.
I pushed on his shoulder as I walked past him.
“You have a gift to go and get out of your car,” I said. “Remember?”
I didn’t stick around to hear if he replied. I didn’t want to hear any of them speaking anymore because they might really give me a headache.
I practically ran up the stairs and to my new room. Tyson had come along in the nick of time and saved me from that awkward dinner and the questions they had started asking me.
I closed the door behind me and let out a relieved breath. Maybe I was better off home alone. No, not home. Not home anymore. I needed to get used to that.
I sat on the edge of my bed and placed my hands in my lap, patiently waiting.
What could Tyson have gotten me? I was curious, nervous and excited all at the same time. Since he got me a gift did that mean I was supposed to get him one in return?
Tyson burst into my room with a white box under one arm. He didn’t bother knocking.
“What is it?” I asked excitedly. I was practically bouncing up and down in my seat.
He laughed at me and moved to the love seat. After sitting down, he patted the space beside him.
“Come on, girl.” He said. “Get that pretty ass of yours over here and open your present.”
I was in the seat beside him in record time. Tyson placed the box on my lap and sat back. He studied my face as I studied the box. I lifted the top off and dug through the white tissue paper inside.
Inside the tissue paper lay the most gorgeous dreamcatcher I had ever seen. The circle was black, the inside intricately woven with silver beads placed sporadically. Silver and black beads were hanging down on long strings ending with black and white feathers. There were white markings and words written around the black circle. I picked it up out of the box and held it close to my face so I could make sense of the tiny markings and read the words.
“What are these?” I asked quietly as I ran my fingers over one of the markings. The words were in a different language, one I couldn’t read.
Tyson’s fingers curled around mine, stopping my movements. His heat hit me, sending a tingle up my arm.
“It’s for safety and protection against all things,” he murmured quietly. “Even when you are asleep. Especially when you’re asleep.” He ran his thumb gently over the top of my hand in a slow circle. “I got this for you a few weeks ago. It took me a couple of days to put the spell together because I had to find the right books for it. The one I needed was hiding under Uncle Quint’s bed. I found a lot of interesting things under there.”
I cocked my head to the side in curiosity at how annoyed he sounded there at the end.
“What does Quinton have under his bed?” I asked with a burning curiosity and a desperate need to know. What did scary Uncle Quint have hidden under his bed? What would make Tyson sound so disgruntled? I hadn’t even seen Quinton’s bedroom yet and I was already planning on when I could find the opportunity to go digging for treasure under his bed.
“Ty?” I asked, and his fingers tightened around mine, squeezing gently.
I pulled my hand free so I could put my beautiful new dreamcatcher back into the tissue paper filled box.
“You don’t want to know, girl,” he said in an angry voice. “You’re going to have to trust me on this one, you don’t want to know.”
He was wrong. I did want to know. In fact, I think it was going to bug me until I found out.
I was learning that when it came to my friends and the people I cared about, I didn’t like being kept in the dark and I didn’t enjoy secrets unless I was in on them. I wouldn’t ask Tyson to tell me again when it was something he clearly didn’t want to share with me. I would bide my time and wait until I could find out for myself. Invasion of privacy? Yes, absolutely. Did I care? Nope, not in the least bit. This was Quinton we were talking about. Quinton who spied on me, invaded my dreams, stole my underwear, which I never got back, by the way and he’s done numerous other things that made him out to be a certifiable crazy man. He made people sick one second, then the next he made them fall in love. Against their own knowledge or even willingness, mind you. He was unapologetic in everything that he did, and I didn’t doubt for one second that he would not hesitate to go digging through my closet at the first opportunity he came across. With Quinton, all bets were off. He had it coming.
“Do you like it?” Tyson asked, breaking into my thoughts and pulling me away from what mysteries his Uncle kept hidden under his bed.
“What?” I asked stupidly.
He frowned at me.
“The dreamcatcher,” he said slowly. Then repeated, “Do you like it?”
I grinned at him and nodded furiously. “Do I like it?” I said. “No, I don’t like it.”
His face dropped, and his eyes filled with hurt and pain.
“I don’t like it,” I hurried to explain myself so I could take that l
ook out of his eyes. “I absolutely love it. It’s beautiful. Really. I’ve never had anything like it before and I’ve never been given a gift this lovely before.”
I left out the part about only ever being given shoes and pretty headbands from one of my mothers’ boyfriends before. That had been the only time I had been gifted with something from someone, but he already knew that story. My mother had never bought me a birthday present or a Christmas present before. Not that I had ever bought her anything either, because I hadn’t. It had never bothered me until now. I didn’t need to be thinking about my mother and all of the things I didn’t have while growing up.
The past was the past and in order for it to stay in the past, I needed to stop constantly thinking about it. I needed to focus on the here and now and being happy.
I looked into Tyson’s dark, dark eyes. Eyes so full of fire when they looked at me that it made my breath catch in my throat.
I swallowed thickly, quickly looking away from him.
“Can we hang it up, please?” I whispered.
I long finger touched my chin, pulling my head back towards him. I blinked in surprise. He was a lot closer than he had been before. Too close. I tried to scoot back but there was nowhere else to go.
“What are you doing?”
“Did he kiss you? That’s the only thing I can think of that makes sense of his behavior lately.” He asked in a dark voice I hadn’t heard from him in a while.
My eyes squinted in confusion and I sounded confused when I asked, “What? Did who kiss me? Whose behavior?”
I was entirely confused.
Then it hit me.
Oh man.
The only person who had kissed me was his Uncle. How would he know if Quinton had kissed me? I hadn’t told a single person.
My heart skipped a beat.
Had Quinton gone home after sticking his tongue in my mouth and told the others about it? My cheeks instantly heated, and I knew my face was flaming in embarrassment. I would kill him, and he certainly wouldn’t be kissing me anymore. Not if he went and told all of his friends.
“I… I…” I stammered. I had no idea how to explain this to Tyson.