Elijah
Ever had this feeling like you’re being watched? Like each move you make is being analyzed, dissected, and documented for later use?
No?
Well, I have. It was a lingering feeling ever since the moment I’d been challenged by Clayton. Everywhere I turned there he was.
The guy was a god damned freak, watching me out of the corner of his eye, silently observing. It was annoying and if the asshole expected me to get a buzz he’d need to quit killing the effects of the tequila. With each shot his beady little eyes became an instant sober alert.
“Why are you watching the twin so closely?”
I looked down to my left into the curious eyes of Xavier’s girl, Morgan. It was part of being so much taller than everyone else, and it didn’t help that she was a short little thing either. “The twin?” I asked with a smirk.
“Yeah,” she shrugged, “I still have no clue how to tell which one is which.”
“Corbin has a freckle on his upper—”
She holds up her hand to stop me. “Truly, I don’t care. I’ll still call them twin one and two.” Did I mention she was a sassy little shit too?
I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, fully expecting her to gut punch me as I dragged her toward her boy. Xavier saw us coming and immediately stepped away from the group of people he was talking to in order to pull her away and out of my hold.
I chuckled, knowing just how much he hated for any of us to touch her, even if it was only the simplest of ways. Most of us did it often just to irritate the piss out of him.
“Occupy your girl, she’s getting nosy.”
I turned to walk away, feeling something collide with the back of my head. I looked back just in time to see an empty plastic water bottle bounce along the floor before rolling to a stop only a few inches away from Morgan’s feet.
X chuckled as Morgan crossed her arms, challenging me in what I could only assume was some form of some girly stand-off. She’d been around for some time now and was beginning to act like her man. “I’m not nosy.”
“What do you call it then?”
“Curious.”
“Same thing, and shit like that gets people thrown in pools.”
“Are you threatening me?” She uncrossed her arms and placed them on her hips.
I was just about to take a chance of being pummeled by my brother for throwing his crazy ass girl in the pool when I noticed another girl step closer to Morgan’s side. It was the brunette from Porter’s Pizza. The same brunette I’d seen in the place almost every time I visited, yet still didn’t know her name. I had seen her often, and fuck, the girl made me weak in the knees; that shit never happened to me.
I did, however, enjoy observing her from afar. I knew this—I’d consumed more pizza over the last few weeks than I had in the last few years combined. I also knew the way her cheeks reddened when a man openly flirted with her; I had done that a hundred times it seemed but still hadn’t been formally introduced.
I was intrigued by her, mesmerized even.
I was feeling a little free tonight though so that might change.
I watched as she continued looking between Morgan and me, and the last thing I wanted was for her to witness the pool dunk and think I was some dick. So instead I looked back toward Morgan and answered her question from earlier. “Clayton,” I say, pointing toward the beady-eyed fucker who was still watching me, “thinks he can outdo me. He’s the Sober Brother tonight and apparently he thinks that he can pull the mother of all pranks.”
“So he’s planning on coming up with something bigger than permanent marker dicks on someone’s face, nipple piercings, naked twins on front porches, and blue dye in body wash?” She holds up her hands, counting off each item she named on her fingers.
“The blue dye was me, babe,” Xavier corrected her and she waved him off.
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
She looks behind her toward Clayton and he nods in agreement. “Well, this party may be worth staying at until the end just to see you suffer, Red. Payback is a bitch and these guys have a whole lot to give back.”
That they did, but I wasn’t worried.
“You actually pierced someone’s nipples?” The brunette asked that question as she wrinkled up her nose in confusion.
“Yep,” Xavier announced before I could and grabbed the hem of his shirt to lift it and exposed the piercings he still wore. That was a prank that backfired; who knew the guy would have loved them? It was almost the same situation I had with my Prince Albert when I let my best friend convince me to get it done after our high school graduation. It turned out to be one of the craziest and most pleasurable things I had done, or so I’d been told. It was a secret I’d managed to keep hidden so far.
“You did that?” I watch as the girl observed Xavier and suddenly I wanted to grab the shirt he still held high and pull it down.
“I did,” I said, regaining her attention. “Why? You want yours done?”
I watched as she swallowed hard and shook her head.
“Don’t torment her, Red,” Xavier said, finally covering himself back up. “Remember what Morgan said, you’d break her.”
Break her, mend her, heal her—fuck, I wanted to do them all. There was something about this girl. Something I noticed right off the moment I saw her at Porter’s. She just had this innocent look about her but I had a feeling, a strong one, that there was much more to this girl than the timid nature she displayed.
“I’d be gentle.” I said the words, suddenly wishing I hadn’t but I guess those tequila shots were working a bit. Normally I had no problem holding myself together, but a mixture of the raven beauty and the alcohol had me loose-lipped.
“Is that a promise?” I was a little shocked when she squared her shoulders and faced me head on. “Though I’m not entirely sure I’d want you to be gentle.”
“I’d be whatever it is you needed me to be.”
A loud whistle and a few hoots of approval sounded from my brothers who observed this exchange. She and I never once looked away from each other.
“You are so sure of yourself.”
I nod.
“What would you do if I told you to show me?”
I held out my hand to her and she simply looked down at it before lifting her gaze to mine once more. “I’d say let’s get going because we’re only wasting time, and for what I’m envisioning I need all the time I can get. There’s a long list of things I’d love to show you.”
When she laughed I sensed it was a nervous cover up.
“Sorry to disappoint you, Don Juan, but I’m not that girl.”
I thought she was wrong, in fact I could almost guarantee it. I could see the spark in her eye when I got a little playful with her. Hidden beneath the façade she masked who she truly was. There was a strong girl, one who knew what she wanted, but was afraid to go for it. It didn’t even matter that she pretty much dissed me in front of my brothers and whoever else was watching. The only thing this temptress managed to do was turn me on more.
“Okay, Buttercup.” Marcus, Morgan’s best friend, stepped up to the girl’s side. “You promised to be my wing-girl and standing here playing with Mr. Tall and Scary isn’t doing that.” He hooked his arm over her shoulder and began to drag her away. Only before he did I heard her say, “He’s not that scary.” That alone caused me to grin so wide my cheeks ached.
I watched until I could no longer see her and then turned back to find Morgan and Xavier watching me with curiosity. “What?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed him smile this much,” Xavier told Morgan. “Like ever.”
“It’s eerily scary, you know like that feeling you get when you see the Joker grin.”
“The Joker?”
“Yeah in Batman.” She rolled her eyes. “The guy is a freak and he smiles that weird, freakish smile just before he does the crazy laugh thing.”
“Hello,” I said, reminding them I was standing there listening to the entire conversation.
Morgan shrugged as if there was nothing wrong about comparing me to some disturbed villain.
“She wouldn’t survive a guy like you,” Morgan assured me. “I’m not entirely sure what kinda life she lives, but I get a sense that it isn’t a great one. She doesn’t need to be wrapped up in some guy’s fantasy about corrupting the innocent.”
“Who says I would corrupt her?” Okay fine, so I didn’t just want to corrupt her.
“Just go easy on her, please.”
Looking back toward where the brunette had gone, I wondered what Morgan meant by her life not being a good one.