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"So, food?" Knix bent and opened the refrigerator. "Or would you prefer take out?" He closed the door and pulled out his cell. "I think I have a Chinese and pizza place nearby still in mycontacts."
"Whatever is fine," I said. "I don't expect to be stayinglong."
"Where's your bag?" Knix asked curiously. He stopped in front of me as he moved from the kitchen back into the living room. "I thought Bell got you fromschool."
"He did," I replied. "I left my backpack in the car. Why is itimportant?"
He shrugged. "I thought you might want to do some homework while you're here. At least until we get everyone situated." He sat next to me, his big body taking up more than half of the wholecouch.
Isquirmed.
"Or you could just start talking and we could take it from there," Isuggested.
Mysteries were not my forte. There was a reason I stuck to classics and fantasy:predictability.
"Oh, Little Bit." He shook his head. "Where would the fun in thatbe?"
Voices rose from the hallway, causing both of our heads toturn.
"I'm telling you, you're going to die under that mountain of shit someday."Marv walked back into the living room followed by anotherboy.
The newcomer was tall and slender. He wasn't quite as tall as Knix, then again, I couldn't imagine anyone else with his size. He was what some might describe as lanky, but there were subtle muscles under the skin stretched across hisarms.
Two beauty marks adorned the area above the left side of his lip. His hair was dark and appeared gelled back slightly on top only to fall into a soft wave at the end. I realized there that it wasn't actually gel, but water and the ends had dried. He looked like a journalist from an old black and white movie. Low slung jeans molded to his legs, held up with a loose brown belt and a white cotton t-shirt similar toKnix's.
"You'll appreciate my 'mountain of shit' when you need it to track your cell phoneor–"
"Tex, come meet Harlow," Knixinterrupted.
While it was said with a light air of friendliness, I could tell that it had been timed. Whatever Tex had been about to say, Knix didn't want him to say it in front of me. I had seen the way Knix's eyes had flickered to me before narrowing slightly in irritation just before the words left hismouth.
"Texas." The new guy held out a long-fingered hand – piano fingers, I thought – as he introducedhimself.
"Hi." I took the offeredhand.
Texas' face was fascinating. From a distance, he could have been anywhere from sixteen to twenty-five with a youthful, languid stance. Up close, I detected more intensity. The tops of his eyes were slightly curved and his lips tended to frown unless he wasspeaking.
Marv readjusted the tie at his neck before sitting primly on my other side, squishing me even further into Knix. He slung one leg up and over the other, laying an ankle across his knee before leaning back into the cushions. Texas moved away to take a seat at the breakfast bar, watchingus.
"So," I began. Marv turned towards me, a raised eyebrow, daring me. "Am I being kidnapped orwhat?"
Knix laughed, the sound startling me. He put one big palm over his stomach as if he couldn't contain himself. "No!” He continued to laugh, choking out between breaths.“No, you’re not beingkidnapped.”
"How many times do I have to promise something to get you to believe me?" Bellamy's voice drew my head back in the direction of the hallway and my eyeswidened.
He stood there, arms crossed, in a fitted white shirt that was nearly see through with all of that tan, dark skin. His shoulder length hair was pulled back away from his face, highlighting his straight features, and a pair of black rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of hisnose.
"She's a smart girl, Bell. She wouldn't believe anything you tell her." Marv waved his hand, the light glinting off his Rolex watch. I was drowning inconfusion.
"Please," I said. All eyes fell on me. I sighed. "Just tell me what I'm doinghere."
Knix patted my thigh, the fingers stretching across the fabric of my jeans like a massive, warm, bear paw. "Alright, Little Bit. Why don't we order some pizza and we'll put it all outthere?”
He stood and moved back to the kitchen to retrieve his phone and dialed for the order. Bellamy took Knix's emptied space next to me, not filling it nearly as much, but still taking up a considerable amount of room. I let my head roll back against thecouch.
By the time the pizza arrived, I had calmed down. I stuffed a few slices of meat lovers' delight in my mouth, chugged the can of soda Bellamy handed me, and laid back while the rest finished their meals. I watched as Marv used a fork and knife to cut up his pizza into small bites. Knix folded his in half and ate it like a taco, while Texas ate his crust first. Bellamy seemed to be the only one who ate it the normal way – just a lotslower.
"Alright." I slapped my hands on my thighs, drawing their attention. I sat up straighter. "Let's get this little intervention over with, shallwe?"
