A Little Too Late
Refusing to leave a depressed Sawyer, I don't crash for the night until nearly three. I end up sleeping in a guest room. The bed is more comfortable than the hotel's, but they're both nicer than my bed at home. I sleep great, dreaming of Sawyer splashing in the ocean. Her skin is hot from the sun and smells of cocoa butter. I'm just about to untie her bikini top when knocking at the door wakes me.
"Time to shop, sleepyhead," one of the twins says, opening the door.
Glancing at her big smile and massive Stetson, I realize my wakeup annoyance is Colbie.
"What time is it?" I ask, hiding my face under my arm.
"After ten. You need to get up and go buy a tux for the gala tonight."
"Gala?"
"Yeah, it's a big party for rich people."
Still hiding under my arm, I roll my eyes. "Why am I going?"
"Because, sweetie, Sawyer will be surrounded by many fine young men looking to get laid. We assumed you might want to keep them from plowing your ex."
Grudgingly sitting up, I sigh. "How much does a tux cost?"
Colbie flicks her hat like a cowboy from an old Western. "Darling, no one expects a poor boy like you to buy a tux. Since Zane's old tux is covered in blood, he needs a new one. He'll take you to the mall and buy you one too."
I think to complain about being a kept man, but I'm tired and don't really give a shit either way. "Give me a few minutes to clean up."
"I know you're tired," Bodie says, popping her head into the room, "but you can nap later. I told Sawyer the same thing when we dragged her lazy ass out of bed. Now get cracking."
The twins disappear, leaving me to quickly shower in the adjoining bathroom. I return to the bedroom to find a clean shirt. I'm too tall for Zane's jeans. A fact I learn during the drive.
"Dumb and dumber wanted to take you shopping. I said I'd do it. You're welcome."
Zane doesn't say much else. He listens to country music on the way to the mall. He checks his phone a lot once we arrive. He barely acknowledges the guy checking his seams.
I am more sensitive to a guy's hand being near my balls. Focusing hard on the tailor's activities, I only relax when the measuring part is complete. Zane is on his phone when I finish picking out a tux.
"The girls are picking out clothes on the other end of the mall. I suggest we avoid getting sucked into their shopping vortex. What should take thirty minutes becomes a morning long journey followed by an hour-long lunch at the food court. If we slip past them, we can eat and be back to the house by the time they're ordering lunch."
Keeping my mouth shut, I get the impression Zane doesn't want to talk. In fact, he makes this point very clear while we eat our mall-style Chinese food.
"I don't spend much time with men. With my sisters, talking isn't really necessary. They never shut up, you know?" he says, smiling. "I prefer their company to men always having something to fucking prove. How much money. How big a dick. How hard they throw a punch. I suspect my sisters absorbed all my testosterone in the womb because I have no interest in that shit. I don't want to gossip like a girl either. I let them shine while I sneak around and do what I please."
"Seems like a solid plan."
"For a man like me. Not so much for one like you."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm wealthy enough to be lazy and eccentric. On the other hand, you're a criminal and not in the casual way I am. No one needs to fear me. They fear my sisters. Especially Bodie and her damn wood chipper. A man like you needs to be feared that way. For your work in your world, you can't hide behind others."
"I don't."
"You don't exactly stand out either. Something's too quiet about you. Not in the scary way Bodie gets really quiet either. With her, you worry about what she's thinking when she's quiet. You feel her dissecting people. Making plans. It's creepy. You need to be scary like that. I don't see you ever wagging your dick around like Snickers, but you could be more like Caveman. I think I've heard him say a total of ten words in two years. He doesn't talk, and you nearly forget he's there. Except you do feel thinking about how he can fuck you up. That'd be a good move for you. With your size, you could do that easy."
"Did Bodie tell you to give me this speech?"
"No. I thought she already gave you one."
"She did."
"Why should I give you one?"
"But you are."
"No, I'm talking because you wanted me to talk. I could feel you wanted me to say something, so I did. I have nothing else to talk about besides my Yesenia, and people are getting sick of me talking about her."
"People were the same way when I was with Sawyer. They wanted us to shut up."
"My sisters don't like Yesenia. She doesn't make sense for our family, but I love her. I like how she cares about people since most women I've dated didn't even care about themselves."
"If you love her, that's all that matters."
"Says the guy who gave up the woman he loved for... Wait, what was your reason again?"