Zane enters the living room before I can say anything to Sawyer. She backs away from me, desperate to focus on anything else. Zane shows no reaction to our presence. Instead, he ducks as a pillow flies over his head.
"Women, am I right?" he says to me, walking into the kitchen.
He isn't waiting for a response, so I keep my mouth shut. The twins arrive in the room looking like hippies.
"Why?" Sawyer asks them.
"Why the fuck not?" Colbie says, hugging Sawyer. "You smell like sperm."
"It's my new shampoo."
Snorting, Colbie looks at Bodie. "Oh, honey, I hope the spermy hair thing doesn't give you flashbacks to your first sloppy romp in the sack."
"I love everyone," Bodie growls and picks up a chair to use as a weapon.
Colbie pulls Sawyer out of the room before the chair can go flying. Once they're out of range, Bodie sets down her impromptu weapon and glances at me. I want to ask for help, but sense she isn't interested in playing Morpheus.
"Fine," she says when I stare at her for too long, "but no crying and only minimal feelings. I had a long night."
"What happened?"
"My dog got into the chili. You don't even want to know."
I smirk at her expression. "Sorry for your suffering, but I don't know what the hell to do with Sawyer."
"If you're looking to dispose of her corpse, I have a few ideas. Oh, wait, I'm supposed to protect her, right? Man, today is already starting off with some tricky shit."
Zane appears suddenly, startling me. The guy is like a damn cat with his skulking. He hands his sister a beer before disappearing down a hallway.
"It's five o'clock somewhere," she says, taking a swig. "So what's the problem, Neo?"
"She came to my room, and we had sex. Now, she's claiming last night was us saying goodbye. What's a nice way to tell a woman to pull her head out of her ass?"
"First, you start by asking if she's lost weight. When she's babbling about how she has been exercising more, you mention she's your woman now. Next, you explain you're willing to hit her on the head with a club to make her submit. Finally, throw flowers at her face and make a run for it."
"That's horrible advice," I balk, laughing since I'm too frustrated to do anything else.
"Well, to be fair, I've never been in love with a bitch before," Bodie says, downing her beer. "Especially not one with curly hair. I'm kinda guessing here."
"You've dated though."
"Oh, yeah. Hundreds of guys."
"Hundreds?" I ask, rolling my eyes.
"Hey, a free dinner is a free dinner. Anyone who asks, I say yes." When I frown at her, she shrugs. "Sorry I didn't meet my Prince Charming when I was five or thirteen or whenever Sawyer said you two met. To be honest, I have a deal with Colbie that I only listen to you while she only listens to Sawyer. If we were forced to listen to you both, I don't know if anyone would survive."
"You're not helping. Not even a tiny fucking bit."
"Did you miss the part where my damn dog ate chili? Give me more than five minutes to devise a solution to a problem you idiots created months ago."
"Fine, five minutes," I say, walking into the kitchen. "I'll eat fast while you use your big brain to solve my shit."
Bodie glares at me, but I know she's thinking up something smart. At least, it'll be something smarter than I can come up with.
I eat fruit salad for breakfast since I can't find anything else. By the time Mama May Dee appears and asks me if I want her to cook, my stomach is too full of fruit to say yes.
While I wait for Bodie to magically fix what I fucked up months ago, I sit outside and sweat in the hot Texas morning. After a few minutes, Sawyer appears on the back deck, gets awkward upon seeing me, and hurries back inside. Watching her flee, I think about the first time I kissed her. I'd been waiting for years for Sawyer to grow up enough to think of me as more than a friend. Hitting puberty first, I didn't even view her as a woman until she emerged from the pool one day and sent my teenage hormones into overdrive.
Months later when she was fourteen, Sawyer ordered me to kiss her. I obeyed. Our first kiss was awful. All gnashing teeth and way too much spit swapping. I laugh now, remembering how lame we started out. Our first kiss was so awful we swore never to do it again. That pledge clearly stuck.
An hour after saying she needed five minutes, Bodie emails me on my cell. The message orders me to get dressed for the gym and meet her downstairs.
Sawyer apparently received the same message. Wearing sweats, she's standing at the top of the basement stairs.
"What is this?" she asks, angry now.
"I think it's a stairwell leading to the basement."
Sawyer blinks twice before laughing. "Asshole."
We walk downstairs to the gym, only to find it empty.
"This way, lovers," Colbie says from farther down the hallway.
An irritated Sawyer grunts, thinking this situation is my fault. She's right, but I don't plan on admitting anything.
Wearing camouflage gym shorts and a tee, Bodie waves us into the large boxing ring in an all-white room.
"This place is creepy," I say. "Why is it in the basement?"
"No space upstairs. Dad underestimated how big to make the house."