Mina rushed around the wall, poker raised above her head in the most intimidating pose she could muster. She closed her eyes and swung at the dark figure invading her foyer—there was a whoosh of air followed by a gasp and a thud on the floor.
Still in a state of panic, she opened her eyes. Nix lay sprawled out on the ground and staring up at her, his hands protecting his red head from being decapitated. A pair of shocked green eyes greeted her.
When he recognized her expression, his turned amused. “Honey, I’m home,” Nix quipped, mimicking one of the old TV reruns he’d been obsessed with lately.
“Nix, what in the world are you doing sneaking into my house?” Mina said, still brandishing the poker over her shoulder like a baseball bat.
“Careful, Lucy, I’ve brought company.” Nix said still lying on the floor. He gestured with his laughing eyes to the doorway.
Mina looked up in confusion to see Brody filling out the doorframe very well. He appeared entertained at the situation and the fire poker in her hand. She let out a small gasp and dropped the poker.
A soft thud and a yelp told her she dropped it on Nix’s foot.
“Serves you right,” she muttered under her breath. “For breaking and entering.”
“I didn’t break anything. You, on the other hand, could’ve broken my head if I hadn’t ducked. Besides, I knocked. You didn’t answer,” Nix whined, as he sat up and nursed his injured leg.
“That’s because nobody’s home.”
“Of course you’re home. I saw you walk by the window.”
“Maybe I didn’t want company, did you think of that?” she mumbled between clenched teeth.
“Why wouldn’t you want company? Now that’s just dumb. No one likes being alone.”
Mina sighed loudly in frustration. Nix still didn’t understand human etiquette. Since Nixies didn’t have doors on their underground caves, they were used to just letting themselves into each other’s dwellings. And since Nix only one of his friends and family that hadn’t disappeared or turned into an evil Sea Witch, being alone was a terrible thought.
“Well, I happen to like being alone,” she answered.
“Being alone isn’t good for the soul. It’s not healthy. I should know.”
“Nix, this isn’t really the time to be debating this,” Mina hissed under her breath as Brody just leaned against the wall and watched the whole exchange with a bemused expression.
“And you,” she turned on Brody. “Were you going to let him just walk into my house?”
Brody shrugged his shoulders and started to chuckle. His hair was slightly damp, and his shirt clung to his shoulders. He seemed wetter than he would have been from walking a few feet in the rain from the car to the house. They must have driven here straight from water polo practice. Over the last few weeks, Brody and Nix had bonded over their love of water sports. “When he gets his mind set on doing something there’s hardly a way to stop him,” he answered and motioned to Nix. “It’s way more fun to sit back and watch.”
Mina rolled her eyes and picked up the poker from the floor, stashing it in a corner of the room.
“Yay, the weapon of decapitation has been dispensed with. Now we move onto business,” Nix said happily.
Mina put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. “What are you talking about?”
Nix started toward the open doors that led into the library. When he saw all the books on the floor, he looked surprised and entered. He began to pick up random books and flip through them, ignoring her question.
Brody followed Nix into the library and looked at the mess. “Got something against reading?”
“No, I’m just alphabetizing,” Mina answered quickly, knocking a pile of books over. The pile fell sideways, and the top one slid across the floor into Brody’s foot.
They both reached for the book at the exact same time, and their hands touched. She inhaled deeply and held it as a whiff of his shampoo washed over her. He smelled so clean. Her heart pounded in her chest. She had almost forgotten what Brody smelled like.
“I’ll help you.” He pulled gently on the book, and she let him have it. He walked over to a semi-empty bookshelf and placed the book upright.
Nix flipped his book closed with a loud thud, looked between Brody and Mina, and announced loudly, “I’m hungry. Anyone want any food? No?” He answered for them before they could respond. “Good, ’cause I wasn’t going to make you anything anyway. So if you’ve got something to say Brody, you should say it now. Before I finish eating whatever sandwich I can make out of their leftovers.”
Brody’s cheeks flushed. Was Brody here to see her? Was this his idea? For some reason, she’d believed Nix was the one behind their sudden arrival on her doorstep.
Brody looked even more handsome when he blushed. Was that because of her? “Uh yeah, so about the real reason I asked him to come here with me.” Brody scratched the top of his blond head, messing up his sun-kissed locks.
“Why did you need Nix to come here with you?”
“To be the first through the door, if you decided to attack us when we broke in, of course.”