Janelle nodded. “That’s what you say.”
Shaking her head, Arri stuttered, “I…I can’t say that.”
“What’s the matter, princess?” Mike pushed, although Yager had no idea why.
“You gonna cry…again?”
Dark brown eyes turned on Mike like two lasers. Her eyes swept from his head to his feet and back again. Then she said the strangest thing. “Your colors are sad and lonely and desperate. And I hope you drown in them.”
With that, she handed the menu to Tye, who’d just walked into the room. “Get me the shrimp lo mein.” Then she stormed out.
Janelle shook her head. “Damn. That was some cold shit from our little Arri.”
“What the hell did that even mean?”
Katie smiled, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the massage. “It means get used to the idea of being a lonely, bitter old man one day, Molinski. Sort of like how you’re a lonely bitter young man right now.”
Would it really kill her sisters to act like they didn’t just roll up from the local bar? As with most Crows, they’d made themselves at home in Yager’s gorgeous house. Normally, Neecy wouldn’t complain, but she didn’t like the idea of them taking advantage of Yager.
He didn’t have to do this. Didn’t they realize that? He was letting them stay here out of the kindness of his giant geek heart. She wouldn’t let anyone abuse that.
Even the Gathering.
“You know,” Mike began casually. “We are starting to run out of food. Perhaps you lovely ladies could do a little grocery shopping while you’re out.”
Yager settled his head more comfortably into Neecy’s lap as Janelle’s arms crossed in front of her chest. Uh-‐oh. Her “You’re pissing me off” stance. This couldn’t be good.
“Why don’t you get the fuckin’ food?”
“Aren’t you more comfortable getting the food…cooking the meal. .” Mike smiled. “Washing the clothes?”
It was like the kid had a death wish or something.
“Why would I do that when clearly you’re much more comfortable being a whorish bitch than the rest of us.”
Mike opened his mouth to say something, but Tye slapped him in the back of the head. “Stop it.” He walked over to the couch and climbed up so that his butt rested on the back of it, while his feet were on the seat. Yager didn’t seem remotely annoyed his buddy’s enormous feet were resting on his expensive leather couch. “And you’re going. I’m sure the ladies could use a big strong Viking like yourself to tote that barge and lift that bail.”
“Yeah, but…”
“Go to the kitchen and see what we need,” Tye ordered.
Looking like the kid she always thought he was, Mike headed toward the kitchen. Janelle smirked; about to say something that she knew would piss Mike off.
“Cut it, Janelle,” Neecy warned.
Janelle didn’t bother hiding her smile as she winked at Neecy. What a bonehead.
I’m surrounded by boneheads.
Tye held the menu between two big fingers. “So, what are we doing exactly?”
Janelle dropped to one knee and laced up her sneaker. “Getting dinner and I guess groceries now.”
Staring straight at Janelle, Tye grinned. Neecy’d seen that same grin on Yager’s face more than once. Usually right before he put his tongue in her pussy.
“In other words you’re asking me what I’d like to eat tonight?”
Neecy glanced down at Yager, then they both turned away before they started laughing. As it was, Neecy still sort of snorted.
“Yeah.” Janelle stood up, completely oblivious. “That’s why you have the menu.”
Confusion on her face, she walked off into the kitchen. Tye looked at Neecy.
She shrugged. “We’re not real good with subtle.”
“I’m startin’ to see that.”
Stomach down on his bed, Yager hugged his pillow and wiped his tears with his thumb while Neecy laughed hysterically from under the covers.
“That had to be the most bizarre dinner I’ve ever experienced.”
They spoke in tight whispers since they didn’t know who might be outside Yager’s door, but it wasn’t easy.
“And,” Neecy choked from beneath the covers, “it just kept getting worse as the night wore on.”
Yager was still shocked no one had come to blows. Although it didn’t all start at the dinner. It started at the grocery store. Apparently Mike and Janelle argued about what to buy since it would be going on Yager’s account. According to the Crows, it got so bad, eventually Mike called Janelle “Big Foot.” Which prompted him to ask about her actual foot size. This seemed to be a sore point for Janelle, who placed Mike in a headlock and repeatedly slammed him into the glass doors of the frozen food section.
Katie separated them by punching both of them in the back of the head.
Picking up the Chinese food seemed to go without incident. The Crows and the Ravens even worked together to set up the table and lay out the food. No. All went fine…until they started eating.
Mike decided to hit on one of the girls. Normal behavior for Mike. He never went after women too hard because he really didn’t have to. But Mike wasn’t used to hearing a tiny Asian girl continually tell the entire table, “He’s lying ya know. You are such a liar.”
For once, Mike had no idea how to handle this. True. He was lying. But that wasn’t exactly new for Mike. He lied to women all the time. Prided himself on it, in fact. The only people he didn’t lie to were his Raven brothers. Of course, that usually meant they heard details about his conquests they could have done without. But even Yager could see having someone call him out every thirty seconds began to wear on Mike. Plus the fact that the Crows seemed to believe Arri, didn’t really help either.
Then there was Tye, who decided staring at Janelle was a good idea. Tye was what Yager referred to as a “watcher.” He didn’t say much because he spent most of his time watching what everyone else was up to. Normally not a problem, but Janelle came from a place where staring was a very, very bad thing.
Tye may have thought he was making his intentions clear by staring at Janelle like a piece of rib eye steak fresh off the grill, but Janelle felt threatened. And she let him know that when she threw one of her chopsticks at him, aiming right for his eyes. Any other girl, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But Crows were infamous at turning everything around them into a weapon. Thankfully, Ravens were infamous at defending themselves from any weapon. So, Tye simply caught the chopstick in mid-‐air and, to Janelle’s eternal annoyance, grinned.
All that, though…merely the activities on the main stage. All around them, antics abounded between the Ravens and the Crows.
Yager kept waiting for knives to be drawn. Or at least to see a few talons. But most of it was merely verbal. Lots of yelling, swearing, threatening, and quite a few slap fights. Like he had a house full of ten-‐year-‐old first cousins.
To be honest, Yager loved it. Ravens could be a little stoic at times. Stale being the word Tye always used. The Crows, however, knew how to have fun even when they were pissed off. Didi was right. They really were a “gathering.”
“You think we should have left them alone?” Neecy peeked out from the covers.
“There might be bloodshed.”
“Nah. Didi’s down there.” The Crow leader kept quiet through the entire dinner, but when they started arguing during dessert in the living room so that she couldn’t hear the lines from her favorite movie, “Aliens,” she’d taken everyone firmly in hand. Yager learned a lot from her in the few days she’d been around.
“Okay.” Neecy pulled the covers back over her head.