“Touch anything in this room and you lose a testicle. I’m serious, Brance. Consider this my room, and I like it the way it is.”
He snickers. “Reed, I can’t wait to hear what you have dragged me in here to tell me, or are you only going to threaten me?”
The guy’s got balls, I’ll give him that. No one talks to me like that except maybe Jax.
Sitting down across from him, I place my elbows on my knees and lean forward. “Look, Tess needs a friend. She has decided that’s you. You fill some void in her life.” Sitting back, I add, “But, I need you to know that I always come first.”
Silence fills the room. Brance maintains eye contact with me. Slowly he smirks. “Of course Tess loves you. I would never dream of coming before you.” He crosses his leg. “Unless you do something where I have to step in and be first.”
I raise an eyebrow. “What does that mean?” My voice is low.
He shrugs. “Nothing, Reed.” He stands. “Now, I need to finish Tess’s hair.”
“Wait, what?” I’m confused at this guy’s gall. “I need to talk to Tess for a second.”
Brance smooths out his jacket with his hand. “Yeah… no. It’s bad luck.”
“What are you talking about? This isn’t our wedding day.”
He sighs dramatically. “Reed, Reed, you can’t rush beauty. Why don’t you go wait in the main room and have some more appetizers? I can smell the bacon on you.”
He shuts the door on me, and I stand there staring at the closed door for a moment, replaying what just happened. Brance may play the flamboyant gay guy, but I’m starting to think the real Brance is somewhat sinister.
Taking my time going back, I try to shake off my unease. Tess is mine, and I have nothing to worry about.
I’m expecting to see my parents, but instead, I see Jax talking to a tall, skinny blond girl in a tight black dress. At first glance, I confuse her with Olive Oyl. As soon as I take a closer look, I realize my mistake. Grabbing a crab tart from the round bistro table, I shove the whole cake into my mouth. God, I love Maria’s cooking. The caviar and crème on top are mind-blowing.
“Hey.” I nod at the girl, turning my attention to Jax. “I really need you to be enthusiastic. Brance is going all out—”
“Dude! What is wrong with you? I’m here all dressed up. Being charming, having manners! Did you even realize there is another person here? Or are you so far up Tess’s ass you can’t even comprehend that you rudely interrupted us?” He motions at us with his hands.
I look at the girl, who shyly looks at her feet.
“Shit, sorry. I’m Reed, and I have no excuse for that. My brother’s right.”
“That’s okay. I get it.” Her voice is soft. I take a closer look at her. She has long blond hair and bangs. The bangs cover most of her eyes. Or maybe it seems that way because she hasn’t looked away from her feet. She’s tall, and I think I can detect small pink lips.
“This is Lexi. Her father is in business with ours. Apparently, she’ll be starting school with us.” Jax looks around the room bored. “I think that’s the door. Excuse me,” he says, leaving me with her.
Perfect, asshole! Staring at the girl, I have no idea why she won’t look at me. She seemed fine with Jax, but if she wants to not talk, that’s great with me. I’m about to use the same weak excuse Jax did when she decides to lift her head.
“I hope it’s all right that I came tonight?”
I was right—she has small bow-shaped lips and blue eyes. She’s quite pretty, if you like blonds. I happen to dislike them. They always remind me of Claire. She’s thin, with delicate bones and pretty much no boobs. But with all my mother’s friends having fake breasts, I kind of hope she’s one of the few who will let herself be. Clearly, if her father is doing business with my father, she comes from money. More than likely, as soon as she turns eighteen, she’ll run to the nearest plastic surgeon.
I smile at her, and she exhales. Wow, this is almost painful. Is she terrified of me or dumb?
Lowering my voice, I try to be reassuring. “I’m sure Tess will be thrilled to have another friend. You guys just moved here, right?”
My mind is already elsewhere, completely tuning this girl out. How the fuck did Brance redecorate this whole apartment so fast? I was here only two weeks ago! At least I like this room. It’s got a sophisticated, pleasing feel to it. The dark putty-colored walls have been replaced with crisp white ones, accenting the tall ceilings. A couple of large gray round rugs have been added. And a large gold spiky chandelier hangs in the middle. A little too upscale for me, but at least it’s an improvement, unlike the other rooms.