Tank glared up at me. “No, Tank’s good. Thanks, though.”
“Pussy,” I spat just as the girls walked in. Annie was hanging in the back with Izzy and Kartini while Serena was making an angry beeline toward Junior. Ah, the entertainment never did end with those two.
King nodded his head toward the girls. “Come on, they like it when we get all bloody and dirty.”
“Ew, that’s your cousin,” I pointed out.
“Okay, there’s first cousins… and second cousins—”
“Fuck, is he quoting Mean Girls again?” This from Junior, who still didn’t realize his very angry girlfriend was standing right behind him, arms crossed, nostrils flaring.
Both King and I immediately stopped fighting and watched in rapt fascination as Junior slowly hung his head, cursing under his breath. “She’s behind me, isn’t she?”
“YES.” Serena gave him a shove. “SHE IS!”
Annie’s eyes widened as she took in the scene. Already Serena was beating on Junior’s back, then sideswiped him with a clever Jiu-Jitsu move that had me slow clapping in encouragement. I mean, it was a great takedown; it needed to be acknowledged.
He went sailing to the floor and onto his back, guarding his face with his hands as he yelled. “I thought you would be happy!’
“DO.” Swat. “I.” Punch. “Look.” Ohhhhh hell. I winced as she grabbed his balls. “HAPPY TO YOU?”
“No. Yes.” Junior winced in pain, his teeth clenched. “Just tell me the right answer before I lose my ability to have children.”
“YOU FILMED US!” she screeched in a horrified voice that had my own balls trembling in fear. I wouldn’t put it past her to just castrate him right then and there.
“Oh shit.” King burst out laughing as he crossed his arms and leaned against the ring. “This is better than TV.”
Maksim stopped training with a few of the De Lange orphans in the corner and walked over, arms crossed while they stayed where they were as if moving too close to Serena would suddenly make them just as guilty as Junior.
Smart guys.
All five of them were petrified of Serena. Then again, they were only eighteen. Hell, I knew thirty-year-olds who refused to look her directly in the eyes lest they lose their dicks.
“I can explain!” Junior yelled again, then flipped in a classic move and managed to throw his weight toward her then flip her onto her back.
“Full mount. Very nice.” King whispered under his breath.
Junior pinned her. “Look, you looked really hot, you are hot… What am I saying right now—”
“He’s so dead.” I laughed out loud, and the feeling felt so foreign that I almost stopped laughing altogether. How long had it been since I didn’t think twice about laughing? As if I wasn’t honoring her memory by having a good time? Being miserable, staying miserable meant that I remembered her, right?
“And I didn’t know we were going to have sex, all right?”
“WHEN DO WE NOT HAVE SEX?”
“That’s actually a very valid point.” Maksim just had to chime in.
“Maksim!” Junior yelled as Serena bucked underneath him. “Not now, man!”
Maksim held up his hands, and I could tell the little shit was seconds away from making it worse.
“Well?” Serena seethed.
“Fuck, I hate all of you sometimes.” Junior kept her pinned and then, in a very low whisper, confessed, “I was going to propose.”
She went completely still beneath him. “Wait… what?”
“I wanted it to be just us.” Junior’s eyes searched hers. “That’s why I had the camera set up; I wanted you to have it on video. It’s not like I set you up. And again, you’re sexy, I couldn’t help myself.”
“Maybe you guys just delete that part of the proposal video,” I suggested with a shrug. Sounded reasonable to me. “I can’t imagine Nixon wanting to watch you get his daughter naked before asking for her hand…”
Maksim snickered. “He’d probably just chop off his hand to make things even.”
Junior scowled. “I would have deleted it, except I got distracted by this one.” Junior put more weight on Serena as she struggled to get free. “And then we fell asleep, and I knew she had an appointment with her mom and—”
“You idiot!” Serena tried bucking her hips again. “You don’t have to do anything special. All I want is you!”
“Classic hot girl falls for stupid guy.” Maksim sighed. “I’m here for it.”
“Go anywhere else, Maksim. Really ANYWHERE else,” Junior called from his position on the floor and then slowly started to let Serena up.
She mauled him again and started searching his pockets. “Where’s the ring? You didn’t change your mind, did you? Junior, hello?” She shoved him again and again as she moved her hands all over his body in a way that looked almost painful.
“You, uh…” I laughed. “You sure about this, bro? She’s a bit of a handful.”
Junior just winked at me. “I got big hands.”
“Yeah, you do.” Serena smiled.
I just shook my head because they were idiots, both of them idiots that deserved each other, idiots that I loved.