“No, she made it pretty clear my charm was lost on her,” Pan said dryly.
Monkey laughed. “I saw her from behind when we came in. Her body is killer, but when she turned around—holy shit. Someone did a real number on what would’ve been a beautiful face.”
The comment lit a fire. “Fuck you, Monkey. Last I checked, you were no Brad Pitt,” Monster snarled.
Monkey’s jaw dropped open.
“Be careful, Monster has a little crush on her,” Pan quipped.
His brother’s wide grin pissed Monster off even more. “It’s not a crush,” he growled. “You walk around all day having people not look you in the eyes, hold their kids closer like you’re a fucking child molester, then you might not want to sit by when someone tries to do the same to someone else with scars. Everyone just keep their fucking mouths shut about it.”
Silence fell.
Monster glowered, making eye contact with everyone in the room. He felt protective of the woman who’d recently joined them, and that mean staking his claim.
“Dude! Monster, chill out. Monkey didn’t mean anything by it. No one knew you had your boxers in a bunch over her. Mum’s the word from now on,” Bandit said.
Monster grunted and returned to his tune up.
Pan hovered nearby.
“Are you going to say whatever it is you want to say, or just keep floating like your namesake? Because I’m pretty sure my parents died years ago.”
“Damn, you really are in a mood.”
Monster glared up at him and narrowed his eyes.
Pan smirked. “It’s amusing seeing you all worked up over a girl.”
“I’m not worked up over her.”
“Right? That’s why you just stared everyone down like an alpha male pissing on a tree to mark his territory.”
“I just don’t want them to give her a hard time, is that a crime?”
“No, but it’s the most lively I’ve seen you in God knows how long.”
“I thought that’s what you wanted,” Monster countered.
“It was—it is.”
“So, what’s the problem?” Monster pressed.
“You always try to dumb things down. We both know it’s not that simple. She makes you react and we don’t know shit about her.”
“Let it be, man.” Monster shook his head.
“You know me better than that,” Pan said.
“Yeah, unfortunately, I do. You’re going to annoy, overwhelm and possibly piss her off before she can even get her foot in the door. Just let it happen on its own, if it’s meant to.”
“Let what happen?”
“Exactly,” Monster retorted.
Pan shook his head. “You don’t make sense, you know.”
“I do. You just can’t see it.”