Tyson’s face darkened and he scowled ferociously at Quinton. There he was, I missed him. I grinned at the both of them. Time’s like these made it easy to tell they were related, they both shared the same scowl, the same dark looks. A lesser person would have backed away from that dark look on Tyson’s face. Quinton gave one of his own in return.
“You know what I find interesting, Uncle Quint?” Tyson rumbled scarily. It was the same voice he’d used on me the first time I accidently ran into him.
“What?” Quinton ground out.
“We all agreed to give her space, we thought she needed it after everything she’s gone through and we didn’t want to scare her off. Now I see you out here with her and the other day I caught you leaving her house. How long have you been sneaking over there to see her behind our backs?”
Quinton took a step closer to Tyson and I quickly moved my body between them.
“He hasn’t been sneaking over to see me,” I rushed to assure Tyson. “I had an issue with Chucky showing up at my house out of the blue and he was weird and a serious jerk. Quinton came over to rescue me. And I went into the woods on my own. I followed you and the twins. Quinton followed me to make sure I didn’t get lost or something.”
I left out the part about Quinton sticking his tongue in my mouth. I didn’t know how Tyson would take that.
Tyson studied my face and his angry glare softened then faded away altogether.
“I also appreciate that you guys gave me space,” I murmured. “Thank you, I needed it. But I let it go for too long and I’m done hiding now, done running away. So you don’t have to worry anymore. Okay?”
I felt this bottomless need to assure him I wasn’t going anywhere in hopes of getting rid of some of the guilt I had been burdened with when he told me how much he’d missed me. It would likely take a whole lot more than a few reassuring words on my part. It would take time. With time, he would learn I meant it when I said I wasn’t going to run from them anymore. I had made my decision and I would stick with it. I could go with Mr. Cole and avoid all of this boy drama that the seven of them represented but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want the fresh new start to life that Mr. Cole offered me. I wanted to stay with my coven. Well, some of them. And they wanted me. Well, some of them. So I wasn’t going anywhere. Not unless they decided they no longer wanted me.
That thought caused a ball of dread to form in the pit of my stomach.
“Why was Chucky at her house?” Tyson asked.
I didn’t like him asking Quinton instead of me when I was right there and fully capable of answering for myself. It had been my house Chucky showed up at, me who had just told him about it, me who he should have asked. Not Quinton.
I opened my mouth to tell him just that when Quinton squeezed my shoulder gently and spoke before I could. It’s like he knew I was going to tell Tyson off. Quinton the mind reader. Scary thought.
“He’s in love with her,” Quinton said and he sounded amused. “And he missed her because she hasn’t been going to school. Can you blame the poor guy?”
“He’s only in love with me because you used some crazy love potion on him and forced him to fall in love with me. Which, in case you missed it,” I snapped sarcastically, “I’m not happy about it at all.”
I moved out from between the two of them and turned so I was facing them both head on. Quinton bit his bottom lip while he watched me like he was waiting for me to do something crazy.
It was Tyson who spoke and he did so sounding tired.
“I’m sorry, Ariel girl. There’s no stopping him. I used to try but stopped when I realized there was absolutely no point and it was a wasted effort. With Uncle Quint, it’s best to simply let him do his own thing and always expect the unexpected. You’ll get used to it. You might never get used to him, but you will get used to expecting crazy shit from him.”
Quinton shrugged, unrepentant.
“I already told you,” he said. “This is who I am and what I am. There’s no changing me.”
I didn’t want to change him. I didn’t want to change any of them.
I sighed, suddenly tired. It had been a very long night for me and I was ready to go back to bed.
“What were you doing outside?” Quinton asked me in a serious voice, changing the subject abruptly. “You never told me before and I want to know. Don’t lie to me and tell me you just felt like taking a walk because I won’t believe you and it will piss me off if you lie to me.”
I thought about how to answer him. I wanted to lie but at the same time I didn’t want him to be mad at me.
When in doubt, tell the truth. Or something close to it.
I rubbed my fingers across my temple and closed my eyes, wishing I were already snuggled in my bed underneath my warm, comfy blanket.
“Leave her alone, Uncle Quint,” Tyson rumbled angrily.
I sighed. Again.
I wasn’t interested in listening to them bicker with each other. Why were they always fighting? I couldn’t remember ever seeing them get along.