"But that still doesn't answer what you need mefor."
"I'll tell you three things," he replied. "Number one: what you stand to gain if you say yes. Number two: what will be expected of you if you say yes. And Number three: how Iris can change yourlife."
"Like it changed yours?” Iguessed.
Curiosity ate at me. What had given him the intensity in his expression that both scared me and drew me in? He was obviously well off enough to afford the tons of tech supplies scattered around his room. I knew computers didn't come cheap even though they were required for necessities like job hunting, college applications, and even schoolwork.
His condo was filled with various things that guys liked – the big, flat screen I had seen in the living room, the Foosball table, the refrigerator full of food. It was also relatively clean. No matter how normal Texas and Knix and Bellamy dressed – I had a feeling Marv didn't dress in t-shirts and jeans often – there was no concealing the fact that they had money. Or maybe Marv was the only one with money and he didn’t mind helping his friends out. I didn't even have a phone. What Ididhave were electricity and water and rent bills waiting to be paid back home on my kitchencounter.
He shook his head. "I think that's a story for another time." The door creaked and we both looked up. Bellamy lumbered in before dropping onto the bed next tome.
"How far have you gotten?" heasked.
"I'm getting to it," Texasreplied.
Bellamy blinked lazily and yawned. "Okay, I just came in to hang. Ignore me." He winked at me and I felt myself flush before I turned to face Texas oncemore.
"There are a lot of opportunities working for Iris, Harlow. Job opportunities if you'd like. Schooling. Connections. Safety. Friendships. Family," Texas said as Bellamy leaned back and began to play with the ends of my hair. "These are thebenefits."
I nodded my understanding as he continued. "Of course, pros never come without cons. Some of the work we do, it can be a bittricky.”
"What do you–" He shook his head as Bellamy leaned forward and put his hand over my mouth to stop me and in a fit of frustration, I opened my mouth and licked his palm. Bellamy laughed as he leaned forward and looked me in theeye.
"Bellamy told me that you attacked a man much larger than yourself today," Texas commented with a frown as he watched on. "I can believeit."
"I didn't attack him," I said as Bellamy pulled his hand away. I barely punched him, for all the good it did. My thumb was stillsore.
"Nevertheless." He turned back to his computers and pulled the stack of papers from the printer before rifling through them, double checking the paper tray and adding more. "Why'd you hithim?"
"He was hurting someone. No one else was willing to stop him." A fact I was still madabout.
"It could've been dangerous." Bellamy leaned back against the bed again and I felt his fingers on myhair.
"And?" I mimicked his tone. "You weren't there. I asked someone to help. He didn't. If I hadn't stepped in, who wouldhave?"
"I'm not saying it was a bad thing, Harlow." Texas set the papers on top of one of his computers and turned towards me. "Just that it was a risk. Weren't youembarrassed?"
"Embarrassment isn't worth someone's life," I snapped. "My school isn't exactly the nicest or the safest. But life's that way. If what you need is someone to do what you tell them to, no questions asked, you might as well take me home now. That isn'tme."
A moment of quiet stretched between us before Bellamy coughed to cover his laughter. I spun to face him, my mouth opening, ready to tell him off too. Texas' quiet laughter made me pause. I rotated,frowning.
"What's so funny?" Idemanded.
Texas' hand covered his mouth as he chuckled. "You are," hesaid.
"I don't understand." Bellamy leaned forward, swiping two fingers under each eye, before putting one hand on each of myshoulders.
"You're perfect, Harlow. You are exactly what we need. We need someone willing to jump into situations that aren't exactly safe," Bellamy said. "We'll undoubtedly need to train you a bit – I've seen you rubbing your thumb. You tucked it in your fist when you hit him, didn'tyou?"
Baffled, I noddedabsentmindedly.
"Rookie mistake. Don't worry about that, though. We'll start you on some PT and self-defense. I think we'd prefer if you could take some courses, but we don't really have the time for that. So, Knix and I will likely be the ones going over basics with you. We'll start you on that next Monday, though. You can relax this weekend." His palms squeezed my shoulders reassuringly before releasingme.
"I have to work on Saturday and I'm babysitting this Sunday and I have school Monday. How are you going to teach me self-defense?"
Bellamy was already shaking his head before I finished, but before he could reply, Texas spoke up. "You're not going to work tomorrow – I texted Alex and asked him if he could get Joanna or someone to cover your shift. Babysitting shouldn't be too stressful. We want you to chill for a little bit before you jump in with us. As for school, we'll send someone to pick you up after you get out. You're only going for the next weekanyway."
"I have a few days the next week too," Iargued.