"Let'sgo."
When we reached the parking lot, Bellamy claimed the driver's seat of the SUV. Texas reached the front passenger seat and held the door open for me. I was going to insist that he ride there, but with one look, he silenced me. I politely thanked him in a quiet voice as I reached for the suicide handle and heaved myself up into the car. Hebeamed.
"So, where are we going?" I inquired as Bellamy pulled out of the parking lot. "Themall?"
"One of the outlets should have something," Texas said from theback.
"Yea, okay. Text Marv. Tell him we'll meet himthere."
"Oh, that reminds me!" Texas reached into his back pocket. "I knew I would forget. I grabbed it just before we left." He reached between the two front seats and handed me a new iPhone. "This is your new, permanent phone. It's under warranty, figured we would need that in case anything elsehappened."
I flinched. "I really don't need a phone." I pushed it back at him, but he refused to take it. "I don't want my mom to findit."
"So, you'll hide it." Texas waved away my concern. "Keep it. You might need it for emergencies. Check it out, I installed a few new apps for you." He leaned forward, the seat belt stretching across hischest.
"Isn't it just for emergencies?" I said. "I don't need anyapps."
"Hush. Click that button." He pointed to a blue square with a red outline. I opened it and a small creature popped up on the screen. "It's a video game. Have you ever played PokémonGO?"
"Uh...considering that I didn't have a phone before this, no. I can't imagine how I would have been ableto."
"Oh, right. Well," he stretched even farther until his hand hovered over the phone. "It's a really cool game where you can walk around and find different creatures. Hey, look! There's a Charmander. Quick! Catchit!"
"How do I–" I slammed my fingers down on a few buttons until Texas flicked the ball at the bottom of my screen and it slapped the small, orange dinosaur looking creature, jerking back only to absorb it into the ball. "Holy cow! That's cool. How did I dothat?"
Bellamy rolled his eyes. Texas grinned and proceeded to school me on the awesomeness of Pokémon hunting. I became so absorbed in finding the little, strange looking creatures that by the time the SUV pulled into the outlet mall I barely realized that much time had passed. I grudgingly closed the app when Bellamy informed me that I wouldn't need my phone withme.
"What if she gets lost?" Texasargued.
"She'll be with one of us the whole time," Bellamy reasoned. "There's no need and you're the one who told her it was for emergencies. Who would she need to contact? The only one not here is Knix and he'll likely contact us first. It's fine. Leaveit."
"Maybe we should leave our phones then, too," Texas said, though I could tell he didn't mean it. He kept his phone in his back pocket, not even feigning to reach for it. He just wanted to bait hisfriend.
"Oh, for the love of – you and I need to keep our phones in case someone needs us. How are we going to find Marv without ourphones?"
Texas wasn't listening. He had already found Marv, who stood at the closest entrance, waving his arms. As we approached, I noticed that he had also changed clothes. He wore a pair of expensive looking black slacks, a bright-pink dress shirt tucked into his waist, and a blue and white bowtie. Texas hooted withlaughter.
"Dear god, who dressed you?" He was laughing so hard that his eyes began towater.
Marv arched a perfectly sculpted brow. "My sisterdid."
"She's got horrid taste, Man," Texas chuckled. "Never let a fourteen-year-old pick out yourclothes."
"I think he looks nice." I didn't know why I felt the urge to defend him, but I thought it was sweet that he was willing to let his little sister pick out his clothes. I could remember wanting to do the same for Michael, though he had never letme.
Marv smirked. "She thinks I look dashing, Tex. Maybe you should try to leave the house in something other than nightwear." With that, he turned on his heel and headed inside, Bellamy trailingbehind.
"I'm wearing jeans, you snob!" Texas yelled, following after the both of them. From there, I fell to the back of thegroup.
The outlet mall was similar to the regular mall, except the shops were all much more extravagant, set outside, reminding me of a place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina that I had once gone to as a child. A vinyl canopy covered the path that separated the stores, giving the illusion that they were indoors. Instead of high blast air conditioning though, the sweltering heat poured through, only minimized by the shade the canopyprovided.
Marv strode with purpose, Bellamy on his right, Texas on the other side of Bellamy. Together they were a trio of beauty. Every so often, I would catch girls and women of all ages, as they turned their heads to watch the boys. With the three of them standing side by side and me trailing behind them, I finally got a good look at some of theirdifferences.
Bellamy was obviously the broadest, his shoulders were massive. It truly made no sense for him to be between Texas and Marv because he would frequently have to angle his body to allow one of the others closer as shoppers milled around them. He and Texas were about the same height, and though Marv didn't tower over them, he stood just a few inches over sixfeet.
Marv was similar to Texas in certain ways too. Both were slender, their waists tapered, though Texas' more so. Each of their shirts stretched across easily visible muscle, though Marv's clothes looked personally fitted. As my eyes traveled down, spotting the grooves and quirks of their bodies, they came to rest on each of their behinds. I blushed when I realized where I was staring and jerked my gaze back up just in time to slam my face into Bellamy's back as they all came to astop.
"Sorry," I mumbled, pulling back and rubbing at mynose.