Huxley pulled me down the line of photos, telling me about each of his brothers as we passed them. “Maverick’s dad left when his mom got really sick. His aunt and uncle took him in, but between his own siblings and cousins, he got lost in a sea of people. Like no one could see him. He started playing music as a way of amplifying himself, but they were poor, so he had to build everything from scratch. The way he repurposes stuff we think we can’t use anymore, it’s crazy.” Maverick hated being called ‘Tiny.’ Now I knew why. “Jett, he was just dropped at an orphanage at age 7. He never knew why; has no memory of his parents. All he knew was that he was stupid smart. He met my dad while he was sitting in a college level course… at 10.”
“Ten?!” Jett’s absolute need for order popped into my mind. If he was a child genius, it made sense.
“Kids really hated him for it. He got bullied a lot, until Rogan started looking out for him. He grew up in the orphanage, so he knew how to work the system. There’s not a more logical man on this planet. He could play the people around him masterfully, like a game of chess. With words alone as a weapon, he would get kids to leave him and Jett alone. When my dad wanted to adopt Jett, he refused to go without Rogan.” I remembered Rogan telling me how close he and Jett were. He sometimes made me feel miniscule, but it was just his sharp tongue taking over.
“Keaton, he plays this whole ‘bro’ act, but he’s actually a bandit, or a ninja. I don’t know. Sneaky, sly, not often showing his true colors.” He pointed at Keaton in a picture we were standing in front of. “Of all of us, you probably know him the least. The Keaton you know is not the real man.”
That made me intensely curious. I wanted to know the real Keaton, the one Huxley spoke about. “How do I bait him out?” I asked.
“You don’t,” Huxley responded. “When he trusts you, he’ll show you his real self. Once you’ve met that Keaton, there’s no looking back.” We continued down the row of pictures. “Delvin.” He chuckled. “Delvin’s nickname is ‘Devil.’ I don’t know that I’d go that far, but if you think there’s anything he hasn’t seen, you’re wrong. He’s hyper-observant with a built in tuning fork. His folks died shortly after he was born, so he lived with his classical pianist grandpa until he died too. He’s a control freak, and always likes things to go his way.”
“I would be too if it felt like things were always out of control for the first six years of my life.” I imagined Delvin in his apartment, telling me that he had lost track of time working out. I had a feeling it was a ruse, but now I had confirmation.
“These are the Foxxes,” Huxley said. “Are you sure you still want to get to know us?”
I turned until I was facing Huxley and looked up into his eyes. “I promise you I do. If you and your brothers will let me in, I promise not to betray that trust.” Huxley’s eyes shimmered as he looked down at me and my heart raced. “What about you? You and Harley are just the perfect twins in a crowd of broken brothers?”
Huxley smiled. “Yep. Nothing wrong with either of us.” In our connection it was evident that we both knew that wasn’t true, but I didn’t press the issue. Two boys who’d never known their mother, had a revolving door of step-mothers, and suddenly gained six brothers over night. It was no longer a shocker why Harley acted like the head god of Olympus while Huxley constantly acted out for attention. “What?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. Just… I can’t wait to learn more.”
Huxley tipped his head in and gave me a kiss, and I didn’t deny him. Something in me was shifting towards Huxley, Harley too. I could see myself being with either of them, but did one mean both? How would I ever manage something like that?
“Take my cart,” Huxley said, pulling out his keys and handing them over to me. “Go hang out with them. See who they really are.”
18
Alexa
Huxley explained to me before leaving the main house that it was rare his brothers were in their own homes on the property. They all mingled amongst one another’s, but when winding down for the day, they could typically be found in their natural pairings, Huxley at Harley’s, Keaton at Quentin’s, Rogan at Jett’s, and Delvin at Maverick’s.
I knew that the twins were going to be holed up trying to figure out how to solve the wedding dilema, plus I’d spent the most time with them. I wanted to get to know the other six brothers better. I scanned the property and noticed that there were two golf carts parked at the one nearest the main house, one with an ‘R’ and one with a ‘J.’ I drove over to where they were parked, in front of a white, modern style house, and parked alongside them. I got out of the golf cart and walked up to the front door. I could see straight through the glass front doors into the foyer of the house, and through into the backyard where two bodies were splashing around in the pool. The sun was setting and the pool was glowing in a variety of neon colors.