“That was a low blow – pun intended,” Ilkay says.
“Painful,” Axel chirps.
“Nasty,” Jackson nods in agreement.
“Do all guys experience pain?”
“Unless they don’t have fucking balls!” Enrique squeaks in a high-pitched voice still clutching his goodies.
“Cause I’ve kicked Harry hard and he didn’t even flinch an eyelid.” We all look at Ilkay as if he’ll have an explanation for this, being the genius doctor guy and all. Then his face lights up.
“It’s one of two things, his parts were removed or he has CIPA, a rare condition where a person can’t feel any physical pain.”
Enrique crawls slowly over to one of the chairs and he sits up clenching his legs together like a girl. Jackson chews his lip to hide his allurement at his twin’s discomfort.
“Fucking wish I had CIPA right now.” Enrique’s eyes are scaring me just a little.
“Harry has no tools,” Jackson says, giving his brother a sympathetic look. “If you asked I could have told you.”
We all stare at Jackson as if he’s making a joke, but knowing him, it’s far from comedy night at the library.
And then the boys do that thing they do that drives me nuts. The thing where they stare at each other with huge frowns for a bit, as if male-voyantly communicating through extra-sensory perception no girl can ever understand. And then change the subject.
“Let’s watch something,” Enrique says switching on the TV, the news channel flashes Damion and Logan on the screen.
‘MotoGP champion, Damion Grimm, is on his way to London Heathrow airport tonight with his best friend, San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Logan Blackburn. The Monster Reaper team is attending the annual charity race hosted by the Royal Family. It is speculated that Prince William and his family will be there to hand over the winner’s trophy.
Dean’s face appears on the screen, a horde of microphones stuffed under his nose. The bold man looks up as if he praying for extra courage before he addresses the crowd.
“We are very eager to win money for the wonderful Reach for a Dream charity we’re supporting in the race. Helping terminal kids to achieve the impossible is something we all feel very strongly about.”
Damion and Logan are waiting patiently between some bodyguards. Damion looks pissed. So does my brother. Chloe appears next to them, on the arm of an elderly guy, looking like the cat that ate the cream. I hitch in my breath. Why didn’t he tell me that Chloe was going with them? I pant feeling as if it’s my balls that got flogged.
The bodyguards push the group through a gate, leaving the crowd behind.
‘As of right now, Damion Grimm has been close-lipped about the photos taken with Melaena Blackburn at his birthday party. Fans went crazy, burning social media with comments, and shipping them together under the cute couple mesh, #Damena. But, according to the statement released by his agent, there is no romantic involvement between the Reaper rider and his best friend’s little sister, or any other girl for that matter, and Damion just decided it was time to leave his wild ways and focus on his racing. However we here at Chanel 1 always dig deeper to find the whole truth.’
The screen split and a picture of me and Damion walking on the beach appears on the reporter’s left. Judging by our clothes it was taken this morning while we were on our gull nest stroll. But who could have taken the picture? It’s close up and we didn’t see anybody. Frick. Except … Thalia and her group.
‘This photo was taken this morning. So is Damena a reality? Or is Chloe Bear going to keep him warm in London? Be sure that we will follow every lead to find the facts. Let us know what you think. Who are you rooting for? And make sure to subscribe to our Chanel if you don’t want to miss a thing.’
“Damena … sounds like some kind of virus or a breed of cows.” Jackson is the first to provide his opinion. “But care to explain the cute picture.” I’m thinking. Luckily we’re not holding hands.
“Yeah, Mel, explain that.” Still thinking here. I’m starting to feel a little dizzy and then my phone farts – twice. I quickly scan the messages that came through in unison and can’t for the hell of me keep my mouth from grinning … widely.
Damion: Abt photo. U stayed Mom. I came brkfst. I show u nest.
My smile grows. He must have been in a hurry.
“Is that from Damion?” Jackson interrupts my warm feeling and I nearly drop the phone. My eye catches the other message.
“Eh … no … puppy class.” It’s not a lie. I open it and stuff the Paws and Claws class meeting under his nose and meet his gaze, trying to fill mine with frustration to his sudden amusement.
“Do you always smile like you’re on cloud nine when you read your doggie school messages?” I push out my chin.
“I like puppies.”
“And the coaches are frickin hot,” Kiara adds.
“Fuck the puppies,” Ilkay sneers, “The photo … explain.” I’m ready. Thanks, Damion.
“You know I spend the night with Haley, right?” I speak as if to a kindergarten class. They nod. “Damion came over for breakfast.” I’m scanning their faces to see if my story is hitting the right pins. “And then Luke started talking about this seagull nest. So Damion took me to see it. The end.”
“So who took the photo?” Kiara asks. See, that’s why girls rule the species, we think about the things that matter, not the stupid little unimportant details.
“We met Damion’s cousin Thalia, with some girls, on the way. One of them must have taken and sold it.”
My phone rings.
“And how’s my most favorite brother doing?” I answer with a honey-sweet voice. The other three siblings roll their eyes in the exact same way. Then Jackson grabs my phone and puts it on speaker.
“Oh, my gosh, Sis, are you okay?”
“Hey, dimwit, she’s fine. Her least favorite brothers are here protecting her,” Enrique whips with a smug face.
“You didn’t do a very good job, now did you?” Logan hassles, rearing his brothers onto their ponies. I sigh and lean back into the chair. This could take a while.
“As if you would have done better!” Ilkay attacks first. “You can’t even keep your best friend in line.”
“The best friend is right here,” the voice reverberates sheer unadulterated pleasure and need through my body, even over the phone, and I sit up straight. “And I’ve never been one for lines.” I swallow.
“Bro, if you touch my sister indecently … you’re dead!” Jackson blusters. Followed closely by his twin, “Seriously dead!”
“He did nothing wrong,” Logan defends his buddy. Sweet. “He was showing her some eggs.” Not how I would state it, exactly.
“Yeah, we heard the whole sob story from Mel,” Jackson boosts. “Good for him it wasn’t his eggs on display, so he lives to see another day.”
“I’m right here, guys.” But Damion gets ignored.