Tyler had to fight the urge to throw his hands up. “I dare you to find any sort of logic in it.”
The boys didn’t seem to care, but the girls quickly gathered around Max and their excitement to see him showed intheir hugs, kisses and giggles. The oldest– Madison, if he remembered correctly– got out a small, plastic case and Tyler’s breath caught as she opened it.
Pink! So much pink.
He watched in horror as they began painting Max’s face with all that pink. Glitter eye-shadow was generously applied to his eyes and pasty lipstick was smeared over his mouth. He seemed completely untroubled by this, allowing them to twist ribbons into his hair with nothing more than a sigh of submission.
“Where’s Danny, Uncle Max?” Madison asked.
“She’s back in LA,” he replied with a hint of sadness. “Promise I’ll bring her next time.”
He waited for the girls to finish before he looked over at Tyler. “You want a beer? Make all of this a little more…manly?”
“Sure.”Breaking the ice.“Pink is definitely your color, by the way.”
“Don’t think you’re safe.” Max laughed and left the room.
Was that a warning? It definitely sounded like a warning.
He looked at the girls then and they were approaching him like a pack of lionesses closing in on their prey. “I’m more into neutral tones,” he protested and even he had to admit he sounded scared.
They didn’t take the hint. The oldest one pounced first, smearing the icky paste over his mouth. The middle one clumped glitter onto his eyes, so much it felt like it might be too heavy to open them afterwards. And the world’s next great mathematician went straight for his hair, twisting and pulling until it was painful. If he’d been there for any other reason besides a funeral, he would have screamed for help.
“There,” Madison said, stepping back and closing the case. “See how pretty you look.”
Pretty had never been a look he’d actively pursued but he appreciated the compliment. “Thanks,” he said with a wry smile. “I feel pretty.”
Max returned to the living room and chuckled. “Told you.” He handed him a cold beer as he sat down on the sofa beside him. “So what exactly are your intentions with my sister?”
He blurted out the response immediately. “Nothing.”Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!He noted that his mind was still stuck in kid-mode and decided to add a level of maturity to his next words. “We don’t have that boss-accountant sort of relationship.”Apart from the fact that we rub against each other from time to time… Yeah…don’t say that.
Just when he thought he’d diffused the situation, two NBA players entered the room. Brothers two and three were just as tall but not as skinny. Tyler was officially intimidated now.
“Nice hair-do,” one said, shaking Tyler’s hand.
That wasn’t the impression he’d wanted to make, but they said nothing further about it. They introduced themselves as Dominic and Shane and sat down on the sofa on the other side of the room.
“Kevin still in his room?” Shane asked.
“Yep.” Max replied. “Don’t think he’s gonna come out anytime soon. Jo-jo’s with him, though.”
Well, at least that eliminates the possibility of meeting brother number four.
“Good.” Dominic sat back and threw his arm over the backrest. “He shouldn’t be alone right now. I just hope she doesn’t say something stupid like she always does or she might get another nail in her log, but rather her than us, right?” He turned his attention back to Tyler. “So are you Jordan’s boyfriend?”
Tyler groaned inwardly. For a second he’d thought he was out of the woods.
“I was just asking him the same thing, Dom,” Max said.
Tyler’s heart was beating erratically in his throat. He was nervous and…very afraid. “We’re not…”How’s the best way to say: I was using your sister to get my ex back and after a few dinners and some very inappropriate touching, I now kinda like her, but I’m still too confused to commit to anything. Oh, but the fact that I can’t make up my mind on the matter doesn’t mean I won’t share a bed with her… Yeah…don’t say that either.“We’re not…together,” he filled in after some time.
Dominic stood up, took the beer from Max’s hand, and sat down again. “It’s better you keep it that way, but just in case you change your mind, don’t say we didn’t give you a fair warning. If you hurt our sister, we’ll cut your balls off!”
Tyler’s brown eyes widened at the threat. He was quite attached to his balls and he didn’t feel that was really necessary.
“Dad has some shears in the shed we could use,” Shane chimed in to drive it home.
“You got that, Tyler?” Max said. “That’s the message we’re gonna leave you with. Balls and shears.”
