He’s even taller up close.
A friendly grin brightens the dark face that turns to look down at her, his voice booming like distant thunder. “Ah, the little lady brought the goods just when I needed ‘em!” He takes the meat from her with a chuckle darker than the chocolate of his skin. “You’ve earned your keep; you can stay. Gage has clearly brought nothing of value aside from more alcohol- and we already have plenty of it.”
“Fuck you,” Gage says with a broad smile on his face as he approaches, hearing the tail end of that. The two men engage in a bear hug, clapping each other on the back. “I brought a lady, and that trumps anythin’ you bastards brought. Andshebrought her brownies; not that any of you dicks deserve them.”
Minnie finds herself craning her head back, looking impossibly upwards at Marlin. “I picked chicken for me. I hope you don’t mind cooking two different meats. I mean. I hope it’s not trouble.”
“Sweetheart, I can grillanything.” When Marlin smiles, his dark eyes sparkle with good humor. A friendly sort of face that sets Minnie at ease immediately. He’s agiant, but she gets the sense that he’s huggable like a teddy bear.
“Marlin, this is Minnie. You,uh, probably saw her when I first brought her around.” Gage is rubbing the back of his neck, as if he’s vaguely embarrassed to admit he basically tried sneakingMinnie into his place for some mind-blowing sex that one night a few months ago.
Marlin grins at her, teeth perfectly white in his dark face. “You came back,eh? This one didn’t scare you off? Brave girl. Ready to grill?”
His voice is brassy, like the most decadent chocolate that Minnie can comprehend. There’s a warmth to Marlin, a kindness that sets her at ease in his presence. Smiling up at him, Minnie feels the tension she’s been carrying slowly ebb away. She nods, “I’ve heard you’re an excellent cook.”
Marlin waves his hand dismissively, “Ack, I’ve got a little flavor in me. Beats letting all these bland white boys cook.”
“Who you calling a bland white boy?” Chase hollers from where he’s drinking. Marlin chuckles in response, putting the meat onto the grill with his metal tongs.
Heading back to the car as the men continue to rib each other, Minnie grabs the brownies she baked, pleased with their outcome. They look delicious, and she knows the caramel swirls are going to be tasty. It’s always been a huge hit at family parties.
When she returns with her goodies, Chase’s eyes widen with glee, reaching out one of his hands to try and swipe one from the pan. Minnie twists and places the brownies on the table, saying, “No snatching! Not untilafterdinner.”
He makes a face of nostalgic dismay. “You say it the way I wish my mother had when I was a kid.”
Sitting on the very edge of a lawn chair that has seen better days, Minnie asks, “What do you mean?” She blinks owlishly behind her glasses. “She let you eat desserts before dinner was ready?” Her own mother would have sooner tossed anything with sugar in the garbage before allowing her daughters to ruin their appetite.
An awkward little grin shapes Chase’s lips, a singular haze of alcohol across his pupils as he lifts his newest beer to take a long pull. “Oh, ma?Nah, that old drunk didn’t cook dinner.”
A hint of sad slips between Minnie’s ribs when she understands he means his mother didn’t feed him. There was no telling him to wait for dessert, because the woman didn’t care either way. There probably wasn’t any dessert to speak of. “I see,” Minnie says softly, letting her eyes drift to the grass.
Gage reaches over and squeezes her knee reassuringly, letting her know without words that it was no harm, no foul with Chase. Looking towards the brownies again with a certain interest, Chase speaks again, saying, “I bet there was no shortage of goodies in your house with you around, eh? A little baker, are you?”
Relief warms her; he’s not put off by her accidentally stepping into a potentially awkward conversation. “I was into books and baking. I’ve got more cookbooks than I probably should, honestly.”
“A veritable saint,” Chase mutters with a chuckle, giving Gage a look that Minnie can’t decipher. “Me? I was dealing drugs for lunch money.”
Minnie chokes on her beer, spluttering, much to their amusement.
“Degenerate!” Marlin taunts from the grill as he turns the meat with his tongs. Chase raises a beer in a toast with a cocky grin.
They’re all having a good time, laughing and joking, allowing Minnie to feel like one of them. She likes both Marlin and Chase, although she finds herself gravitating toward Marlin the most. He’s got a soothing manner and doesn’t say anything outrageous just for the sake of being shocking, the way Chase seems to. He loves football, grilling, and cars; nothing she’s into, but she takesto dark-skinned man all the same. He sings along with the radio and sheloveshis voice.
Gage calls him a showoff more than once, but there’s a certain kinship there. Minnie knows that Gage is closest with Marlin out of all his roommates from the way he talks about him. She knows it was important to Gage that Marlin like her.
As for Chase, Minnie can tell that he has no filter, but that he also likes to push boundaries.Her boundaries. He’ll drop little details about his rough childhood, as if trying to gauge if he can startle her. Like a boy with a toy.
“Would you stop with the stories?” Gage says with exasperation as Minnie chokes on laughter. “You’re givin’ Minnie the impression we all lived likeLord of the Fliesor some shit.”
Chase rolls his eyes, waving his beer about like a drunken lord. “Didn’t we? I remember your mom passed out with a freaking needle in her arm while we played video games-”
Marlin sends a glower over his shoulder, dark eyes accusing.
“Chase.” Gage’s eyes sharpen on him, and his voice takes a hard edge. Minnie feels her stomach lurch; his mother was a drug addict? He’d never told her that.
Chase cracks open yet another beer, saying quickly, “Shutting up.”
“Fuckin’ finally,” Gage mutters, shifting to sit closer to Minnie. He gives her a strained grin, as if hoping to make her forget about the thing she just heard. The conversation returns to normal, with Marlin asking Minnie about her work.
