I take a small step away from her.
“He had no right to treat me like that. Manhandle me, insult me.”
“I agree.” I start nodding, then stop because my head hurts. I really need to down like three gallons of water.
“Do you have any idea how infuriating it is to be small!”
“I think you made yourself pretty damn big out there. Darian’s gonna need to ice his balls.”
She lets out a hard, scoffing laugh. “It’s not enough. He humiliated me.” Her cheeks are turning from pink to red, and I feel like there’s more to this that she’s not saying.
“Is something going on between you two? Like, did something happen before that?—”
“No, of course not!” She crosses her arms. “There is zero between me and your stupid brother. No feelings other than rage and contempt.”
She’s so lying right now. It was impossible to miss the spark buzzing between them on the car ride here.
“And he’s going to pay a high price for it!”
“Okay.” I raise my hands, trying to calm her down. She looks about ready to turn him into a eunuch. I might need to just get myself involved to protect both parties.
Forcing a smile, I rest my hands on her shoulders and give them a little squeeze.
“He deserves a little payback, and we’ll have a blast trying to come up with something good. Let’s make it creative and epic and…” My slow brain is trying to churn with ideas but it’s too tired, so I settle for “I’m gonna sleep on it, and in the morning, we’ll have a brainstorming sesh. It’s going to be awesome.”
Nix lets out a half-hearted laugh, like I’m kind of appeasing her by getting on board with this thing.
And itwillbe fun.
Sawyer and I prank each other all the time, and it’s a blast.
Darian? Yeah, he’s not so much a fan of the whole pranking thing, but Nix does deserve a little payback, and I’ll help her come up with something that’s safe and funny and not too damaging.
I love both these people, and if I want her to move into the house with me, then we need to make sure this prank clears the air between them and doesn’t turn it into a raging battle.
“It’s got to make a point.” She clenches her jaw, which does nothing to ease my concerns.
“Exactly.” My mouth hurts from holding this smile. “It needs careful thought and consideration, and I’m a little too buzzed to be helpful right now, so let’s just have some water, take a chill pill, and come at this thing in the morning.”
Ugh, I’m sounding like my mother right now.
But it’s what I’ve got to do—keep Nix and Darian away from each other until everyone’s emotions are in check and the alcohol is out of our systems.
I can do that, right?
Nix bobs her head, starting to smile, then laugh.
I join her until that sweet giggle of hers turns into a maniacal cackle.
And I thoughtmyvillain laugh was bad.
“Okay. Sleep time.” I wrap my arm around her and lead her back toward the kitchen.
We’re gonna have some water, then go to bed.
And I’m going to make it my mission to stop any kind of nuclear meltdown from happening.
31
