Protecting Dallas

All three of them said nothing. I couldn’t tell if they were shocked or offended. Maybe both.

“I stuck my head in the fridge this morning and my voice echoed. I slid open a drawer and moths flew out.”

“So what are you saying?” asked Maddox.

I shifted my gaze to Austin. “That credit card we used today. Whose was it?”

“All of ours,” he said. “House account.”

“So you’re sharing expenses.”

“Yes. We share… pretty much everything,” he shrugged.

“Fine,” I said. “If I’m gonna lay low here all day, I’m gonna need a copy of that card. And that’s because I’m gonna need something to do.”

Maddox scratched at the stubble on his chin. “Do?”

“Yup.”

“Like what?”

“Oh let’s see…” I said, listing things off on my fingers. “Food, for one. And not just a couple of days worth of groceries, but some stockpiling of necessary essentials.”

“What else?”

“Your toilet paper is one-ply.” I said, making a face. “Not acceptable. Half the light bulbs in the house are out. It’s dismal in here. The walls need a fresh coat of paint.”

“Which room are you talking abou—”

“Every room!” I cried. “Everything’s white. Or grey. Or shit brown. And I don’t know about your rooms, but the guest room’s bedding is scratchy as all hell. The thread count is so low it ought to be criminal.”

“Wow,” Maddox smirked. “Tell us how you really feel.”

“Everything’s disorganized,” I went on. “You moved in a year ago and still have piles of boxes against the walls. You need shelves, you need bookcases, picture frames…”

Austin held up one hand. “Picture frames?”

“Window coverings, better towels in the bathroom…”

Kane laughed. “I told you those towels sucked.”

“A stereo system, or at least a couple of speakers so we could stream in some music…”

“That,” Austin nodded, “I can agree with.”

“A couple of throw pillows. Maybe a few scented candles…”

I ran out of fingers. When I was finished, the guys were all staring at me.

“Look, if you’re gonna babysit me for a while, the least I can do is pitch in,” I said. “I’m not trying to be difficult. But if I don’t have anything else to do…”

I shook my hands anxiously, trying to get the point across. None of this was an act, really. I tended to go stir-crazy a lot quicker than most people I knew.

“Here.”

Kane reached into his back pocket and tossed me a credit card, scaling it like a baseball card. All three of them looked surprised when I caught nimbly between my fingers.

“You deal a lot of cards,” Maddox guessed. “Don’t you?”