The Beginning (The Life 1)

“And who do we have here?” One of them had the balls to ask out loud while all three of them eyed Gianna. The twins were only too happy to make the introductions, and the next thing I knew, they were inviting these freaks to supper. Ma was only too happy to oblige, and Pop, as usual, just went with the flow.

“You guys can follow us there; we’ll see you in a bit.” Anna offered. One of them, I don’t know, nor do I care what the hell his name is, got a little too close, and just as he was about to say something to Gianna, I grabbed her hand and pulled her away. Someone asked, ‘what’s wrong with your brother?’ But I didn’t stick around long enough to hear the answer. ‘Rude!’ Someone snickered the word. Fuck off!

We made it outside just in time to see the limo sliding into place by the sidewalk. “Aren’t we going to wait for the others?”

“No!” I helped her inside and sat in stone-cold silence. Jealousy, it’s an idiot’s recourse, a fault found only in the weak, or so I’d thought. I’m pretty sure that’s what the ball in my gut meant, though. I’m not sure what game my sisters are playing, but they should’ve let me in on that shit.

Lance stormed into the car mere minutes later, looking like he had murder on his mind. “What’s with you?” I knew why I was in a mood, but what the heck is his excuse?

“You know I hate that Emory guy.”

“I told you to ignore him; the guy’s a simp.”

“Yeah, I’ll get there at about the same time you do.” He looked from me to Gianna meaningfully and thankfully kept his trap shut. Wait, what? What does that mean? Emory’s greatest annoyance is that he hangs onto the twins like a lovesick puppy whenever he’s around. Why would Lance be jealous of him?

Nah, it can’t be. I have romance on the brain; what with the stupid opera and her looking like a dream, who can blame me? My qi has been off all evening thanks to her, and now I have his shit to deal with. The others soon filed in, and I had no chance to ask him what he meant.

Dinner was a cluster hump. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear my sisters had planned this whole thing from start to finish. Gianna was the center of attention. Everyone had a million questions, and the guys especially seemed kinda wordy. I gritted my teeth so hard through four courses I was afraid a dentist appointment might be needed.

When one of them asked how often she came into the city and invited her to do something the next time she was in town, I almost elevated out of my seat to snatch his ass across the table. It was the feeling of eyes on me that stopped me from making a complete ass of myself. All three adults, Ma, Pop, and Sheila, had me in their crosshairs. What the hell is going on?

I’m not sure what the look that passed between my parents meant or the smile that Ma gave me, but it can’t be good. I gave Pop a scowl which he ignored and ignored Sheila’s offhanded remarks about apples not falling far from trees. I know for a fact that Pop would gouge out the eyes of anyone who looked at Ma too long and could only surmise she was making a wisecrack about my earlier show of jealous temper.

I didn’t say two words to anyone else at the table; in fact, other than to tell Gianna what dishes she should try, I spent most of my time glaring at one or the other of the lotharios in my orbit. I pretended we were the only two people there because it was easier for me to deal with.

I felt like I was about to crawl out of my skin each time she answered a question from one of those smarmy fucks. The one saving grace of the evening is that each time one of them spoke, she drew closer to me until our shoulders were almost touching. She seemed more relaxed interacting with the debutants, though, which was progress.

“Did you have enough?” She’d barely picked at the food on her plate, and these long-winded ass wipes wouldn’t leave her alone to eat. She nodded her head, yes, and that was all I needed. “We’ll wait for the rest of you in the car.” I helped her up and waited for her to say her goodbyes. One of the assholes claimed he would get her number from the twins. “Or I can give you mine before you leave.” And that was my limit.

“She’s good, thanks,” I growled before all but dragging her away. At the moment, I didn’t care what anyone thought of my reaction. Besides, Lance was too busy glaring at the whole lot of them to give me shit, and he’s the only one who would dare. Anna and her scheming sister have a lot of explaining to do. Later!