Home > Malcolm(5)

Malcolm(5)
Author: Jessica Gadziala

Besides, how did adults even make friends if they weren't coworkers? It wasn't like when we were five on the playground and walked up and asked a strange kid to be our friends.

I'd get pepper-sprayed if I tried to do that to strange adults.

"And a new man?" Shep asked, smirking, and I knew exactly where this was going. "Perhaps a tall wall of a man with, oh, how did you describe his eyes?" he asked even as I grumbled, getting up, grabbing our plates, and making my way toward the kitchen. "Oh, that's right. They were 'keen and full of kindness'."

"Shut up," I grumbled, feeling my ears heat up as I put the dishes in the sink. There was a pile from the day before. I knew I should deal with them before they got out of control. But Shep was in a decent mood, which meant I could slip away for a much-needed shower. The dishes would have to wait.

"Didn't you say something about his hands too?" Shep asked as I moved back out of the kitchen. He'd turned his chair to face me, always needing to see the embarrassment he'd instilled. Brothers.

"Nope. Absolutely not," I lied, not even halfway convincingly. I had. I wasn't sure exactly what I'd said, but judging by the number of times I'd thought of those massive hands—in very tame, and not tame at all ways—I was sure I'd let something slip to my brother about them as well.

"No, you did. I swear it was about being able to crush trees with them or something," he said, searching for the memory. Which was hard for him some days because of the medication he was on.

"Keep it up and I'll start teasing you about the pretty girl at the doctor's office," I said, watching as a darkness came over his eyes.

Damnit.

I knew it was a bad idea to bring up women. Which always reminded him that he was sure he would never find one who wanted a man as 'broken' as he was. That was the phrase he'd used with me one night. He'd called himself 'broken.' My heart cracked for him in that moment even as I tried to remind him that he wasn't broken, just some parts of him, and that he was healing.

"That's never going to happen," he said, voice tense.

"Yes, well, nothing is going to happen with me and Malcolm either."

 

 

Chapter Three

 

 

Malcolm

 

 

"Oh, fuck," Fallon hissed as the cars started to roll up into the yard out front. "What are the girls doing here?"

"They're here?" I asked, stiffening, looking over at Rowe. "I was supposed to pick them up from Hope's place."

"Well, they're here. Shit. Is that Billie?" Fallon asked, looking back at Rowe as well.

I guess it was too much to ask that the secret be kept for much longer.

"Yeah, Billie always goes," I said.

She'd gone ahead and gotten herself a career as a massage therapist. And yoga instructor. And about half a dozen other new-agey shit. Which allowed her to make her own schedule. So she never missed a night out with the girls whereas Hope sometimes had a case to work on, and Willa could get caught up at the office.

"Does she know I prospected?" Rowe asked, drawing all our guilty gazes. "Guess not," he said with a sigh as he reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Should I disappear for a bit?"

"I'm assuming if they're parking here, they're planning on having a sleepover here," Finn said, coming in from the kitchen.

"Yeah? You gonna let them paint your nails again?" Seth asked, smirking as Finn shot him a hard look.

"They snuck into my fucking room and did it while I was sleeping," he insisted.

"Dunno. Think maybe you just liked the pink," Seth pressed, knowing he was asking for it. And then getting it when Finn charged across the room.

Fights were more common with our generation than they'd been with our parents. I guess because we'd all grown up together. We knew one another's buttons. And sometimes it was too tempting to push them.

Seth knew that Finn hated being made to look like a fool in front of his brother. Little brother problems, I guess. Shit I'd managed to escape being an only child. But I imagined it couldn't have been easy to have a brother that was destined for a big, powerful role, then to watch him start to step into it, while you still had very little power. He had to feel like he had something to prove all the time.

Someday, I figured he would prove himself.

Though pounding on Seth who was almost as into fights as Niro, wasn't exactly going to do it for him.

"What's all the..." Pagan asked, coming up from the basement where he'd been doing inventory with Reign. "Oh, never mind. Carry on," he said, grinning down at the two guys who'd taken the fight to the ground.

Blood spurted from Seth's nose as he let out a laugh. Finn had a split lip.

"Oh, for God's sake. The puppies are fighting again," Hope declared, moving inside the door, tucking her phone into her back pocket as she stepped over her tussling cousins. "I never understood why you all bother with the fighting. You know in ten minutes you're all going to be sharing drinks and laughing. Hey, Malc. Sorry. Change of plans," she said, shrugging.

"What changed?"

"Luna is coming in from college tonight. She wants to have an old-fashioned clubhouse sleepover," Hope said, shrugging. "I tried to talk them out of it for obvious reasons, but have you ever tried to argue with Billie?" she asked, shaking her head.

"It was bound to happen eventually," I said, shrugging. "Still don't understand it," I said, watching as Hope smirked at me. "What?"

"Have you seen Rowe?" she asked, looking over at the man in question, making me do the same.

Objectively, I guess I got it. He was tall. He was well-built thanks to an active lifestyle. He had a wide jaw and a stern brow with medium-brown hair, and deep green eyes. And he had some extensive sleeves he'd been working on for years. Chicks always seemed to dig the ink.

He'd certainly never had a problem landing women.

But Billie never had an issue getting guys either.

"Besides, he doesn't want her," Hope said. "And that drives her nuts. Which drives his attractiveness factor off the freaking charts."

"You like guys you can't have, Hope?" Seth asked as he moved past, wiping his nose on his sleeve, already over the fight. Across the room, Pagan was using his thumb on Finn's lower tooth to decide if the wiggle would fix itself, or if he needed to hit the dentist.

"Hope?" Fallon asked, smirking. "She doesn't make time for men, right? Practically a nun at this point."

"You want to come a little closer and say that?" Hope invited.

See, most of us fucked around and wailed on one another every now and again. In good fun, if you will.

But not one of us had the balls to approach one of the girls when they issued a challenge like that. Because these girls were trained by our mothers and aunts. Which meant they were trained with no mercy in mind. When they lashed out, they did it to impact maximum damage.

"I do not," Fallon said, shooting her a megawatt smile.

"Anyway, we..." Hope started before the door opened. And there was Billie, dragging Willa in with her while giving her a hand massage.

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