Page 36 of Fear the Reapers
“Good morning.” Ezra singsonged, strolling into the kitchen.
“You’re in a s… surprisingly good mood.” Tristan quipped, raising a brow as he watched Ez take his seat.
“You would be too,” Ezra chirped, giving us a pointed look as he loaded up his plate with food the cooks had prepared for us, “if you had a night like mine.”
Tristan and I exchanged skeptical looks.Ezra was always a little off, but this chipper mood was strange, even for him.
“Eat your fucking breakfast.” Mumbled Atlas with his eyes latched onto his phone. “We’ve got a lot of shit to do today and we don’t have time to deal with your antics.”
“No problem, Dad.” Ez retorted with a wink as he bit into his toast.
Atlas let out an exasperated breath as he laid his phone down and massaged his temples.
“Speaking of shit to do,” Atlas continued, “one of us needs to stay and watch the girl. Apparently, she can’t go out in public and stay unnoticed.”
“I’ll do it!” Tris and I offered at nearly the same time.
“Wonder twin powers, activate.” Ezra mumbled with a chuckle, loading up his plate with another serving of potatoes and eggs.
Tris and I stared at each other before shaking our heads with annoyance and leaning back into our chairs. The twin thing could be really obnoxious sometimes.
“I should do it.” I said, stating the obvious.
“Why’s that?” Tris asked.
“Because, she’s obviously more comfortable with me out of all of us.”
“Bullshit.” He retorted. “When s… she thought I was you, she nearly bit my head off for touching her.”
“Wait a fucking minute,” Atlas roared, tossing his phone on the table. “you two idiots have touched her?”
“Technically, three idiots.” Ezra said, leaning back with a smug look on his face.
That statement caused all hell to break loose as our eyes zeroed in him. The room erupted in shouts and accusations as the four of us fought over who should stay with her and why we’d be the best fit. The conversation slowly morphed into cutting remarks and personal attacks, the four of us completely forgetting the real reason we were fighting to begin with.
Tristan claimed he should stay because out of the four of us, he was the least affected by her. I called bullshit on that right away. I saw the way she mounted him, and I saw the moment he debated letting it happen. The fact that he wanted to be around her at all was a sign of trouble. Tris was a recluse. He normally wanted nothing to do with anyone except for the three of us, yet here he was offering to babysit. Something didn’t add up. She had to mean more to him than he was letting on.
Atlas took himself out of the equation almost immediately. I glanced at him and noticed that for the first time in a long time; he didn’t look so well put together. His hair was disheveled and the circles underneath his eyes were prominent. His outfit was still polished and pressed, thanks to the maids, but he seemed off. There was something about Stevie’s presence in our home that was causing him to lose the composure he spent years building. By the looks of it, he wanted to stay as far away from her as possible.
Ezra got voted out almost immediately by the three of us. Whatever happened with them last night had already done enough damage to Ez for the day. I don’t think any of us wanted to see what more time with Stevie would do to him. Or to her, for that matter.
“Damn, I shouldn’t have opened my big fucking mouth.” Ez said, giving us all a sad smile as he slumped in his chair.
“Let’s bring this to a vote.” I said, counting on the fact that Atlas and Ezra both didn’t like how interested Tristan seemed.
“Voting is bullshit.” Tris seethed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Fuck it. I’m out too.”
“Well, shit.” I said, gleaming. “Looks like I’m stuck babysitting the little fireball.”
“Keep your hands to yourself, asshole.” Tris spat, brooding in his seat.
“Fuck, let’s try to be adults about this.” Atlas said, chastising us all. “There’s no need to devolve into fucking animals. She’s one girl, monitoring her should be easy and in the future you guys can rotate.”
The sound of a feminine throat clearing had all of our heads turning simultaneously.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Stevie offered, leaning against the doorway. “I smelled the food and I just really need something to eat.”
When I thought about it, I realized we hadn’t fed her at all since she’d been with us. SheFucking terrible babysitters.
