Page 8 of My Life with the Walter Boys
I successfully reached my new room without encountering one of the boys and slipped inside, sighing with relief.
“Nice towel, Jackie.”
“Oh!” I squeaked, almost dropping the fluffy fabric when I spotted Cole sitting on my bed. He was still covered in tomato sauce, but was eating out of a takeout Chinese carton. Two more steaming cartons were sitting on the desk waiting to be eaten. A smile eased across his face as he looked me up and down.
My face flushed as red as the stains on his shirt, and I yanked the towel tighter around my figure. “What in the world are you doing in my room?”
“Dinner. Want some?” he asked, holding up the carton of food.
“Yes, but can you please leave?” I asked, mortified that this was actually happening. “I need to change.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll close my eyes.”
“I’m not changing with you in the room.”
“That’s fine. I won’t mind if you eat in the towel.”
“Cole, get out!” I finally snapped.
“Damn, woman, don’t get your panties in a bunch.” He got up from the bed, springs squeaking, and set his food next to the other cartons. “Although, that’s not really possible right now, is it?” Cole chuckled to himself as he stepped outside. I slammed the door behind him and turned the lock for good measure.
After quickly pulling on a pair of pajamas, I unlocked the door and let Cole back inside. He brushed passed me and flopped down on the bed before grabbing his takeout. I flinched as he shoveled a bite into his mouth. I never ate in my bedroom. It was unsanitary.
Once he noticed me watching him, Cole stopped chewing. “What?” he asked, his mouth full.
“Do you have to eat on the bed?”
“Why, you wanna do somethingelseon the bed?”
“No, Cole,” I said, trying my best to ignore the comment. “I just don’t want food in it. I have to sleep there.”
“A few pieces of rice gonna keep you awake, princess?” Cole glanced around the room. “Besides, where else will we sit?”
Of course, he was right. My suitcases were taking up all of the floor space, and Katherine’s art supplies occupied everywhere else. And there was no way I was going back to the kitchen to eat. Cautiously, I sat down on the edge of the bed and he handed me some chopsticks. For the next few minutes we sat in silence eating sweet chicken, and surprisingly it was peaceful sitting with Cole. But when the food disappeared, he ruined one of the only relaxing moments I’d had since arriving in Colorado.
“I enjoyed the dinner show tonight,” he said, setting an empty container down. I turned away from him and halfheartedly poked at a piece of broccoli. Cole laughed. “Come on, Jackie. It was just a joke. To be honest, that stuff happensallthe time in this house.”
Putting my food aside, I propped myself up on my elbows and looked at Cole. “Really?” I questioned.
“Well, it’s not always that dramatic, but at least tonight was funny. You should’ve seen the look on your face when you pulled Rumple out.” He let out a wholehearted laugh again.
“Rumple?” I asked in confusion.
Cole stretched and scooted closer. “Rumplesnakeskin. He’s Jordan’s snake.”
“Any other dangerous pets I should know about?” I grumbled.
“Nope,” he said with a laugh. “Just Isaac.”
“I’m not really an animal person,” I said as the floorboards outside my room creaked. “Especially not snakes.”
The door banged open. “Corn snakes aren’t dangerous,” Jordan said as he barged in. His double, Jack, followed behind him with a video camera in hand, and a green flashing light let me know that he was recording.
Jack nodded his head. “We wanted a python, but Mom won’t let us get one.”
“Yeah, my friend’s older brother Nick has a python,” Jordan said excitedly. “He told me this one time, the tank broke. Snakes are ectothermic, and he needed to keep it warm, so at night Nick put the python in his bed and used his body heat. Instead of curling up like it normally did, the python straightened itself out on the bed. It wouldn’t eat either, so Nick thought something was wrong with it. He brought the python into the vet, and they said it was stretching itself out so it could eat him! How awesome is that?”
I gaped at the twins in horror. Apparently my definition of “terrifying” was equivalent to Jordan’s for “awesome.”
