Page 76 of Medium
I stifled a grin. Manny’s tone made it clear that Arch had better not eat more than his share.
“Um, thanks. Some water would be great. Got to stay hydrated.”
I put my hand on Manny’s shoulder. “You need to sit down. I’ll get waters for all of us.”
“Fine.” Manny squeezed past Arch to sit in the recliner at the end of the couch next to Ms. Jackson. He crossed his arms and stared stonily at Ellis’ brother.
I made three trips to the kitchen to make sure everyone had glasses of water or iced tea. When I finally sat down in the chair at the opposite end of the couch from Manny, Ellis was telling his brother that he felt fine, just a little tired. I was glad I hadn’t said anything when Arch had asked.
Arch was manspreading in the center of the couch between Ms. Jackson and Ellis. Shane and Pia were still on the floor, their backs to the couch and with controllers in their hands. They’d thoughtfully turned the volume off onSuper Mario Sunshine.
Shane exchanged glances with me, and he grimaced. Arch was not winning any friends here.
“Glad to hear you’re okay. Tell me what happened? How did you get taken?” His tone held a tinge ofThat-never-would’ve-happened-to-methat I didn’t appreciate. At all.
I reached out and picked up Ellis’ hand from where he’d been resting it on the arm of the couch. He smiled at me and threaded our fingers together.
Arch frowned at our hands. “What the hell is this? You’re fucking this guy?”
Ellis tightened his grip. “You know I’m gay, Arch.”
Arch waved his hand through the air. “Sure, sure. But him?” He pointed at me. “When I drove up he was on the driveway, and that one had his pants pulled down showing your boyfriend his dick.” He hiked a thumb at Manny.
Manny sat up, his eyebrows low and his eyes hard. “What did you just say?”
I squeezed Ellis’ hand. “That’s not what happened.”
He smiled. “I know.” He looked at Arch. “Did you not notice this?” He pointed at his belly, then at mine, and then over at Shane.
Arch’s mouth fell open. “The fuck? You’re involved with two guys at once?”
“It’s called polyamory. Look it up.” I left thedumbshitunspoken.
With a quiet apology to Pia, Shane paused their game. He walked over and stood between my chair and the couch, putting his hands on my and Ellis’ shoulders. “Is this a problem, Arch? Because our magic is pretty damn happy about it.”
Arch blinked at us. “Sorry. I didn’t notice your connections earlier. But, then why was this guy showing Rory his dick?”
“Arch!” Ellis pointed at Pia. “There’s a child present.”
Pia looked up from where she was flipping through Ellis’ game collection and rolled her eyes.
Arch ignored his brother and turned to Manny. “You trying to break them up or some shit? Because that’s my brother’s boyfriend, and you can’t have him.”
What the fuck was this guy’s deal? I could not keep up with the way his brain worked. Ellis started to speak, but I shook my head at him. Manny was more than capable of handling Arch.
Manny’s lip curled, and he looked Arch up and down, obviously not impressed. “It’s none of your business, but I’m going toanswer your question so Ellis, Shane, and Pia have no doubts about me.” He looked at Ellis. “When I took the tequila out to the car, Rory asked me if I had a scar from yesterday, so I was showing it to him.” He sneered at Arch. “For your information,Archibald, the vampires grabbed me too, but since I was a pathetic human, they just disemboweled me and tossed me aside.” He stood up. “Which reminds me. I owe Ms. Jackson a treat. Come on, Ms. Jackson. I saw some cookies in Ellis’ pantry.”
He picked up his ice water, walked calmly to the door, and didn’t look back. Ms. Jackson morphed smoothly into their live tiger form and stepped regally off the couch.
Arch made a high-pitched shrieking noise and stumbled to his feet. He ran over to put himself between Ms. Jackson and Pia. The gun and knife were back in his hands.
“Arch! Put those away!” Ellis stood up and put his hands on his hips. “Ms. Jackson won’t hurt you.”
Pia slipped around Arch, neatly evading him when he sidestepped to block her. She skipped over to Ms. Jackson and ran her hands through Ms. Jackson’s fur.
“See, Uncle Arch? Ms. Jackson is the best.”
Arch pointed his gun at the floor, his face shocked.
