14. Am I getting paid by the hour?
Chapter 14
Am I getting paid by the hour?
Luca
M y phone dings in my pocket. I’ve been trying to stay off of it all day, even though Marco said I could read or play games on it while the girls are in class. I’ve never been much of a reader, and I don’t want to get too caught up in a game since I need to be paying attention to our surroundings and doing the babysitter… I mean security detail shit. But fuck is it boring. I dig my phone out and check the notification. Lil texted in the group message with me and Ariana again.
Lil
Just FYI, we might get into a fight after class
I pinch the bridge of my nose and let out an absolutely exasperated sigh.
The fuck? Y?
Lil
Bitch made a comment about Ari’s face, and Ari told her that maybe she should eat a mint to cover up her dick breath *shrug emoji*
Ariana
I was trying to be helpful!
Lil
It was pretty epic when you pulled out four different flavors of mints and asked which one she wanted
Ariana
I WAS TRYING TO BE HELPFUL!
My face breaks out in a smile, and I breathe out a low laugh. Then I freeze. What the hell is happening to me? I don’t laugh. I don’t smile. I don’t grin or giggle.
Ariana, that’s what.
It’s not only her. It’s the whole family. The whole house. They’re lightening my mood, making me not feel so heavy and dark. I’m less broken here. Like the pieces of my soul are coming together. And Ariana… she completes me, filling the cracks where the pieces don’t quite fit together.
And it fucking scares me. I’m used to being unloved. Unwanted. Suddenly, people care about me. I care about people. The thought of this all blowing up in my face later? Of having love and losing it, of being needed and then pushed aside? It would be the end of me.
I stew in my thoughts for an hour before the door opens and students pour out. A brunette walks by me quickly, looking over her shoulder and muttering, “Stupid DeVille bitches,” as she goes.
“Guess Melissa didn’t want to fight,” Lil says as they stroll out of the room.
“Oh, well.” Ariana raises a freshly-painted middle finger at the brunette, who scowls just before disappearing around a corner. The yellow nail polish she applied in the last hour will be gone by the end of the night. She picks it off constantly.
As we walk up a flight of stairs, I get a flash of the tiny flamingo on the back of Ariana’s thigh I noticed earlier today. It’s a simple line tattoo in bright pink, right below where her skirt stops. Jesus Christ, I’ve been fighting a goddamn erection all day, following her plump ass around in that swaying skirt, knee-high socks, and sexy red shoes.
“Can you update the book challenge doc? I finished another novella.”
“You and your fucking novellas. Better read them all now, Ariana, because they aren’t going to count next time.”
“I’m not agreeing to that. What if some good ones come out next year?”
“I might be willing to say three novellas count as one book if I drink enough vodka first.” Lil looks at her phone. “I told Mom we’re stopping at the grocery store for a few things, so now I have a list of shit she wants us to grab while we’re there.”
I try to hold in my groan but don’t do a very good job. My life, or at least the next few months, flashes before my eyes. Hours upon hours spent wherever these girls decide to drag me. It better not be a mall.
“Ah, don’t be like that, Luca. We’ll even let you pick out your favorite snacks.” Ariana grins and wags her eyebrows at me. Fighting to keep my face neutral results in me frowning. Ariana frowns, too, and then she looks at Lil. “Is it just my imagination, or is Luca even more scowly and grumbly and grouchy than normal?”
“Nope, definitely extra scowly and grumbly and grouchy.”
“Maybe he needs some ice cream… or cake… or doughnuts!” Ariana declares as we get in the car .
I follow them around the store as they throw the most random collection of food I’ve ever seen into a cart, chatting the entire time. I begrudgingly add a bag of chips and some string cheese when they ask me if I want anything, which Ariana holds hostage until I confirm that I eat it the correct way—by peeling it apart and not just biting it like ‘uncultured swine.’ I don’t really need much. Becca already got everything for the protein shakes I like after working out and a few cases of sports drinks. There’s a ton of food back at the house.
Lil puts a case of beer, a six-pack of hard lemonade, and a bottle of wine in the cart and grins at my ‘what the fuck do you think you’re doing?’ stare and hand gesture.
After what feels like a year, Mia calls to check in.
“We’re almost done here. We’re just a little slower than normal because we’re dragging around this dead weight Dad sent with us,” Lil says into the phone.
“Are you bitching to Aunt Mia about me?” I run my hand down my face.
“What? No. Whatever would we have to bitch about? You’ve been a delight.” She rolls her eyes, and Ariana stifles a giggle. Her face lights up when she giggles.
Mia adds a couple more things to the list, which extends our shopping trip by another six months.
“This babysitting gig blows,” I gripe.
“I think it’s obvious that we’re the ones babysitting you,” Lil claims.
“You two are annoying.” Everything that comes out of my mouth is a grumble now.
“No, we’re charming.” Ariana grins and fucking curtsies. My heart does that flip-flop thing again for like the hundredth time in three days.
I hate it.
“Are you two always like this?” I ask .
“Yes. Welcome to your crash course on why no one likes this job.” Lil grins at me.
“Sully was so glad when Dad finally let him off Lil and Ariana duty. We drove him crazy for years.” Ariana tosses a bag of licorice in the cart.
“Is he still mad about the time we wrapped his car in plastic wrap?” Lil asks, throwing a couple boxes of Band-Aids with Frozen characters on them in. What the fuck?
“Probably. And when we covered it in sticky notes.”
“That was only two weeks ago, Ari.”
“Exactly. He should be over it by now.”
I follow them to the checkouts and find myself glaring at a couple of guys who look at them for too long. I’m a big dude and an expert in pissed-off facial expressions. I don’t even have to train for that. It just comes naturally. The guys quickly look away and move to a different line after mumbling to each other. Ariana raises an eyebrow at me, then shakes her head with a soft smile.
Lil doesn’t smile. She tries to murder me with her eyes. “He’s going to be as bad as Dad when it comes to people checking us out.”
Ariana just shrugs a shoulder and starts unloading the cart.
“Hello, my lovely girls.” The cashier smiles at them. She’s probably got grandkids our age, and she’s even taller than Lil.
“Hi Diane, how’s the new grandbaby?” Ariana smiles back.
“Don’t tell the rest, but he’s the cutest one yet.”
“I’m totally texting April. She thinks she’s the cutest one,” Lil tells her.
Diane laughs and starts ringing up the stuff. Her gaze narrows on Ariana after a few seconds, then on me. “First time you two have had a babysitter in a long while, but I’m guessing I know why you have one all of a sudden. I’m surprised your dad put one so young and handsome with you, though.”
Lil tilts her head toward me. “That’s Luca. He’s my grumpy and annoying cousin.”
My eye twitches, and I cross my arms over my chest.
Diane makes a humming noise like she agrees with Lil. “Ari, you okay, sweetie?”
“I’m good. Just some rando who thought he could get away with shit.”
The alcohol moves closer to the scanner. “This is really stupid,” I mutter to Lil under my breath. “None of us are twenty-one.”
“I didn’t take you for a goody two shoes, Luca.” She bumps her shoulder into my arm.
“I’m not,” I hiss. “But our cashier is literally the grandma of one of your friends, so excuse me for thinking there’s no way this is going to work.”
“Trust the process, oh pessimistic cousin of mine.”
“I’m just trying to figure out how long it’ll be before one of you needs bailed out of jail.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time. Definitely not the last, either.” Lil shrugs. Fucking hell.
Diane scans the alcohol and holds her palm out. Ariana passes her a driver’s license, which Diane scans and hands back. “If I ever need a new identity, you better give me the name of your guy, Ariana.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Diane.” She grins at the older lady, who rolls her eyes.
“See?” Lil gives me a ‘told ya so’ grin.
When we get back to the house, I carry an obscene amount of grocery bags inside. The girls start stacking most of it in a section of the pantry they apparently claimed as their own years ago, and in the extra fridge in the garage that’s mostly used for soda and beer.
“We should get them a cabinet to keep all this crap up in their wing of the house.” Marco gestures toward more food on the counter with one of the new beers before opening it. He didn’t look shocked at all to see us bring it into the house. Mia thanked the girls for grabbing her favorite wine for her.
“No,” Mia laughs. “Then we’ll never see them!”
“True.” Marco turns to me. “You haven’t run for the hills yet. That’s a good sign.”
I grunt in reply.
“He almost had to referee a fight, but Melissa’s a chicken shit,” Lil says with a grin before launching into the full story.
Marco raises an eyebrow. “There’s only three weeks left of school. You would think you girls could stay out of trouble for that long.”
“Have you met us?” the girls say in unison.
Fuck. This place is like if The Shining , The Twilight Zone , and The Godfather had a weird ass baby.