“Uh, actually? I find the dark colors soothing.”
Katie jumped to a non sequitur. As always. “You know your entourage of adoring bird fans?”
“My winged stalkers. Who could forget?”
“One of them was tapping my window three days ago. Normally your crows couldn’t give half a rat’s ass about me, so... not like I believe in omens or anything. But still... I got worried something was up.”
Three days ago was when I got drugged, wasn’t it? “Really? You’re so sweet. I guess those crows did something good for once.”
“Ummm, yeah...” Katie said, as we plopped down on a couch in the sitting room. “I don’t take weird shit lightly, you know,” she practically scolded. “Not really weird shit, at least.”
Just as we were about to launch the Good Ship Gossip, the guys filtered in. Uninvited, and unwanted. All wearing various befuddled expressions.
“I thought your friend would like some refreshments.” Weylyn said as he carried water and coffee on a tray – a blatant pretext to follow us. Keegan and Brann slipped silently into two chairs directly across from us. Orin walked behind the couch and sat on the armrest closest to me.
We were surrounded.
Katie stabbed the awkward silence, by making everything more awkward. “So... Shall we address the elephant in the room? Or elephants, plural.”
I glanced at them, trying to stay casual. “What are you wondering about?”
“Duuh? The guys?” Katie swept her gaze over them. “Did they come with the house?”
“What is that even supposed to mean?” I gave Katie my best attempt to raise my eyebrow. A fail, as usual.
“Cupcake... Just look at these hunks.” Katie began gesturing around. “You’ve got a cook, the guy with the apron and the frying pan there—”
“Excuse you, I am not merely ‘a cook’,” Keegan cut in, belatedly hiding the dirty frying pan behind his back.
“I bet you pour a mean bowl of Lucky Charms,” Katie grinned, as Keegan visibly bristled.
Katie turned toward Orin next. “And the Big Bad Wolf here? He’s obviously security. Like, just look at him.”
Wolf? That’s the second or third time I’ve heard someone mention that about Orin. But I had no time to respond, before Katie continued disparaging my male company.
“Now, this guy?” Katie deftly snatched a mug of coffee off Weylyn’s tray, “He’s got to be the butler.” Weylyn opened his mouth, then shut it and shook his head. “Here you go, Cupcake.” Katie passed the mug to me. “And this last guy, uh...?” Katie tried to parse out a descriptor for Brann. “The brooding one in the corner? He’s wearing all black, so I figure he’s the chauffer.” She sat, leaning back with a delighted grin. “I bet he does magic on the side, too,” she said in a stage whisper loud enough to hear from the next room. She winked at him, and Brann stirred in his chair slightly.
Me? I’m completely fucking speechless. Her mention of magic tricks gave me some pause. The irony was obvious, since Brann’s the most magical one here. But Katie wouldn’t know that, how could she? Yet her joke was a little too on the nose. I wanted to corral Katie, but Weylyn cut in.
“Perhaps some introductions?” Weylyn suggested. So I ran through the name drill, for Weylyn, Orin, Keegan, and Brann, who wasted no time interrogating Katie. “May I ask how you found this house? It’s pretty well hidden.”
“Oh, you know, I just- pfft—” Katie gave Weylyn and Orin a cheeky look. “I just ‘followed her trail’! You boys know what I’m saying, don’t you? I just put my nose to the ground and sniffed out her trail.” Weylyn arched an eyebrow and glanced at Orin, who I thought might be grinding his teeth.
Seeing the twins’ discomfort, Katie burst out in raucous laughter. “God, y’all fell for that bullshit, hook, line and sinker!”
Weylyn tried to recover. “No, obviously you spoke in jest. Of course nobody could sniff out—”
“Dude. I’ve got a friend finder app.” She held up her phone for emphasis. “Keira and I registered each other, because sometimes her sense of direction is absolute shit. Anyway, ain’t technology awesome?”
“I’ve had quite enough,” Keegan shouted, looming over Katie. “What the hell are you driving at here?”
“Calm your tits, Charmy. Someone can’t take a joke.” She turned to me, “And I thought he’d be the fun one.”
Brann rested a hand on Keegan’s arm. “This is all quite unnecessary,” he murmured. “Perhaps both of you should calm your... selves.”
“I’m going to wash up breakfast!” Keegan grumbled, and stormed back to the kitchen.
This was getting out of hand. I found the gumption to try a little misdirection. “Say, Katie, you’re welcome to take a shower and get comfy? You look great and all, but you were stuck on a smelly airplane for hours.”
“True that. The guy next to me smelled like pickled pretzels.”
“You’ll feel better after a shower, I just know it. And then, we can talk in my room when you’re done.” I cut a glance at the guys. “In private.”
Katie knew I was trying to diffuse, and went along by walking briskly off. Once Katie was out of earshot, I shrugged. “I’m really sorry, guys. She’s protective of me, and, uh... she likes to put people to the test.”
“We get that,” Weylyn said. Though the looks on Orin and Brann made me unsure how ‘okay’ the situation was. “Go on. Catch up with your mate.”
I chased down Katie. Her expression told me she knew she had been rude about how she was treating my guys. “I’m sorry, Cupcake. It’s just... I got a bad vibe as soon as I walked in here.”
“I think you mean barged in here. But you’re right about the vibe. We have a lot to catch up on.”
“That sounds like an understatement.”
◆◆◆
About an hour later, I was playing a game on my phone, when Katie emerged from my master bath. She
