“Vance?” She called out.
“In here!” He replied from the den.
She set her purse down on the small table in the hall and walked over to the doorway to see her brother Vance, thin and frail, sitting on the couch in the den with an Xbox controller in his hands. Although she had barely recognized him when she first returned home, anyone could see they were clearly siblings. Their hair was a perfect match in color, and they both had the same dark eyes. They had once had the same skin tone, but Vance now had an unnaturally pale parlor which occasionally supported bruises from his various treatments. Another man was sitting cross legged on the floor with the other controller and they were both talking to the TV as they played what looked to be a tactical war game.
“Hey sis.” Vance called over his shoulder after another minute of chatter. The man on the floor turned to look at Naya for a moment before turning back to the TV. She didn’t get a good look but she thought she glimpsed blue eyes to match his curly, dirty blonde hair. “This is my buddy Kevin.”
“Hello.” Naya waived to the back of their heads before she turned and headed to the kitchen. The house was small, technically only a one bedroom, but the second floor contained a loft. Vance occupied the bedroom on the main floor and they shared the bathroom off the front hallway. Besides the cramped kitchen which was straight ahead from the front door and the den which could be entered via a door to the left when you walked in, there wasn’t much to the home. Naya had taken over the loft when she had moved in a day earlier, not that she had many possessions.
She opened the fridge to the lunch she had prepped for Vance sitting on the shelf uneaten. She sighed and gave the fridge a once over, it didn’t appear he had eaten anything.
It was sad to see her older brother a shell of the man he once was. When he had left La Junta almost ten years ago, he had been broad shouldered, athletically built, energetic twenty-two-year-old with a quirky smile. Now he was thin, frail, and barely got out of bed most days.
At least he had made it to the couch today.
Naya pulled out a sauce pan and filled it with water from the tap. Quietly humming to herself, she quickly turned on the gas stove and salted the water so it would come to a boil faster. She pulled out all the ingredients to make her brother’s favorite cheese pasta as she listened to the sounds of battle from the other room.
As she waited for the water to boil, she grabbed a glass of water and leaned against the door jamb to the living room.
“I’m making pasta for dinner, Kevin, would you like some?” She offered.
Kevin looked over his left shoulder and Naya observed the way his neck muscles moved as he opened his mouth to speak. “Sure, that would be great, thanks.” He flashed her a stunningly straight smile then turned back to the game.
Naya couldn’t tell how tall he was from the way he was sitting, but he was clearly fit and muscular. His complexion was fair to match his light hair, a sharp contrast to her and her brothers more bronze shade. She filed this information away as she turned and headed back to the kitchen to add the pasta to the pot.
She was stirring the hard noodles into the boiling water when the doorbell rang. Naya sighed and turned to head for the door only to see Kevin had beaten her to it. Now that he was standing in front of the door Naya could see he was almost a foot taller than her.
A second man stood in the doorway with a similar build and dressed in dusty jeans and a logoed shirt like Kevin but with straight and thick chestnut hair that fell into his eyes. Naya assumed they must work construction for the same company her brother used to and met him there. There was simply no other reason they would be wearing shirts from the construction company.
Kevin turned from the door and noticed her. “This is our buddy Trevor.”
“Hello, I’m Naya, Vance’s sister.” She held out her hand and noticed how he maintained eye contact as they shook hands.
“Nice to meet you Naya.” He said and Naya couldn’t help but notice his warm and bright smile, chiseled jaw and broad shoulders similar to the way Vance’s shoulders used to look. He was definitely an attractive man.
The men turned and headed for the living room as Naya returned to the kitchen and quickly added the rest of the box of pasta to the boiling water. Hopefully it would be enough for four. While she was pulling out a sauce pan to heat the sauce she heard someone clear their throat behind her. Startled, she spun around with a slight jump, she hadn’t heard them come into the kitchen. Kevin was standing behind her with a sheepish smile.
“Sorry, Vance said it was okay for Trevor to join.” He said as she placed the pot on the stove.
Naya rapidly regained her composure and forced a smile, “No worries, the more the merrier.” She wasn’t unhappy that Vance had invited friends over, just a little bummed he hadn’t warned her.
“Okay, well Vance sent me in here to let you know that he also invited another person.” Kevin seemed apologetic as he watched Naya’s face for her reaction.
Interrogation class had prepared her for this, and she was careful not to show her annoyance. “Awesome, I’m glad Vance has such a great group of friends.” She kept the fake smile in place as she quickly calculated if there
