"Not you." He laughs.
I glare at Vance.
"Definitely not you," Vaughn says, and I turn my glare towards him. He's sitting in my desk chair spinning around in circles. I grab a small pillow next to me, throwing it across the room. It nails him right in the head, catching him by surprise. He falters a bit.
"That wasn't very nice!" He throws it back at me, but I duck, and it sails over me landing on the floor.
"Since when am I nice?"
"You used to be. What happened to you?" Vaughn questions.
"PMS." I smile wide.
"Gah! I don't want to hear this shit." Vance covers his ears. "Let's go, get out of bed you lard!"
"Jeez, you’re being mean now!" I look over at the clock on my nightstand. It's seven-thirty. “Hello! I thought we weren't leaving until nine."
"Change of plans, we're going out for breakfast."
I make an unpleasant noise. "You're an asshole," I mumble.
"Yeah, yeah. Nothing I haven't been called before. Hurry up." Vance turns and leaves my room, Vaughn does the same.
"Close my door!" I yell, but it's no use because they're already running down the stairs. I get up and slam the door. "Bunch of animals." After getting dressed and do my bathroom routine, I go downstairs to the whole family waiting for me in the living room, including Mom and Dad.
"Finally!" Vance stands up. "Let's get going. I told Chase to meet us there at eight."
"Oh, the whole family's coming?"
"We are." Mom smiles as she walks by me. I slip on my flip flops and follow everyone out the door. The early morning air nipping at my skin. We all settle in my parent’s Yukon. "Are Victor and Melissa coming?" I ask.
"Yeah, they're gonna meet us there," Vance answers.
Once my father turns onto the familiar street, I know we're going to Chrissy's, and I smile at the newly acquired memories.
The parking lot is pretty full, but that's not unusual for a Sunday morning. Chase's silver truck is already parked, alongside Victor's Volvo, but the cars are empty so I presume they’re already inside. Dad parks in the nearest open spot, and we all unload. It's kind of like one of those clown cars, other than the fact that our SUV is pretty large, you just never think so many people can come out of it.
As suspected, Victor, Chase, and Melissa are inside waiting for us. They already informed them of our arrival, so while the staff gets our table together, we all greet each other with hellos. Shortly after, the hostess informs us our table is ready and leads us back. Without being too obvious, I try to snag a seat next to Chase, but my brothers end up on either side of him. I'm forced to sit across from Vance.
Breakfast goes smoothly. We discuss an array of things but I don’t have much to contribute to the conversation. Our bellies are full, the bill is taken care of, and now we sit in relaxing and easy flowing conversations. The smile on my mother's face is one of true joy and I make a mental note to do this more often with her.
"Alright, I don't know about y'all, but I'm ready for some water action!" Vance stands up, stretching out his limbs. We all follow his lead, stand and begin our way to the front double doors. Once we’re outside we say our goodbyes to my parents. I watch them walk away, arm in arm. "It's hard to believe they're still together right?" The voice comes from my right, and I glance over to see Victor watching them as well.
"Yeah," I agree, my eyes back on them as my father opens the door for my mother. Chivalry isn't dead.
"Everyone deserves to find that love."
I smile at his words. "Have you?" I ask, curiously.
"Yeah, I think so."
I look to Victor again, but his eyes are on Melissa. "You will too." His gaze moves to me.
"I hope so."
"Let's roll!" Vance yells out, grabbing our attention.
"We'll follow you," Victor says before moving away. "Anyone's welcome to ride with us," he says before moving towards his car. I'm torn between who to ride with. I want to be with Chase, regardless if we can't show any affection. I just want to be around him but at the same time, I'd love to spend some time with Victor.
"I'm gonna ride with Victor," Vin announces, moving towards the back door.
"When did Victor get rid of the Audi?" I hear Chase ask Vance as I move towards them.
"Not long after he started working for Melissa's father's firm. I guess it wasn't ‘professional enough’. Whatever that means." Vance says annoyed, with a shake of his head. "She's got him so whipped. His nose is permanently glued to her ass." I smack Vance with the back of my hand. "Stop. He loves her," I point out.
"Yeah, loves her magical box."
"You are such a pig." I need to walk away, so I turn to stalk towards Chase's truck.
"Oink. Oink." Vance snorts behind me, followed by his obnoxious laughter.
"Shotgun!" Vaughn yells just as I'm about to grab the handle of the passenger door. I quickly jump in and lock the door, watching him stand right on the other side.
"Not cool, V. I called shotty!" Vaughn yells, through the closed door. I stick my tongue out at him. Vaughn gets in behind me as Vance climbs into the back behind Chase, who's settling into the driver’s seat. I pull the seat belt over my torso, and I’m clipping it in when I feel pain on the tip of my ear.
"Ow! That hurt." I turn to glare at Vaughn, who's laughing.
"Yeah? It was supposed to."
"Jerk," I mutter. I rub my ear.
"Alright, children," Vance cuts in. "Knock it off."
Chase is struggling to try to contain his laughter.
"I hate you all," I say, crossing my arms,and keeping my gaze out the window.
"Oh, yeah," Vance says behind us, as if he’s forgotten something. I turn in the seat, my curiosity getting the best of me. His face is painfully close to his phone, fingers moving diligently when they stop, and he looks up. He scoots forward, "Hey, Chase...how many people can fit on your boat?"
I groan while Chase answers, "Ten. Why?"
"Because we are getting some company, boys."
"This was supposed to be a relaxing day!" I protest.
"Hush. It will be."
"Who did you invite?" I ask, annoyed.
"Talia and friends will be meeting us at the dock."
Fantastic. I was looking forward to a relaxing, calm afternoon on the water. "Seriously Vance? You didn't even ask Chase."
"Chase doesn't mind, do ya?" Vance looks at Chase, who's busy driving, but he shrugs his shoulders in response. "See?"
"Did you ever think that maybe he didn't want a bunch of random people on his boat?"
Vance laughs a little, "No sane guy will mind a few hot girls in bikinis on his boat." I huff. Why did my brother have to go and ruin such a good thing? Oh, that's because it's what he does.
"Stop being a baby. Talia isn't that bad. We'll still have a good time."
So yeah, he’s right--Talia's not bad. I can't speak on behalf of her friends because I have no idea they are. Talia and Vance have an odd relationship. I don't know all the details, and I'd like to keep it that way. She is always nice to me, so it honestly could be worse. I just wanted a nice relaxing time with Chase and my family.