And, more importantly, how can I make it stop?
“She’s asleep.” I turn to see Kenzo at my bedroom door, looking like he hardly slept at all.
“And it looks like you haven’t slept at all,” I reply.
Kenzo scrubs his hand down his face, and I forget how fucked-up he is. How his soul yearns for something more sinister. “I haven’t been sleeping…” he pauses, “much.”
I pull Kalilah closer to me, and she molds herself to my body tighter. “Get in bed,” I tell him.
As kids, it’s all we knew. As we got older, we outgrew a lot of things, but some things remained, like playing with women together. Now, I’m not too keen on sharing. It’s a different bond when you are a twin and unlike anything you can explain. I know how he feels, even when he doesn’t want to voice it.
“I just came…” He trails off and looks past me.
“Get in,” I tell him again, not really wanting to repeat myself.
Kenzo walks around to Kalilah’s side of the bed. He doesn’t lift the sheets but climbs on next to her. I tuck her under my arm, then look over to see him staring at the ceiling.
“She’s good for you,” Kenzo mumbles as he side-eyes her and then adds, “I like her.”
Kenzo rarely likes anyone, so it’s rare for him to even say that.
“Better than Lilly?” I ask, knowing his hatred for her. His nose scrunches as if he’s eaten something bitter, and he looks back to the ceiling.
“No contest, but she snores. Should we teach her how we stop snoring?” I smile at his question. We found Zuko passed out once when he was a teenager, snoring. We held his nose until he woke up screaming and kicking. He kicked our asses, but it was so worth it at the time.
“No, I have no problem with her snoring. It’s so soft and just her…” I trail off.
He nods, then turns his back to us and starts breathing more deeply.
He’s passed out.
Good.
Eighteen
Kalilah
I wake wrapped in heat.
Oh my God! I try to move, to shift so the heat will dissipate, but it doesn’t.
“Stop fucking moving.” I hear Kyson grumble next to me. He holds me around my waist with his head on my shoulder.
“It’s too hot. I’m suffocating,” I groan, trying to get away from him.
“Stay still.”
I freeze.
That was not Kyson.
“Most can’t tell our voices apart. It amuses me that you can,” Kyson says.
“Don’t be.” I push up between them. Once I’m on my knees, I turn, and they’re both lying there. What the hell! I was dead in the middle. Shaking my head, I climb to the end of the bed and get off. I am wearing no clothes, so I reach for Kyson’s shirt on the floor.
“That isn’t mine. Drop it.” I do as Kyson says, turning and heading to the bathroom, where I know his clothes will be neatly tossed in a hamper. I’m starting to think he may have a cleaning problem.
I pick up a shirt, lift it over my head, and throw it on before walking back into the bedroom. Both of them are lying on their backs, their heads to the side, sound asleep.
I stand there for a minute, watching them.
They’re both as beautiful as each other, one bare and tanned, the other covered in ink. The brothers are completely different, yet both the same. I grin as they both fidget at the exact same time. I wonder if they know they even sleep the same. Still grinning, I head to my room.
Nancy pales when she sees me, then calms down. “Good, good! Please tell her to leave. She won’t listen to me.” She grips my hand and starts pulling me. For a little old lady, she sure is strong. Nancy tugs me down the stairs, and that’s when I see her. Lilly. Her eyes are wet, but there is no doubt the tears are fake. As soon as she sees me, her back straightens, and her eyes narrow.
“You,” she seethes.
Nancy stays next to me, holding my hand.
“See, he’s asleep. Please leave,” Nancy says.
“It’s early. He should be awake. He’s always awake this early,” Lilly says, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Sorry, he’s not. I tired him out.” I wave to the door. “You can leave now.”
She flicks her blonde hair behind her ear before her eyes narrow at me. “He will tire of you.”
“Like he tired of you?” I bite back.
Nancy gives my hand a small squeeze.
“He never did. He just couldn’t give me what I wanted. And I knew what I wanted.”
“You want him. It’s obvious,” I say. “Even Nancy here knows the truth.”
“It’s best you go, Miss Lilly. Mr. Hunter does not like unwelcomed guests.”
The bitch has the audacity to point her finger at me. “She is unwelcome.”
“I’m getting really tired of this. You either leave, or I’ll kick you in the cunt to get you out. You pick.” I pull my hand away from Nancy and cross my arms over my chest.
“You wouldn’t.” She scoffs.
“Oh, but she would!” We all turn to that voice. Kyson walks down the stairs in only a pair of boxers. “Lilly, why are you here?”
“We need to talk. Now.” She looks over her shoulder at me. “Alone.”
I scrunch up my nose before I hear Kyson’s reply. “Nancy, take Kalilah into the kitchen, I need to talk to Lilly.”
Oh my God, no he did not. I glare daggers at the back of his head.
“Kalilah, if you think about hitting me…”
I poke my tongue out at him and turn around to go up the stairs. Kenzo is standing a few steps behind me, pulling his shirt on. How did I not hear him enter the room? He reaches out and grips me by the waist to stop me from going any farther.
“Hold up, what’s the rush?” He eyes me before glancing over my shoulder, and that’s when he sees Lilly. “I see the trash brought itself in.”
“Fuck you! You are a sick fuck, Kenzo!” Lilly shouts.
I turn back and see Kyson watching us. His eyes are zeroed in on where Kenzo’s hand is now on the middle of my back.
I turn back to Kenzo and say, “I’m coming with you. I have the day off, and I don’t want to be around them.”
“Them?” he asks before it clicks. “Ohhh.” He nods, and I run off to quickly grab a skirt, pulling it on before I snatch up my purse and run back out to Kenzo, who is still waiting for me.
“Shit. You move fast.” He chuckles.
“You gotta when you don’t want to be around what the dog brought in.”
His lip twitches at my words, but he doesn’t laugh or even smile. “Fair enough.”
“Kenzo,” Kyson warns as we walk toward the door. I reach for my shoes as Kyson approaches us. “She isn’t permitted to leave.”
I turn around and stick my tongue out at him again.
“I’ll bite it off,” Kyson growls.
Lilly steps forward to touch his shoulder, but he shrugs her off like her touch means nothing. Kenzo steps out the door, and I go to follow, but Kyson grabs my hand.
“I wouldn’t go far,” he says in a low tone.