"—Take it easy, boy, what's the rush?" Beauty Number 5 asked.
"We were just heading out," Bruno said, pulling me toward the bottom of the stairs.
"We? You two know each other?" Beauty Number 6 asked.
"Yes, this is Theoany, a friend of MINE," Bruno replied, emphasizing the word "mine" much louder than the others.
"Theoany, pleasure. I'm Ian Lawrence, brother of the bull standing next to you," he said, shaking my hand.
"Pleasure," I said, smiling at him. He returned the smile, but with a mischievous glint.
"And I'm Tyler Stuart, the older brother of the princess behind you," he said, giving me little kisses on the cheek. Being human, I naturally blushed.
"Very nice to meet you," I said shyly.
Older?
"How old are you guys?" I asked curiously.
"I'm twenty-four," Ian said.
"I'm twenty-seven," Tyler said, smiling. "And you?"
"Twenty," I replied.
"So small, so beautiful," Ian added suggestively. I blushed again.
"Okay, enough with the introductions. We were just leaving, Theo," Bruno said.
"Theo? I like the nickname," Ian said with a smirk.
"Do that one more time, man, I dare you," Bruno said impatiently.
Just as Ian was about to respond, Eli's voice began to play in the room—it was my phone. Without thinking, I answered and started walking toward the living room. It was Dame.
[Phone Call On]
"Theo? Are you okay? You disappeared last night. We were worried—Weza and I tried to call you but you wouldn't pick up," he said, sounding impatient.
"I disappeared? You guys left me there!" I yelled.
"We were going to come back, Theo."
"And was I supposed to use witchcraft to figure that out?" I asked, turning around to see the three visual sins staring at me, perplexed. I turned back around.
"Theo, just..."
"I'm fine. I'm about to head home. I stayed there for two hours waiting for you and you never showed up," I said, now the impatient one.
"We lost track of time, Theo."
"Fine. I'll be home soon, tell Weza."
"Alright Theo, see you in a bit then."
"See you in a bit, Dame," I said and hung up.
I looked back and saw the three of them still staring at me.
"Can we go now, Bruno?"
"Yes, of course," he said, walking over to me.
"It was a pleasure meeting you all."
"You too," they said in unison.
"Should we say goodbye to the others?" Bruno asked.
"Can we just go? Is the door that way?"
"No, I'll say goodbye for you later," he said, leading me to the door.
We reached the car, got in, and he started it. I gave him my address and we were very silent until, of course, he spoke.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yes. Why?"
"You've been very strange and quiet ever since you got that call."
"It's nothing... I'm just... thinking," I said, looking out the window.
"I'd pay to know what's troubling you so much—what makes you be here and yet not be here at the same time."
"Oh, it's nothing serious. Just girl stuff," I said.
"Girl stuff? Now I'm even more interested," he said, and I gave his shoulder a playful pinch.
"Ah, that was mean!" he laughed, and I did the same.
After a few seconds of silence, as we neared my house, I pointed out the right one. He spoke up:
"We're going to see each other again, right?" he asked, sounding unsure.
"I intend to come back. Don't you?" I asked with a smirk.
"Yeah, I do too. After all, you already know my house and I know yours," he said, pulling up to my front door.
I grabbed his phone from the dashboard and put in my number.
"Thanks for everything, Bruno," I said, looking deep into those brown eyes that could bewitch any woman.
"Don't thank me. I'd do it all over again. I enjoyed having you at my house, and I'm sure my family did too."
"I enjoyed meeting them too," I whispered.
"You can go there whenever you want. I'm sure they'll love it, just like I would."
Just as I was about to answer, my phone rang again. It was Weza.
"Well, duty calls," I said. "Thanks for everything, Brunozinho."
I leaned in to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"You're welcome, Theoany."
I smiled at him and got out of the car. Just as I was about to go inside, I turned and waved. Seconds later, I heard the car pull away.
Before actually entering, I felt a certain chill. I can't explain what it was. I looked up at my bedroom window and the chill seemed to intensify. I shook my head. I have no idea what this feeling is, but it'll pass.
"Look who decided to show up," my sister said when I got to the living room. There was a very pleasant smell in the house—food.
"Good morning, Lia. I'm hungry, really hungry," I said, dragging myself over to hug her.
"What is going on with your phone? I called so many times and it didn't even ring. If I didn't know you were with Weza, I would have been worried," she asked as she returned my hug.
"It was off, out of battery," I said, walking to the fridge to grab an apple. I was starving.
"What time is it?" I asked, watching Lia head to the kitchen to check the pots on the stove.
"1:30," she said.
"Seriously? No wonder I'm so hungry," I said to myself.
"I'm going to take a shower and I'll be down in a bit. Where's Chris?" I asked, heading up the stairs.
"He went to pick up some friends. They're having lunch here today. And you have a visitor in your room."
"Okay, Lia."
I didn't wait to hear the name because I assumed it was Weza.
But when I entered the room and threw my purse and the bag of clothes on the bed, I froze. It wasn't Weza.
"Good afternoon, my love. Did you miss me?" he said as he reached for my mouth and kissed me.
Chace.