"Don"t be such a cry baby." He laughed but dimmed the lights anyways.
"Sure, this coming from someone who hates sunlight."
He shrugged before grabbing a broom and dust pan to finish with the smaller pieces. I watched his body as he moved, each muscle flexing with ease as he bent down to clean up my mess.
"I"m sorry I broke your bowl."
"It"s just a bowl."
Once he was done he pulled out another bowl from the cupboard and placed it in my hands.
"Careful with this one b.u.t.terfingers."
I mocked being offended and smacked him in the chest.
"Don"t make fun of me, Jerk."
He gave me a devilish smile that set my whole body on fire.
"Oh kinky, do it again."
Oh my G.o.d. My jaw dropped. Was he always like this? Glaring at him I hit him again only this time it was harder.
"Easy there killer." He said while rubbing his chest, acting like he was wounded. "You might hurt yourself."
I wanted to punch him but with my luck I would end up hurting myself instead of him. He laughed and held his hands up in a surrendering motion. Something about him was different. He was actually relaxed and somewhat fun to be around.
"Hey Tobias, can I ask you a question?" I avoided looking at him when I asked. I didn"t want to watch the easy going man from a minute ago slip away to the guarded hard a.s.s he usually is.
"You just did."
"That doesn"t count. I mean a real question."
I risked a glance at him and thankfully his playful side hadn"t disappeared.
"Sure, you can ask me anything your little heart desires cupcake. But that doesn"t mean I"m going to answer it."
Fair enough.
"What did you mean earlier when you were talking about "the curse"?"
Silence. That was all I got from him. There was an instant tension in the room and it made me a little uncomfortable. My back was towards him but I could feel his eyes on me. I don"t know why but knowing he was behind me, watching me, made my heart race.
"Tobias?" I turned around to get some kind of answer out of him but he was gone.
The room suddenly felt empty. I was alone and Tobias had taken off to G.o.d only knows where. I sighed and looked back at the empty bowl in my hands. Suddenly I wasn"t very hungry anymore. I put the bowl back into the cupboard and turned off the lights.
I would make Tobias talk to me one way or another; but, that would have to wait for another day. I needed to try and get some sleep. My body and mind were both worn out and every time I"m around Tobias my body feels like it was jump started with an electric shock. It was exhausting.
A week later I woke up to the smell of bacon. That was weird. Usually I"m the one doing the cooking. Tristan can"t cook to save his life and Amelia never wakes up before noon. I grabbed a hair tie from my side table and tied my hair up in a messy bun before leaving the room and heading downstairs. The boys were nice enough to pick up my stuff from the hotel I was staying at. Security must suck in this town if some random guy can just walk into a hotel and ask to be let into someone else"s room to get their things.
I found Tobias in the kitchen wearing an ap.r.o.n that says "Kiss me I"m s.e.xy" and cutting up some fruit while listening to Bon Jovi. I stood in the doorway watching in amus.e.m.e.nt as he danced on the spot while singing along.
I crossed the room and took a seat on the opposite side of the island. I leaned on the counter top and smiled at him.
"You seem rather cheery this morning." I said as I stole one of the grapes he had already plucked and put in a bowl.
"Bon Jovi. He always puts me in a good mood."
"Then maybe we should play his music more often. I like this side of you. It"s less dark and brooding."
"I like being dark and brooding."
"And that is why you don"t have any friends."
He c.o.c.ked an eyebrow and looked at me.
"Who said I don"t have any friends?"
"I do. You don"t have any friends." Tristan came into the room in nothing but a pair of shorts. How did I not notice his tattoos last week when he pulled off his hulk moment and ripped his shirt? Oh right, I was too busy eye f.u.c.king Tobias from across the yard to notice Tristan.
He had a claw mark tattoo that extended from his shoulder all the way across his chest reaching the top of his abdomen. It was huge, and looked amazing on his body. He even had a trail of stars that lead from his hip to his crotch. No wonder Amelia jumped his bones every night. The guy was hot.
"I do too have friends. They just have enough sense to not want to come anywhere near you." Tobias"s voice brought me back to reality.
Tristan and Tobias picked on each other a lot, but they seemed really close. It was amazing how well they got along considering Tristan was banging his brother"s ex-wife.
"So twinkle toes, why are you cooking? You never cook." Tristan reached for the bowl of grapes in front of Tobias only to have his hand smacked by the flat side of a knife.
Tristan didn"t even so much as flinch or care that his brother could have just cut him. It wasn"t even a soft tap either. If the knife had been turned even slightly Tristan would have needed st.i.tches.
"It"s cupcakes birthday."
What the f.u.c.k? How did he even know that? I didn"t even know that. I had completely managed to lose track of time.
"Well d.a.m.n, Happy Birthday blueberry!"
Tristan"s large arms wrapped around me from behind and pulled me into a bear hug that was way too tight. If he held me any longer I"d have probably pa.s.sed out from a lack of oxygen.
"Paws off mutt!" Tobias practically growled the words at his brother.
"Wait. How did you even know it was my birthday today?"
"I have my ways."
"Care to elaborate?"
"No, not really." He gave me a cheeky smile then handed me a plate full of food.
Bacon, eggs, hash browns, pancakes and toast were all laid out and practically piled on top of each other.
"Um, question. Where the h.e.l.l do you expect me to put all this? It"s bigger than my head."
"I"m sure you"ll figure it out."
This was the nicest thing anyone has done for me in a long time. Ever since my mother died my birthday hasn"t meant anything more than just another day. My sister would still get me a card but we couldn"t afford presents.
"Thank you Tobias." I walked around the island and wrapped my arms around his torso. He doesn"t seem like the hugging type but I wasn"t giving him a choice. I pulled him against me and squeezed him.
I was surprised when I felt his arms slide around my back. This is the most affection I"ve ever seen him show and it lit my entire body on fire. There was an ache between my legs that begged for contact.
It didn"t help that I could feel his erection pressing against my stomach through his jeans. There were so many things I"d love to do to this man right now except his brother was standing there watching.
"So are you two going to f.u.c.k? Because if so, I"m taking the food."
I let go of Tobias and grabbed my plate.
"Don"t even think about it."
Tristan actually pouted and it had to be the cutest thing I had ever seen. I almost felt bad for him. I picked up a piece of my bacon and threw it at him. His reflexes were so amazing I almost didn"t register his reaction. Tristan had caught the piece of bacon in his mouth and was already chewing it.
"What do you want to do today birthday girl?" Tobias looked at me and something in his eyes told me he wanted me just as badly as I wanted him.
"Well it would be nice to go into town and-"
"No." Both the twins answered in unison. They needed to stop doing that; it was getting freaky.
"Great so even on my birthday I"m still a prisoner."
I glared at both of them before leaving the room and taking my food with me. I was going to eat my breakfast in bed where no one could bug me.
"Willow wait." Tristan was jogging down the hallway to catch up with me.
"Wait for what! You guys to tell me more things I can and can"t do with my life? No thanks!"
I stepped into my room and closed the door behind me. Well, more like I slammed the door in his face. The two of them made my blood boil sometimes. I don"t even know why the h.e.l.l I"m here. Eventually someone was going to have to give me some answers or I"d dig them up myself.
CHAPTER FIVE.
TOBIAS.
That didn"t go well. I had planned out the entire day and this was definitely not how I"d seen the morning going. I sent Tristan after her to do some damage control but by the echo of a slamming door I doubt it went very well.
Willow did have a point. She has been treated like a prisoner here for something that isn"t even her fault. Truth is I don"t even know why I"m keeping her here exactly; but, for some reason I can"t explain, I"m drawn to her.
"Tristan! Get down here." I needed his help planning a party for Willow.
I grabbed my phone from my back pocket and dialed Micky. I needed a favor and he was the only person I knew who could pull through. The call took all of ten minutes and by the time I hung up Tristan was already lounging against the counter top.
"What are you hollering about? In case you didn"t notice I"m trying to calm a rather p.i.s.sed off blueberry."
"That"s why I called. I need help setting up a party for her at Micky"s."
"Do I look like a party fairy to you? What do you want me to do, wave my magic wand?"
"Ok, if you don"t help I"ll tell Amelia it"s a costume party and I"m pretty sure she has plenty of outfits already picked out for you." I grinned at the expression on his face.
"Bippity boppity boo."
"Yeah, that"s what I thought."
I clapped my brother on the shoulder before grabbing my jacket and heading out the door. I had some errands to run today and luckily for me it was cloudy so I didn"t have to worry about the sun bothering me too much.
First stop was to a small boutique in town. I"ve never been there before but it"s the only place that looked like it had half decent clothes in it. I wanted tonight to be perfect and that would include the right dress.
It took about ten minutes but I found the perfect dress. I gave the sales clerk my credit card and told her I"d be by to pick it up in a few hours. She even threw in a pair of shoes to match. I thanked her before leaving then headed to Micky"s pub.
Micky was already there which didn"t really surprise me since he was always there. The place cleaned up pretty nicely. The tables were moved out to the back and black lights were installed all over the room. Things were coming together quite nicely.
"So who is the mystery girl?"
Micky came out from behind the bar sporting a smile for the first time in a long time. This was the first time he has even heard about a woman in my life, let alone getting to meet one.
"It"s not what you think. She"s just a friend."
"I"ve known you a long time Tobias, and you don"t have friends. You have acquaintances and people you want to rip the heads off of, but not friends."
Ok, so he may have had a point. I just smiled at him and went to the back room to grab the box of party decorations I had Tristan drop off for me.
There were blue and white streamers I hung around the room and I blew up at least three hundred balloons, enough to fill the entire floor. I knew it was cheesy and both Micky and Tristan looked at me like I had been neutered.
"I know I said I wasn"t a party fairy, but I think it"s pretty clear that deep down you are."
I flipped him off which made both of them laugh then I went back to decorating. The pub looked completely transformed by time I was done. Micky said it looked like a clown threw up and that it reminded him of his sons fifth birthday.
I ignored both of them. Willow was p.i.s.sed this morning and even if this wasn"t her idea of a great birthday surprise, at least she could laugh at my desperate attempt. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. I needed to get back to the house if I wanted to convince Willow to talk to me again today.
The trip back to the house was fairly short since I ran the entire way. Willow was still locked up in her room ignoring the world. I paused outside her door when I heard sniffling. She was crying and, for some reason I couldn"t explain, it killed me.
The sound of Willow crying made it feel like there was a weight inside my chest where my heart should be. It also made the hunger I was beginning to feel disappear.
"Willow, you in there?" I knocked lightly before pressing the palm of my hand against the door frame.