In the Middle of Somewhere (Middle of Somewhere, #1)(85)

“Draw, draw, draw!” Will yells. “Oh, they’re talking. Talking heads?” he says suddenly, with a grin that suggests he’s known it all along.

“Yes! Fuck!” Leo yells furiously just as the timer on his phone goes off.

Will lets out a whoop and launches himself sideways into Leo, knocking them both onto their sides on the rug, Marilyn pawing at them curiously.




AN HOUR later, after Will and Leo have bonded over a Halloween episode of Buffy that they swear is ingenious, Will has shuttled Leo home and the three of us sack out on the couch, drinking beer, and I rib Will about having a crush on Leo. To my surprise, Will looks guilty, and I can’t help but wonder if it might actually be true. Before I have a chance to examine it too closely, though, my phone rings and I know it’s Ginger, since no one else ever calls me.

“Happy Halloween!” Ginger crows when I answer.

“Happy Halloween, Ginge,” I say, as Rex and Will start laughing at something.

“Ooh, are you with Rex?” she asks. “Put me on speaker!”

I put the phone on speaker and gesture to Rex.

“Hi, Ginger,” he drawls. “Nice to meet you.”

“Hi, Rex. You have a hot voice. Don’t ever stop talking to me.”

“I already like her more than you,” Will says.

“Everybody does,” I tell him.

“Not me,” Rex says, smiling at me.

“Who is that?” Ginger says. God, I hate speakerphone.

“He’s Rex’s ex-boyfriend, Will, who showed up out of the blue to try and sleep with Rex.” Oops, didn’t mean to say that last part. Will is staring at me, wide-eyed.

“Uh, well, okay, then,” Ginger says uncomfortably, clearly wanting information from me but unwilling to ask for it in front of Rex and Will. “Have a good night, Dandelion.”

“Ha! Dandelion?” Will whoops.

“Don’t make me kick your ass, pretty boy,” I say, glaring at Will.

“Pretty boy?” Will says, getting in my face. “Pot, meet kettle.”

Rex picks up my phone and takes it off speakerphone, talking to Ginger as Will and I glare.

“Ginger, I have two beautiful drunk men who are about to fight in my house. If I didn’t hate fighting, it would almost be…. Yeah, I should. Huh. Okay, thanks. Nice to talk to you. I hope so too. Thanks.”

Will is staring at me. I’m staring at Will. I won’t hit the idiot because Rex wouldn’t like it, but dammit, I want to. Rex shakes his head.

“Hey, tough guy,” he whispers in my ear. His voice is low and his breath raises the hairs on the back of my neck. I lean into him a little, but keep my narrowed eyes on Will in case he makes a move. Then Rex digs his thumb into the incredibly ticklish spot on my ribs that only my brothers and Ginger know about and I’m done for.

“Goddammit, Ginger!” I yell, squirming. Rex and Will laugh, the tension gone.

“Now would you two idiots stop it,” Rex says, dropping onto the couch. “I can’t even be flattered that you’re fighting over me because you’re not. Not really. You’re just fighting because it’s what you’re used to and I don’t like it.”

“Sorry,” I say, sitting down on the arm of the couch.

Will’s face is unreadable.

“You are kind of scrappy,” he says to me with a touch of admiration, and I can tell he’s thinking about our tag-team effort to teach Leo this afternoon.

“Yeah, well, you’re not as much of a pansy as you look either,” I grudgingly admit.

Rex shakes his head, looking between us. He points Will into the armchair and pulls me down onto the couch next to him. Marilyn wanders over, looking up at us on the couch, and I fold myself into Rex to make room for her. I’m helpless against the look of hope she gets when she wants to snuggle. Rex usually makes her sit on the floor, but I like the feeling of her lying on my feet. She puts her paws up on the couch and I pat the space next to me.

Rex sighs, but just strokes my hair as I put my head on his shoulder and pat Marilyn’s head. Rex puts his arm around me and flicks on the TV, flipping channels until he gets to the classic movie channel he likes so much.

“Hey, it’s your monster movie,” I say when I see it’s Frankenstein. Rex squeezes my shoulder and I relax against him.

“Poor Frankenstein,” Will says. “Bastard couldn’t catch a break, could he?”

“The doctor is Frankenstein,” I say absently, my eyes fixed on the screen. “That’s his creature.”

“Call him whatever you want,” Will says. “He’s miserable and alone and he’s about to be mobbed by a whole f*cking village. Sucks.”




“—SISTER OKAY?” Rex is saying quietly when I wake up. I dozed off during Frankenstein and it looks like now it’s a movie about rats or something. Marilyn is a warm weight on my feet and Rex smells delicious. I’m kind of lying on him now; I must have been out for a while. I decide I’m not in the mood to talk to Will anymore and I close my eyes and relax into Rex again.

“She’s all right,” Will says, and then starts talking about some boyfriend or her boss and I’m not really listening, just thinking about how comfortable I am and how I wish Will would disappear in a puff of magic Halloween smoke and leave me alone with Rex so we could go to bed.