Page 34 of The MC's Little Brother

I grimaced when we got outside, and Mel waved for me to get in her car. It was a tiny little sedan, and I was 6’4”. I was going to end up scrunched in the thing.

“Just get in,” Mel carped. “Big baby.”

Scowling, I got in the front seat, shoving it all the way back to make room for me. It was a good thing Xander was smart enough to sit behind Mel, because there was no room for him behind me.

“Do you always ride a bike?” he asked quietly. He was fidgeting with the strings on the sweatshirt, his expression cautious. I saw Mel shoot me a look out of the corner of my eye. He was trying to talk to me, and I needed to not be such a stoic dick about it.

“If I can help it, yeah. Have you ever been on one?”

He shook his head, but I could tell he was curious. I made a mental note to pick him up his own gear. Butch’s kids rode with us sometimes. They had their own helmets and gear and everything to keep them safe. If Xander wanted to ride, I didn’t see a problem with it. As long as the doctor said it was okay, anyway.

The place Mel drove us to was closer to the college, and not somewhere I was familiar with. The dread I felt earlier only compounded when I saw who was waiting for us outside. I murmured a curse under my breath and Mel snickered beside me.

“Don’t be that way. You don’t even know what I have planned yet.”

“It involves Rooster, Circus, and Vegas. It can’t be good.”

Xander leaned a little closer, frowning as we pulled into a parking spot next to their bikes. “Are they dicks or something?”

I couldn’t help but snort. “No. They’re troublemakers. They love to play pranks and generally make life difficult. I’ve lost count of the amount of times they’ve been picked up for doing stunts on their bikes in public spaces.” I didn't want Xander to be nervous around my crew, though, so I followed up with, “They’re good guys. Just stupid. Don’t let them convince you to get involved in their idiocy. They do that enough with Flash.”

Xander shot a look to Mel through the rear-view mirror. She shrugged. “He’s not wrong.”

Like he wanted to prove our point, Rooster draped himself over thehood of Mel’s car like she’d run over him. I rolled my eyes, but that only ever encouraged him. When I got out, he beamed and winked, waiting long enough for Xander to get out before he started moaning like he was dying.

“Goodbye cruel world. Tell my niblings I’ll always be their favorite.”

“I’m gonna tell Butch you said that,” Mel teased, looping arms with Xander. He looked wary, but not scared, and when I moved to stand on his other side, he relaxed a little more. We might not be comfortable around each other, but it felt good that he trusted me enough to feel safe around me.

Rooster bounced to his feet and pouted. “Mean. He doesn’t take the truth well.”

Vegas and Circus snickered behind him. They all knew what Butch did whenever Rooster acted like Butch’s kids liked him more. I was pretty sure the only reason Rooster wasn’t more afraid of him was because Butch didn’t want to upset his kids by hurting their uncle. Permanently anyway. He was a lot more docile now that he had a family, but I wouldn’t consider him gentle with the crew.

“So, who’s ready to have fun?” Mel asked, distracting Rooster from his pouting.

The guys looked enthusiastic, so they obviously knew what we were doing here. It looked like a massive arcade, which was tame enough and I could handle that for an afternoon, but from the looks on their faces, it wasn’t just that.

“What exactly are we doing?”

“You’ll see! Come on, Xander. Let’s have some fun.”

I stared dumblyat the plastic gun in my hand. Mel had shown Xander around the place, pointing out a few games she was good at. There were a few I’d be willing to try too, and Xander looked excited, but she didn’t stop going until we stopped in front of a counter in the back.

Laser tag.

If it wasn’t for the look on Xander’s face, I would’ve outright refused. Iwas too old to be playing games like that. But Xander was wide eyed and hopeful, and I worried if I backed out, he would too, out of embarrassment or something. Which is how I found myself wearing the stupid vest and holding the plastic gun, only half listening to the attendant explain the rules. We had the place to ourselves since most people were at work or in school, which was at least one positive.

“Okay, so teams are split by color. You also have a name on the back of your vest so you can see your individual score at the end on the screen by the desk. We’ll give everyone three minutes to get themselves set up and devise a plan, then the game will start,” the bored attendant explained, gesturing to the door behind him. Circus, Rooster, and Vegas all went in first, giggling like little kids. It was them against me, Xander, and Mel. We went in second, and I took a good look around before glancing at Mel. I figured she’d be the one with the plan since this was her idea, but she was too focused on Xander.

“If this is too much…” she murmured, her hand supportively on his shoulder.

He looked apprehensive, almost like he wanted to back out. Even though I wanted any excuse to not have to do this, I didn’t want Xander to hold back. He was just a kid. He deserved to have some fun.

Gripping his opposite shoulder, I waited for him to look at me. “We’ll stick together. I need someone to watch my back.”

He nodded rapidly, then shot Mel an apologetic look. She smiled softly at him.

“Good idea. Wraith’s too slow to keep up with me anyway. He needs someone to look out for him in his old age.”

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