Page 57 of Mayhem

“Fine, I’ll load the dishwasher while you guys get a movie pulled up,” Nate says as he pushes me out of the way.

“I’m just going to go do some reading.” I point over my shoulder.

“Come on, watch a movie with us,” Chase says.

“Yeah, come on, Willow. Keep us company. Besides, we haven’t even made a dent in the list of movies you need to watch.”

“There’s a list?” I ask, surprised.

Nate scoffs. “Of course I made a list. This is serious! We can’t have anyone find out you know nothing when it comes to Hollywood perfection.”

“Right,” I deadpan.

Chase grabs my hand, weaving his fingers with mine. “Come on.”

I follow Chase out of the kitchen and into the living room. Chase sits next to the arm of the couch and pulls me down next to him. He grabs the blanket off the back of the couch and lays it over my lap.

“In case you get cold.” He winks.

“Thanks,” I mumble, trying not to smile.

Chase grabs the remote and starts flipping through the channels, trying to find a movie.

“Perfect timing,” he mutters as he sets the remote down.

I look up and see the opening credits for another superhero movie.

“Nate, hurry the fuck up before it starts without you,” Chase yells.

“I’m coming!”

I can’t help but roll my eyes at their banter.

Is this what having a sibling is like?

Nate walks into a room, holding a bowl of popcorn.

“What are we watching?” he asks as he pops a kernel into his mouth.

“Seriously? We just ate.”

“I’m a growing boy, Willow. I can’t help it.” He shrugs as he sits down in the chair closest to Chase.

“Right,” I mumble.

“It’s one of the newer superhero movies,” Chase tells him.

The movie starts and I curl into a ball under the blanket and lay my head onto the back of the couch. I become so engrossed with the movie I don’t notice Chase slowly inching his hand under the blanket until he sets it on my thigh. Tensing, I look at him out of the corner of my eye. I watch Chase smirk while staring at the TV as he holds on to my upper thigh.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I hiss quietly so Nate doesn’t hear.

“Shh, relax and watch the movie,” he says under his breath.

Turning back to the screen, I watch as the good guy fights the bad.

“How do you guys like this enough to watch? Every movie is the same.”

“Shut your dirty whorish mouth,” Nate warns. “How dare you speak badly about cinematic greatness.”

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