Page 51 of Chips & Checks
“It’s the same layout as your place,” I whisper back.
She nods toward Viktor. Tristan and Knight have dogpiled onto the scolding session, and Sofia is trying to calm Knova down. Lenyx and Owen have already made themselves at home on the sofa.
“Good point. Yeah, let’s take a look around.” I place my hand on her back, high enough that nobody will misconstrue it as anything more than a friendly touch, and steer her down the hall.
“Going on the house tour,” I call out. I get a few nods in response.
The place is still sparsely furnished, mostly because I didn’t have that much stuff I wanted to keep when I moved. What the condo lacks in decoration, though, I’ve made up for in upgrades: expanded showers with a head at either end of the tub, one placed extra high to accommodate my height; a full guest room complete with a memory foam king-sized bed; and the one thing Ididpay to have transported, my state-of-the-art home gym setup.
“Nice.” Violet walks through the gym. “I’ll admit, this is pretty impressive. Do you really work out enough to justify the setup? Becausesomepeople might see this as overkill.”
I rub my hands over my shirt. “You’ve seen my abs. Would you say I work out too much?”
Violet’s eyes stray down my torso. “Nope.”
I bite back a laugh. “Sounds like the shouting has died down. I’m going to see if anyone wants a drink.”
Violet follows me back to the kitchen, where we once again fall into a silent routine of serving snacks and drinks. Tristan laughs when he catches Violet looking for something and me pointing to the silverware drawer without a word.
“How did you know what she was searching for?” he asks.
I shrug. “Context clues. She unwrapped a soft cheese. She needed a cheese knife to go with it.”
“Duh.” Violet passes me the box of crackers from her other side.
Tristan bursts out laughing. “Damn, that’s cute. How long have you two been playing house?”
I shrug. “We’re not. We don’t.”
“Because this?” Tristan gestures between the two of us. “Because this has Knight and Knova vibes.”
Violet wrinkles her nose at him. “They’resiblings.Gross.”
“Yeah, but they’re also freaky in-synch, you know? And they’ve got that twin power thing going. Same as you two.”
Viktor appears in the kitchen doorway. “Nah, it’s not a twin thing. They’re just banging it out.”
Violet groans. “Knova, get your man before I have to put him in a headlock, like when we were kids.”
From the living room, Knova scoffs. “Girl, he’s on his own. He clearly isn’t listening to me tonight.”
Viktor goes back to where she’s sitting. “Don’t be like that, babe. Let me take you home and make it up to you.”
Knight sticks his finger down his throat and pretends to choke. “For the love of all that is holy, take a minute to close your curtains.”
Viktor flicks him in the side of the head. “No one asked you to watch. Oh, maybe you needed pointers?”
Sofia, sitting on the couch with her ankles crossed demurely, says, “I promise you, he doesn’t.” She winks at Knight and lays her hand on his knee.
Camden and Lenyx hoot and whistle. Owen’s expression never changes; he just sits in his corner with a bottle of IPA and eats plain crackers by the handful.
“Enough with all the couple talk,” Violet announces. “Who wants to get their ass kicked in a game of cards?”
Owen’s head whips up at last. “Magic the Gathering?”
“Uh…” Violet holds up one of the packs of cards I laid out on the coffee table earlier. “Bullshit?”
“Yes!” Viktor slaps both palms on the table and nearly spills all our drinks in the process. “I amso fucking good at Bullshit. Prepare to have all your asses handed to you.”
