Page 12 of Seeds of Friendship
I assess the situation quickly. Four of them, four of us. But while we might have numbers, these guys have about fifty pounds of muscle on each of us. Troy's fit, Ethan's got an ex-quarterback build that's going soft, I'm decent from work at the gym, and Alfie... well, Alfie looks like he's never thrown a punch in his life.
If this gets ugly, we're fucked.
“Don't worry, boys,” Ethan says, setting down his end of Einstein with misplaced confidence. “My charm and charisma will work like a charm.”
“Did you just use 'charm' twice in the same sentence?” Alfie mutters.
But Ethan's already stepping forward, hands up in that universal 'we come in peace' gesture. “Hey guys, beautiful day for a?—”
“Hawkins.” Connor's voice cuts through Ethan's attempt at diplomacy. His eyes are locked on Troy, and the look on his face suggests that murder is still very much on the table. “Thought I smelled shit.”
His friends laugh like it's the funniest thing they've ever heard.
“Connor,” Troy says, trying for casual but missing by a mile. “Hey, man.”
“Don't 'hey man' me.” Connor takes a step closer. His friends fan out slightly, boxing us in. “You've got some balls showing your face around here.”
“It's a public sidewalk,” Alfie observes, unhelpfully.
Connor's eyes snap to him. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Someone who understands property law, apparently.”
Jesus Christ. The rich kid's going to get us killed with his mouth.
“Look”—I step forward, trying to salvage this—“we don't want any trouble. We're just trying to get home.”
Connor looks at me like I'm something he stepped in. “And you are?”
“His roommate,” I say, nodding at Troy. “We all are.”
“All four of you?” Connor laughs, but there's no humor in it. “What? Did the housing department put all the rejects together?”
“Actually, that's kinda accurate,” Ethan pipes up.
I want to strangle him.
“Here's what's going to happen,” Connor says, focusing back on Troy. His voice drops, all pretense of civility gone. “You're going to stay the fuck away from me. Away from my friends.Away from any party I'm at. You see me coming, you turn around and walk the other way. Got it?”
Troy's jaw clenches. For a second, I think he might actually swing—suicide, considering the four guys at Connor’s back.
“You weren’t even together with Rachel when—” Troy starts.
“Don't.” Connor's in his face now, spitting the word like venom. “Don't say hername. Don't even think it.”
The air’s thick. His boys are ready to pounce, and we’re armed with… a giant Einstein poster. World’s worst weapon.
Then Alfie moves. He steps between Troy and Connor like he’s bored of the whole thing.
Oh fuck. He’s about to get us all killed.
5
Alfie’s movements are calm and deliberate.
“Are wedonehere?” His voice is different—colder than I’ve heard it. “Because frankly, this is tedious. You’ve made your point. We get it. You’re very large and very angry. Congratulations.”
Connor stares at him, thrown by the complete lack of fear in Alfie’s tone.
