“Stop being an ass, Dean. He’s family and of course he will stay here.”
“I don’t consider him my family, Laila, and if you put him up, I’ll disown you.”
Laila’s gasp raked like talons through his chest. When her parents had died, Dean had welcomed her easily into his home, treating her as a daughter, not as a niece.
The other two—Chris and Tom, according to Laila—backed Dean. Furious on her behalf, Sam began to enter the kitchen. However, a new, unknown voice broke in. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Dean. Don’t be such an ass. This isn’t even your house.”
Feminine and slightly raspy, the sound skated along his skin, making him hyperaware.
“Nor is it yours, Roxi, so keep it shut. Or else.”
Sam stepped through the doorway, unwilling to let a woman be threatened.
“Or else what, Dean? Or else what?” Her voice grew darker and he recognised the warning in it, even if Dean didn’t. She obviously didn’t need his protection. She gave a disgusted snort. “That’s what I thought. Laila, he can stay at my house, so your cousin doesn’t flip.”
Everyone fell silent and he glanced at the woman again. She was taller than Laila but still shorter than him. Her hair was pulled back and piled up, showing off a slender neck and making him unable to tell how long her hair was. Skin the hue of dark cocoa covered her lush figure. She wasn’t fat, she had the curves of a real woman, not a half-starved model.
She—Roxi—had silver piercings all along the ear he could see. Well-worn, medium-blue jeans and a hot-pink, tight T-shirt moulded beautifully to her body.
“Such a whore, Roxi. Don’t even know the man and you’re ready for him to be with you in your house.”
He ignored the young boy in him who had been thrown away and was still searching for something he knew would always be his. It wasn’t rational. Still, it was something he had to face. He focused on Dean and the hate spewing from him.
Roxi, however, only laughed. Her amusement flowed like warm velvet over his skin. “Don’t be jealous, I don’t want your STD, Dean. Or is that STDs now? I have discerning tastes, you know, ones that don’t include you. And while everyone here knows I’d never let you in, I have no problem with this man staying with me.”
“You don’t even know him!” Dean thundered. “None of us do aside from Laila, and I think she’s enamoured with him.”
Roxi touched Laila’s arm softly. “Doesn’t matter,” she said. “He can stay with me.”
“Why?” Dean sounded strangled.
Roxi lifted her head and stared directly at Sam, unsurprised, as if she had known he’d been there the entire time. Her gaze went over him and he noticed the gleam of appreciation. Her eyes were coffee brown and steadfast.
“Because, Dean. Just because. It’s not anything you’d understand.”
But Sam did. Around her neck sat the eagle, anchor and globe, emblem for the United States Marine Corps.
“Semper Fi,” he said.
Everyone but Roxi jumped. She gave him a slight smile along with her nod.
Sure.
A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds, and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs; an optimist doesn’t see the clouds at all — he’s walking on them.
