The Marx Brothers

Chapter Sixteen - 'Nightmare'

"And I recall you telling me to stay away from you, which begs the question, what are you doing here?" I snapped back

He shrugged "Turns out I don't have a choice"

"You don't have a choice?" I repeated

Phoenix took a step towards where I stood, standing directly beside me as he faced the sink, the opposite direction of me. His elbow touched mine as he busied himself with the mess. Closeness similar to Oscars.

"Jaston, Reid, Dillon, and now Gonzales. They have it out for me, and because of your little appearance at the semi-final last week, they have it out for you now too"

My eyes widened as I turned in the same direction as he faced.

"I don't understand, why me? What about the other girls that hover around you day in day out? Why aren't they in danger?" I shook my head

Phoenix gave a sigh and glanced toward me "They are making assumptions about you and I..." He trailed off

My eyebrows creased "Assumptions?"

Phoenix's eyes drifted toward the dining table where conversation continued, but settled
"We should talk about it later"

"I want to know what's going on, now" I snapped, my voice low but demanding

"If you haven't already noticed, this isn't really the appropriate setting" He nodded to where Grace and Jett were laughing, again

I have him a prolonged stare that interrogated answers, answers now.
Phoenix sighed and turned to the dining room, his hands in his pea coat.

"I've made desert, but I've left it back at the house" He announced as Jett eyed him suspiciously "Do you mind if we...?" He tilted his head towards the front door

"Oh that's lovely" Grace smiled "Of course"

With that, Phoenix and I began toward his house, my eyes avoiding Oscars like the plague. His stare was on the back of my head, burning me like a laser machine.

"These assumptions, what are they?" I asked the moment my front door was closed, cold air hitting my skin through my knitted jumper.

I wrapped my arms around my middle, following him across the street.

"Jas and his mates think you and I are..." Again, he trailed off, unable to find his words, his lack of eye contact easily readable

It didn't matter he couldn't finish his sentence, I knew what he was insinuating

"You can't be serious? They think we're sleeping together?" I scoffed "What the hell gave them that impression, we can barely stand in the same room as each other without wanting to kill each other" I rushed out, half confused, half embarrassed

He shrugged "They've caught snippets of conversations and reactions and swirled it together"

"Snippets of conversations and reactions? I'm not following here"

Phoenix pulled a key from his pocket, shoving it inside his front door "It doesn't matter, what matters is, they're after you because they think it will affect me the most"

My eyebrows scrunched together as we stepped into his home, the familiarity of hazelnut overpowering, memories rushing back

"I'm sorry but I can't understand this. You've... You are, actually sleeping with other women, why are they not being targeted?"

Phoenix turned to face me, meters from his kitchen "Do you not listen?" He snapped "I told you, that rumour isn't true"

I rolled my eyes and averted my gaze "Neither is the one about you and I"