Family Ties — читать онлайн бесплатно полностью

“I’m glad we could clear that up,” he said, his voice deliberately light.

“Rich…,” Christy began. She stomped her foot to get his attention. “What did you—?”

“Relax, Birdy,” he told her. “Everything’s cool. We were just having a chat to clear the air.”

I made a snap decision. “Yeah,” I said, and matched his tone, “just clearing the air.”

She wasn’t convinced.

He bent and kissed her forehead. “I love you, Sis,” he said softly. “I only want what’s best for you.”

“I love you too.” She looked from him to me and back again.

“Time for me to hit the rack.” He glanced at me and said, “PT in the morning?”

He was messing with my head and I knew it, but I decided to go along.

“All right. See you in the morning.” He moved past Danny and went into the house.

“Now you’ve done it,” Danny said. “You made him like you.”

I was already awake and dressed when the door from the house opened. I was sitting in the same chair Rich had used the night before. I’d been sitting there an hour. I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do, but I was ready for a fight if it came to that.

A dark silhouette came out of the house. He moved smoothly and didn’t make a sound. He bent over the couch and shook Danny’s shoulder.

“Wake up. Time for PT.”

“Yeah, okay,” Danny said groggily.

Rich moved to my cot. His eyes weren’t adjusted to the dark like mine, so he had to feel around before he realized it was empty. He dropped to a crouch and scanned the dark porch.

His gaze fixed on me. “What, you don’t trust me?”

“Would you?” I scoffed.

“Probably smart.” He straightened. “But I gave my word. Just remember what I told you.”

“Jeez, Rich,” Danny said as he sat up, “isn’t it a bit early for the badass routine?”

“It’s never too early to be a badass. Train like you fight, fight like you train. Now get your ass up. The kid’s ready to go. Why aren’t you?”

“The kid doesn’t have the sense to sleep when he can.”

“Paul,” I said as I stood. “My name is Paul.”

They both ignored me, much to my annoyance.

“Five minutes,” Rich said to his brother.

“No surprises this morning?” Terry asked as he joined us from the house.

“No Birdy this morning,” Rich said. “Besides, the kid was already awake.

Waiting for me, too, ambush-style.”

“For real?” Terry looked at me. “Good for you.”

“Will you guys take the love-fest outside and let me get dressed?” Danny said.

“Sure.” Rich looked at his watch. “Four minutes. Chop-chop.”

I followed Rich and Terry outside and started stretching.