Tyson POV

I leaned in more than what was necessary if I was wrestling her. She didn’t seem to mind. That is to say, she wasn’t trying to get away. I stared at her eyes before my gaze fell on her lips. I lowered my head…

“I don’t know who the hell you are, but get your fucking hands off her! NOW!” Someone’s furious unfamiliar growl interrupted.

*****

I looked up and sat a little straighter, but didn’t move away from Alex.

The guy that was glaring furiously at me right now seemed a few years older than us. He was dressed in a sleeveless dark green turtleneck and blue jeans. He was taller than me – at about six feet, and a little bulkier. He had short brown hair and brown eyes that somehow reminded me of Alex’s.

“So, this is Kevin?” I turned to the girl again.

“Yep!” She chirped cheerfully. “This is my cousin.”

“Lexie, you know this guy?” The boy queried.

Lexie?

“No, Kev, I just invite random people over and play-wrestle with them,” she answered sarcastically.

“Knowing you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you did! Although I don’t think that is a wrestling position,” he said once again glaring at me.

“Sure it is!” I smirked at him.

“It seems more like a fucking pose to me!” He snarled.

“No, it’s not.” I knew I wasn’t being exactly honest here but I kept going. “I should recognize it; I fight all the time.”

“And do you have your hands on the hips of all of the people you wrestle with?”

Oops! How and when did they get there?

“Kevin…” Alex cut in calmly. “Even if we were screwing, it wouldn’t be any of your business!”

“Of course it would be, Lexie! You’re my baby cousin!” He shouted at her, but his voice lacked the edge with which he spoke to me.

“No, I’m your younger cousin. I’m not a little child anymore.”

“Just get up already!” He ordered, irritated that he couldn’t argue with her logic.

I reluctantly stood up and offered her my hand.

“So who is this boy anyway, Lexie?”

“Just the father of my child,” she stated with a playful wink at me.

Her cousin froze.

“He… Y-y-you? When… Pregnant not?… Are you?” He rubbed his chest finding it hard to breathe.

Alex burst out laughing.

I swear I’ll never get used to how loud this girl laughs!

“No, Kev, I’m not pregnant! Remember that whole baby doll project I told you about? The one that ended this week? Ty and I were partnered together.”

“Oh, thank God! I’m too young to be an uncle!” The immense look of relief on his face made me snicker.

“You’re too young? What about me?” Alex exclaimed. “Besides, you know how I feel about babies.”

“So even after that project, you still haven’t gotten over your baby-phobia?” He asked seriously.

“You…” I turned wide-eyed at her. “You’re afraid of babies? Tiny, little babies?” Now it was my turn to laugh. “So that’s why you freaked out when the project started!”

“Kevin…” Alex grated her teeth. “You and your big mouth!”

The girl lurched at her considerably taller cousin and punched his mouth. The boy didn’t even have time to react. He rubbed his jaw, but he didn’t seem seriously hurt. I guessed it was just a warning smack on Alex’s part. She turned to me.

“And no, I’m not scared of babies… I’m scared for them.”

“What do you mean “for them”?” I couldn’t understand.

“As you said, they’re just so tiny… It makes me think… I think that I’d break them,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Oh, Alex!” I said, swinging my hand around her shoulders in a sideways hug. “I didn’t know you had such a soft spot for human babies. I thought it was strictly reserved for animal cubs.”

“I already warned you: get your hands of Lexie!”

“That again?” I thought annoyed. The boy sounded like a broken record!

“If you don’t…” He lowered his voice in a threatening manner. “I’m going to knock you down.”

I rolled my eyes at his pathetic excuse for a threat.

“Kevin!” Alex cut in again. “First: None of your business; second: I fight my own battles; third: I’m a better fighter than you anyway and forth: this is Tyson Williams.”

Her cousin looked baffled at number four. I myself wasn’t sure what she meant.

“The Tyson Williams,” she continued. “As in the one from the Ring.”

Oh, so that’s what she was getting to!

Kevin seemed to have realized the same thing. He stared at me wide-eyed for a second then hastily pulled his cousin away from me, positioning himself between the two of us and shielding her with his body.

“Ridiculous!” I thought. “It’s not like Alex can’t take care of herself.”

But a part of me couldn’t help be touched by his gesture; I didn’t know anyone, except Angel, who would do that for me.

“Why the hell are you hanging around this guy?” He asked her, but kept his eyes on me. “The boy is a lunatic!”

“I like him; he’s fun,” she explained simply and I felt myself smirk at her words.

“But, Lexi…” The guy whined; yes, he actually whined.

“No buts about it, Kev!” She came up from behind him and got closer to me, smirking as well. “You better get used to him ‘cause I like having him around!”

“Well, Stefan is going to flip when he hears about this,” Kevin muttered.

“And that’s a bad thing because…?” Her grin only widened. She seemed to enjoy the prospect of peeving her ex.

I guess there are no leftover romantic feelings on her part!

And I felt myself smiling even wider.

*****

Alex POV

I watched the two boys sitting on the couch with their eyes fixed on the TV.

At first Kevin, being as over-protective as he was, wouldn’t let Tyson out of his sight. If I were to get close to the latter, my cousin would waste no time moving between the two of us. I thought that would seriously piss Ty off and he would either leave or punch Kev, but neither of that happened. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that the boy was even glad that my cousin was doing this.

Something else I couldn’t exactly comprehend was that when Kevin started a “conversation” (more like an interrogation!) with Tyson, the younger boy actually answered his questions. Not his usual “yes”, “no”, “grunt”, “glare” answers, but actually talked. He was far from ecstatic about it, but still…

After I made sure that my idiotic cousin was not going to start a fight he would without a doubt lose, I went to my room to let them have some guy-to-guy time. When I came back they were sitting in front of the TV, sipping on sodas.

I smiled watching how well they got on. I was really hoping they would. Because I meant what I told Kevin earlier: I liked having Ty around.

*****

Kevin POV

That boy Tyson had only just left after spending the afternoon at Lexie’s apartment. I got to say I was surprised by his behavior. From what I heard about him I expected something different… something worse. Don’t get me wrong: I still didn’t trust the guy completely, but he seemed to make Lexie happy. Speaking of my cousin…

“Lexie, we need to talk!” I called her sternly.

“Let me guess…” She looked rather annoyed when she entered the room. “Tyson Williams?”

“The one and only.”

“What do you want to know?” She asked, sitting on one of the sofas opposite me.

“I’m not even sure where to begin!” I admitted. There were so many questions. I made a list in my head before I went on. “For starters: for how long have you known him and how well?”

“Since I came here. Not as well as I wish, but better than most.”

She was keeping her answers brief, huh? I guess she really didn’t want to be having this conversation…But I needed to know what sort of relationship they had.

“You know he’s a criminal? That he’s been to juvie?”

“Yes.”

“And you still want to be around him?”

“I have a lot of friends like that. Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you have a record yourself from when you were a teen?”

I grunted. We both knew I had although that was because of dumb pranks and challenges, nothing too serious.

“Look, Kev…” She sighed. “I know you are worried about me and all, but I can take care of myself. And Tyson is not going to hurt me.”

“That’s what he said as well,” I muttered.

“He said that?” She shifted in her seat. “What were you two talking about anyway?” She tried to sound nonchalant but I could see the curiosity eating her up from the inside.

“Nothing much… Just stuff.” I tried to vex her with my vague answer.

“What stuff?” She queried annoyed and obviously done with pretending not to care.

“Oh, you know… Him, the Ring… You.”

“Y-you talked about me?”

Did she just stutter? She stuttered! Was she nervous?

She had unconsciously leaned closer, looking me straight in the eyes, anticipation clear by the way she chewed on her lower lip.

Yes, she was definitely nervous! Did she have a crush on the boy or something? He seemed to like her; that much I’d already found out!

Lexie had just left me and Tyson alone in the living room. I looked the guy in the eyes. I felt rather uncomfortable when he stared back: there was such strength and superiority in them! There were the steely eyes of someone who’d been through a lot, someone whose life was full of experiences I never wanted to go through. We both knew that even though I was older and slightly bigger he’d have the upper hand if we were to tussle. But I was doing this for Lexie… so I wasn’t backing down!

“I’m going to cut to the chase here: have you slept with my cousin?” I tried to sound as if I wasn’t uncomfortable with this conversation.

He gave me a smug smirk.

“Define “slept with her”.”

“Don’t you bloody pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about!”

“If you mean it as in “slept in the same bed”, then yes, I’ve slept with her.” My fists clenched. I knew Lexie wasn’t a child anymore, but for me she’d always be my baby cousin. And with her taste in men… Well, let’s say I’ve seen enough to know she wasn’t good at picking them.

“But if you mean if I’ve fucked her,” the boy continued, “then no, I haven’t.”

“So you expect me to believe that you two just slept in the same bed without… without…” I hated using the f word in regard to my cousin.

“Without fucking?” He obviously had no problem with it. “No, I don’t expect you to believe it, but that’s how it was.”

Looking at his face I could tell that was the truth. But I could see something else as well… Longing?

“Do you w-want to… do it with her?” Way to try to be authoritative, Kevin! Keep on stammering!

He must have been thinking the same thing because I saw the corners of his mouth lifting up for a second before his eyes dimmed. He seemed thoughtful.

“I’m not sure,” he finally admitted and ran a hand through his hair. “Your cousin drives me insane, we fight almost all the time, she makes me do the dumbest and craziest things one can think of… things that are totally out of character for me… But I like the way I feel when I am with her. I’m not sure to what extent, but I do like her.”

We kept silent for a while. I could see that it was hard for him to admit that to me. It was probably hard to admit it to himself. For the first time since I laid my eyes on him, he seemed insecure; so much so that I started wondering if all those rumors I’d heard about his tough and uncaring nature were true.

“Do you know why I’m telling you all this?” He asked. “I don’t usually talk so much. Except around my best friend and… well, as of late Alex.”

I noticed he kept calling her “Alex” instead of “Lexie” like me and the rest of our family did.

“So, why are you talking to me?”

“Can’t help it. I can see how much you care about her. I know you’re only trying to protect her. But you should know: I don’t plan on hurting her.

“Good, stick to that non-plan!”

Maybe he wasn’t sure about the extent of his feelings, but he seemed pretty hooked up to me!

I looked at Lexie who was still nervously awaiting my answer.

“He said that you make him do stupid things, but I guess that’s not out of character for you, is it?”

“Oh! So that’s all he said?” She wanted to make sure.

Was it just me or did she seem disappointed?

“Pretty much!” I decided to skip the “but I do like her” bit.

“Oh!” She repeated. “And you didn’t ask him if we’ve fucked?”

I grimaced.

Did she have to use that word? Seriously! There were so many others to describe the same thing!

“Yes, I asked him.”

“And what did he say?”

I looked at her suspiciously.

Could it be that the boy lied to me? Had they… done it?

“What do you think he said?” I questioned cautiously. I hated playing cat and mouse with her; she always won.

“I think he told you the truth: that we haven’t. But we’ve slept in the same bed twice.”

“What? Why twice? When? Why?”

“When we were babysitting at a friend’s house…”

“You’ve baby sited?!” I was so stunned I momentarily forgot the whole “sleeping together” thing.

“Yes. For that boy I told you about, Angel.”

Oh, so that was why she did it!

From what I’d heard about him the dude was pretty decent. And most importantly: she didn’t like him as anything more than a friend. Unlike Tyson. I still wasn’t sure about his status. Which reminded me…

“What about the second time?” I got back on topic.

She shifted uncomfortably again.

Uh-oh! This can’t be good!

“Lexie…?”

“It’s not only my story to tell!”

I sighed. I knew what that meant; it had to do with something private for that boy and she’d feel uncomfortable telling me about it. So no matter how much I wanted to know, I had to drop it, because my cousin was both stubborn and loyal, which made it hard (if not impossible) to make her spill the beans on someone.

“Fine,” I agreed reluctantly. “But one last question: do you like Tyson? I mean like like him?”

“I don’t know,” she stated simply. “I want him.”

Oh, God, that was what I was afraid of! He might not want to hurt her, but that didn’t mean he was suitable for her. She made the worst decisions when it came to guys… Why couldn’t she pick someone decent for once? But no! Lexie wanted a thrill, she needed the adrenalin rush, so she’d hook up with the bad boy.

“But I don’t plan on making a move on him,” she continued. “I really want to be his friend and I don’t want to ruin it all for one night of fun.”

Relief washed through me.

Amen, Halleluiah and all the rest to that!

“No matter how much fun we’re probably going to have,” she added grinning wickedly. “I mean… The boy is smoking hot! His lips are like… Oh! And his abs… Man, don’t even get me started on those! And the way he moves… I bet he’ll be pretty wild in the sack. Makes me want to handcuff him to my bed and…”

“Lexie, that is not something I want to hear from my baby cousin!” I shouted jumping from the couch while covering my ears and leaving the room. But that wasn’t enough to stop her obnoxious laughter from following me.

So she wants him, huh?

Lexie usually got what she wanted; she made sure of that. But she said she had no desire to ruin their friendship. And the boy wasn’t sure what he felt…

Well, whatever they decided I hoped it doesn’t end up like it did with Stefan. When I found out about what happened between the two of them, I wanted to beat him to a pulp but she made me promise I’ll let her deal with it.

I’d made no such promise about this new boy thought. And I wouldn’t let her get hurt again.

If that Tyson caused her pain, there would be nowhere for him to hide my vengeance!