I sat next to Chris in the big meeting room. There was a ton of people here. It's insane that all of these people live in this house and I've never seen them before.

"So like, what are their names?" I asked him.

Chris went around the table. "Ryan, TJ, Josh, Spencer, Maria, Remington, Michael, Ronnie, Ryan Ashley, Danny, Emerson, Craig, Matt, Andy, and Sebastian."

"And they all live here?"

"Most of them do."

That's a lot of fucking people. I know Kuza and Ryan and Spencer, and Ronnie was the guy from the party. And I'm pretty sure that I fucked TJ once.

I didn't recognize the other ones.

"Is anyone else coming?" Chris asked.

"No." Ryan said. "You can start."

Chris stood up and cleared his throat. "I want to get right into things today because my schedule is tight. I've seen some issues with income over the past few weeks. Business has been slow. Why?"

"Not really sure." TJ spoke up.

"I haven't heard anything." Kuza said.

Ronnie stared at me. He winked and licked his lips.

I rolled my eyes and looked up at Chris. He turned to me. "Did you hear anything?"

"Well, I haven't really been out there in a few weeks, but last I heard that someone was expanding their territory or something like that."

"Did you hear a name?"

"Oli, maybe." I told him.

He nodded, turning back to the others. "Keep an eye out. He's knows that the city is my territory. If any of you see him or any of his dealers, bring them to me, and I can not stress this enough, alive."

They all agreed.

"Once this meeting is over, I have to leave town for a few days. I'll probably only be gone for like two to three days." He told everyone. "Ryan will be in charge while I'm away. You all will follow his orders and do as he says."

They all nodded.

Chris took me by my hand and led me out of the room. He took me back up to his room and sat me down on his bed. He grabbed my chin and kissed me.

"Since I'm gone, Ronnie will probably try to harass you. Don't let him bother you. He knows better than to actually touch you."

"Are you sure? Because he didn't seem to know last time."

"Well, you have the weapons I gave you." He told me. "Listen to Ryan. Kuza will stay with you for today. I'll call you later."

I nodded. "Okay."

He kissed me again. He grabbed his bag and left the room. Kuza came in a few minutes later. He sat on the bed next to me.

I just hugged him without saying a word.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I wanted him to stay here."

"Awe..." He taunted. "You like him."

"No! I just- I like talking to him."

"Uh huh."

"I don't like him!"

Kuza just laughed. "Okay, fine. I mean, it's not like you're wearing his sweatshirt or sleeping in his bed or anything."

I turned away from him. He's right and he knows it. I just can't let him know that I know.

"Come on, lighten up. I'm just fucking with you."

I rolled my eyes at him. He's so annoying sometimes.

"You gotta admit that you at least like him a little, or else you wouldn't be upset about him leaving." He said. "You know you can talk to me. I won't say anything."

I groaned. "Fine. Yeah. I guess I like him a little."

Kuza laughed at me. "I know."

I stuck my tongue out. "Where'd he go anyway?"

"Don't know." He shrugged. "That information is way above my pay grade."

I fell back on the bed and groaned.

"I'm fucking bored."

"So do something." He said.

I glared at him. "I can't."

"Ricky, this house is fucking huge. I'm sure you can find something to do." He told me.

"I'll probably get lost."

"I know my way around the house. You won't get lost." He said. "Come on, lets go explore."

"Fine." I sighed.

He took my hand and led me through the halls. He took me up to the third floor, which I'd never actually seen yet.

"Why are we up here?" I asked.

"Because I want you to meet someone."

"Who?"

"You'll see."

He knocked on a door. It opened after a few seconds. I backed away from the door. It was Ronnie.

"I've met him, Kuza. I'd rather hang out with him.l

"He's great."

Kuza pulled me into the room and was talking to Ronnie, who couldn't seem to take his eyes off of me. I pulled my phone out and texted Chris. Hopefully it'll take my mind off of Ronnie. I don't like him.

'Hi.' I texted

I waited for a few minutes, just watching the screen. Eventually a small bubble with some dots popped up on the screen.

'What's up?' He responded.

'I'm bored :('

'So do something'

'There's nothing to do. Kuza asked me to go upstairs with him because he wanted me to meet someone but it was Ronnie and now I'm just sitting here pretending not to notice Ronnie's weird looks.'

'If he touches you, you have my full permission to shoot him.'

'I won't let him touch me, but it's just weird.' I typed. I glanced up at him. He was talking to Kuza but staring at me. He winked when he saw me looking.

'You don't have to stay there. You can go do something on your own. Take a nap or something.'

'That's boring. Why couldn't I go with you????'

'I don't want you to get hurt."

I'm not gonna get hurt. I'm not dumb. I don't get why he can't understand that.

'Go back to my room, lay down and find a movie to watch. You can wear my clothes if you want to. I'll see you in a few days.'

'Fine >:("

I got up and left the room. Kuza called after me, but I didn't respond.

I went down to Chris's room and headed over to his closet. I grabbed a different one of his hoodies and took my pants off. I was wearing nothing underneath, but it was fine because Chris's shirt was like a dress on me.

I laid on the bed and turned his projector thing on.

I flipped through channels for a while before finally settling on Insidious.

I glanced at the night stand to make sure the gun and the knife I had were still there.

I took a deep breath and turned back to the screen.

It's only a few days.

———————

Sorry this is so short whoops.

comment any predictions/questions

~xxLux