Sprawled on the couch beside Ash, Andrew arched a brow. “You wanted to go all glow bright on me and beat me down in gym class over a girl. A. Human. Girl.”
Dawson smirked. “I want to beat you down every day, Andrew. Today was no exception.”
Andrew flipped him off. “Hardy har har, shit—”
“Don’t,” Daemon snapped, turning on Andrew so quickly that the blond had to see his life flash before his eyes. “Don’t even think about calling my brother a name.”
Holding up his hands, Andrew said, “Whatever, man. All I’m saying is that your bro wanted to go Chuck Norris on my ass over a human girl today.”
Dawson sort of wished he had. “Need I remind you that you melted a ping-pong ball with your hand?”
Reason stepped forward in the form of Matthew. “Is that true, Andrew?”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “It was just a ping-pong ball.”
A frown creased Matthew’s face. “Wait. This is all over a ping-pong ball?”
“No,” Andrew said at the same time Dawson replied with a, “Yes.”
“I’m getting a headache.” Adam sighed. “Already.”
So was Dawson. And it had a name. He glared at Andrew. “This isn’t about anything. I don’t know why we had to call a Captain Planet meeting for this.”
His brother folded his arms, mirroring his stance. “Is this about Bethany?”
“Yes!” exclaimed Andrew.
“Who’s Bethany?” Ash asked, sounding bored, but her voice was shrewd. No doubt she was worried about competition for Daemon.
“She’s a girl—”
“A girl?” Dee pulled her nose out of a magazine. “What about a girl? Is she nice? Do I know her?”
Oh, for the love of all things holy. Dawson groaned. “Bethany is a girl from school. And I don’t see what the big deal is. We’ve just talked.”
Dee looked crestfallen. “So I don’t know her?”
“No.” His patience was running thin. “I don’t think you have any classes with her.”
“But she’s human?” Dee glanced around the room, brows arching. “So, I’m with Dawson on this one. What’s the big deal? It’s not like we’re not allowed to…” Her cheeks suddenly matched the color of a tomato. “I don’t get it,” she finished.
“It’s true there are no rules stopping any of us from having…relations, but it is not wise.” Matthew looked like he did when he’d tried to explain the mechanics of sex several years ago. It had been horrifying for all of them. “The DOD does frown upon it, and there really isn’t much of a point.”
“Too dangerous for the humans,” Daemon said, unfolding his arms. He sat on the arm of the recliner where Dee was sitting. “If the DOD even suspected that we let the alien out of the bag, the human goes bye-bye. Not to mention the risk of lighting her up.”
Dawson rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because I plan on turning every human I meet into a disco ball just for the fun of it.”
His brother’s brows lowered in a clear warning.
He sighed. “Anyway, it’s not a big deal.”
“Did you threaten Andrew over her?” Matthew asked, looking like he seriously hoped Dawson didn’t. Well, then, he’d keep his mouth shut, because he wasn’t going to like the answer. “Dawson?”
“Possibly…”
Andrew shot him a bland look. “I would go with yes.”
Man, he wanted to beat Andrew down.
“What did you say?” Daemon asked him, and Dee watched on in interest.
“Fine,” Dawson grumbled. “I told him that if he talked to Bethany again, I was going to shove a certain body part into his mouth.”
Daemon strung together an atrocity of F-bombs. Quite imaginative, too, and even Matthew looked impressed. When he was finished, he said, “You threatened one of your own over a human girl?”
Dawson shrugged.
There went the F-bombs again. “Add that to the way you’ve been staring at her, and we’ve got a problem.”
“How has he been staring at her?” Dee asked, sounding ridiculously innocent. All the guys groaned. “What?” she demanded.
“He stares at her like she’s…” There was an odd pause, almost like Daemon really didn’t know how to phrase it, as if he’d never stared at a girl that way before—and he hadn’t. “Like she’s the finest cut of steak and he’s starving.”
Dawson’s brows shot up. Was that how he stared at Beth? Like she was steak?
“You never look at me like that.” Ash pouted.
Daemon stared at her. Definitely not like that.
“Whatever,” Dawson said. “Other than the fact that I will now think of steak every time I see Bethany, there isn’t anything going on. I like her. She’s cool. So what? You guys have nothing to worry about.”
His brother frowned as he glanced at Andrew. “What did you say to the girl?”
Andrew said nothing.
“He kept demanding her name like a freak.” Dawson sighed, so over this conversation.
“Well, to me, it sounds like normal human hating.” Adam glared at his twin. “You got everyone riled up for no reason…as always. It isn’t a big deal.”
It wasn’t a big deal to them, but to him? Dawson wished it wasn’t. His shoulders slumped as he started toward the stairs, done with this conversation. Whatever had been between him and Bethany was finished before it even got started. Looking over his shoulder, he tried to ignore the crushing weight settling on his chest. “There’s nothing to worry about. Thanks to Andrew, she doesn’t want anything to do with me.”