Presents

“Well I certainly didn’t expect this.” Arms crossed, Diana surveyed the ‘presents’ Ray brought. Both Ray and Bobbie were grinning ear-to-ear. The two men standing in front of her smiled sheepishly, and someone; Diana guessed Bobbie, decided to put stick-on ribbon bows on their heads. “Okay, I give up. Who are they?”

“They’re my brothers. The shorty is my older brother Steven, and the dirty hippie is Alan.” Ray punched them both before draping his arms over their shoulders. Steven murmured under his breath “Jackass” and Diana giggled.

“Which one is mine?” She looked to Bobbie, who shrugged.

“I haven’t decided yet. I thought we could share. Unless you have a preference?...”

“Not yet. Let me examine then, and we’ll see.” She looked them over like a pair of horses. Bobbie was right. They were cute. Maybe not drop-dead gorgeous like Ray was, but neither seemed to be quite as arrogant either, which was a definite plus. Alan, as Ray said, looked a bit like a hippie – he wore a simple green henley over torn and dirty jeans, his hair was jet black and shoulder length. He was almost as tall as Ray but a bit slimmer in build. His brown eyes held barely suppressed laughter, not surprising given the circumstances. He seemed to enjoy the examination. Not really Diana’s type, but definitely good looking. Steven on the other hand.... He wasn’t really all that short, maybe two or three inches shorter than Bobbie, with light brown hair and strikingly blue eyes. He was a bit stockier than his brothers and but stood more firmly on the ground than either of them. He was neat, his clothes clearly expensive and meticulously groomed. When she looked him in the eyes, he blushed. Well, that could be fun. But not yet, she wanted to get to know them better. If they were anything at all like Ray...

“I don’t see why we shouldn’t share them tonight. How about I take Alan and you take Steven, and we’ll switch halfway through.”

“Oh splendid, I love it! And Ray gets to fifth wheel.” That thought seemed to make Bobbie happier than anything else so far.

Ray shook his finger “Au contraire, Celia’s meeting us at the restaurant. It’s strictly a six-wheeled vehicle.” Bobbie made a face. Diana didn’t blame her. Celia was a thoroughly obnoxious blonde co-ed from the local college. She had no idea what Ray saw in her, except that she was young, pretty, and easy. And apparently at school on a gymnastics scholarship. She wondered if that was why Bobbie was mad at Ray. If so, Ray’s brothers should be careful; Bobbie was apt to do stupid things when she wanted revenge. If it wasn’t, well, Bobbie was apt to do stupid things anyway. Diana was just glad the wall between their rooms was really thick.

Alan held his arm out to Diana. “Shall we to the chariot, my lady?” Diana linked her arm and his.
“Of course good sir. And pray, where is this chariot of which you speak?” Behind her, Steven did a mock click of his heels and likewise held his arm out to Bobbie. Ray trailed the pairs as they left the girl’s apartment and headed down the stairs. As they reached the outside door, Alan untangled his arm just long enough to open the door. Diana gasped when she saw the gorgeous silver Mustang outside. “Is that our ride?” Alan nodded.

“It’s what Steven and I used to drive up here; it’s his pride and joy.”

“Are we all going to fit?”

“Nope! You’ll have to sit on my lap.”

Steven piped up from behind them. “Liar. There’s plenty of room in the backseat.”

“Yeah, if you’re a midget.” It turned out neither of them were right. There was not, in fact plenty of room, but they did all fit in the Mustang without having to sit on top of each other. That actually seemed to disappoint Alan, until he realized that he was going to be sharing the backseat with both girls.

“Ray, why did you call shotgun?”

“Old habits die hard brother. How’re you doing back there Alan?”

“Help me! They’ve made me their bitch!” He was sitting in between Diana and Bobbie, and Bobbie had been making cracks about being in the bitch seat.

“No fair girls – he’s our baby brother, our bitch!” Steven said. Ray looked back and glared pointedly at Bobbie.

“Oh, fat lot of good you two are.” Alan leaned closer to Diana, as far away from Bobbie as he could manage. “Will you at least be nice to me?”

“That depends on what you mean by ‘nice’.” Diana replied archly. Alan guffawed.

“Well, looks like I’m screwed then.”

“Oh you won’t get that lucky.”