Page 11 of Beautiful Life
“Tony, I can’t eat more junk food and I can’t believe you’re going to pay her for pumpkin cookies.”
“Paige’s idea of junk food isn’t really junk food. Trust me on this. You’ll thank me later.”
I try to let him off the hook. “All right, but you really can drop me off. You don’t need to stay. You’ve already spent a good chunk of your day off with me.”
He shrugs. “I could watch a movie.”
“But I feel bad. You all don’t need to babysit me. Gabby has an alarm—I’ll be fine.”
Tony reaches out to grab my hand and threads our fingers. “Gem, I said I could watch a movie.”
Fine. If he doesn’t have anything better to do than torture me, so be it. I pull on my hand, only to feel his grip harden, holding it to the console while throwing me a smile. I sigh, lean back in my seat and watch the traffic move as we make our way back to Gabby’s house for more junk food and a movie marathon.
All the while letting Tony hold my hand.
*****
I can’t move.
For two reasons.
One—I’m stuffed. Tony was right. Paige’s junk food isn’t normal junk food. She made a layered hummus dip with pita chips, miniature baked ham and cheese biscuit sandwiches, and a jalapeno jelly she made herself and dumped it over cream cheese to spread on crackers. She told me she considers it junk food because it lacks fruits and vegetables. I guess she didn’t consider the chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions on the layered hummus dip, but I wasn’t going to be the one to point out the nutritional value of her junk food.
And two—I started out at one end of Gabby’s big sectional snuggled in with a toss pillow at the beginning of our movie marathon. Paige stretched out on the other end. That left the middle for Tony. But instead of taking the middle like a normal person would have done, he decided to torture me further and came straight to me picking up my legs to plop himself down where he tucked his hip right into my bottom. Then he slouched into his seat to prop his long legs on the coffee table with my legs draped over his lap. I immediately tried to sit up and yank my legs away, but he held on tight not allowing me to move.
“Tony!” I yelled.
“Leigh,” he drawled back, sort of lazy-like.
I glared at him.
He smiled back.
I looked over at Paige who was watching the entire exchange while raising an eyebrow in question. I gave my head a tiny shake and sighed. Then I turned to the TV and tried to get as comfortable as I could—which really wasn’t hard since it was pretty comfortable. It was even more comfortable when Tony would randomly run his hands over my legs and feet, a touch so light yet significant, I felt it down to my bones.
Pure torture.
This was all after the big decision of what to watch. Watching Tony and Paige duke it out over our viewing selection was interesting to say the least. I’ve never had much of an adult relationship with my sister and we never got along as kids, degenerating into a miserable relationship as teenagers.
It all started with Paige going through Gabby’s collection of movies she collected during her eighties phase. Paige insisted we watch Breakfast Club. Tony said he was absolutely not watching a Brat Pack movie and suggested the Bourne Trilogy. Paige threw me under the bus and said there was no way I would want to watch anything violent. I mean, really. Everyone knows Jason Bourne is the bomb, but I didn’t get to express this because Paige suggested the entire Star Wars collection to which Tony said, “No fucking way. You recite every line out loud and it’s obnoxious. Just because you’re the size of Yoda doesn’t make you a Jedi and the master of all things Star Wars.”
Turning back to study the library of movies, Paige got excited. “Sex in the City! Gabby has the whole series. If we start tonight, I bet we can finish by Christmas. Gabby will be pissed we started without her, but she’ll just have to deal with it.”
“I’m not watching that shit, Paige,” Tony replied, as Paige starts putting in the first disc.
Paige turned around, put her hands on her hips, and threw me under the bus again. “But it’s Leigh’s favorite. Ask her. It’ll make her happy.”
Tony turned to me, only to raise a brow. I tipped my head to the side while shrugging because Sex in the City is my absolute favorite. Those four women are amazing—not to mention a lot naughty—and I wish I could have just a bit of their amazingness. Don’t even get me started on their clothes. But instead, I shrug. “I like Jason Bourne, too.”
Tony smirks and turns back to Paige. “Put it in.”
“Like I needed your permission,” Paige muttered loud enough for us all to hear.
I breathed a sigh of relief, because really, I didn’t want to see what Paige would have done if he ex-nayed Sex in the City.
After we finally settled in with Paige’s non-junk-food-junk-food with Tony torturing my legs and feet, I got lost in the dramas and humor of four amazing characters. In the middle of the fourth episode, comfort and food took over—I drifted off.
Now, I vaguely hear Paige whispering a goodbye and leaving. That’s when I feel Tony’s fingers on my neck and his lips at my ear. “Sweetheart. Get up and go to bed.”
