After Grant cut the game short, everyone slowly started leaving. Aiden, Grant and I were the final three.

   Grant was in the kitchen, finishing his beer. He was wearing his usual bored expression. Aiden had stumbled to the restroom.

  I was sitting on the couch. "How aren't you drunk yet?" I pointed at Grant's beer.

"Rinnie, you know I'm a professional." He smirked.

   "Why do you always look so bored." It was a shame because he had the tanned, chiseled face of a Greek God. I climbed up backwards on the green, overused couch. The alcohol kicking in.

"I usually am." He shrugged. "Sometimes, I'm pretending to be."

"Are you bored right now, or are you pretending?" I shifted and nearly fell off the couch.

  "Ah, that right there is the million-dollar question." He watched me almost fall. He sat his beer down, ready to run over and catch me. I caught myself before he had time to move. "Careful." He warned me.

  "You get to live dangerously, why can't I?" I asked standing up on the edge of the couch.

   Grant was in front of me in an instant. "Because you're you." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Now get down from there before you fall."

  "I like it up here. I think I'll stay." I said, crossing my arms. I tripped over myself and fell.

He caught me in his arms. "Oh yeah? How'd that work for you?"

I hit him lightly. "You're a know it all."

He chuckled. "I have a lot of experience."

"Hey guys, I'm back." Aiden said, walking towards us.

  "Lucky us." Grant rolled his eyes. He put me down gently and went back to his beer.

  "You were a lot of fun today Zephyrine. It was nice to see you let loose." Aiden smiled, inching closer to me.

  "Ha." Grant laughed sarcastically. "I never knew you were such a pervert Aiden."

"I'm not a pervert." Aiden glared at Grant.

"Ha." Grant repeated. "You think you're not a pervert."

   Aiden clenched his fist. "You have a problem?" My eyes shifted back and forth between them, my anxiety growing. Neither of them would back down from a fight, especially since they were both drinking and looking for one.

  Grant sipped his beer nonchalantly "Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me." He began singing loudly, his eyes focused on Aiden.

  I turned to Aiden. "Hey, I'll see you tomorrow, okay? It's getting late, we should go home."

   Aiden looked hurt. "Yeah, tomorrow." He walked towards the door and looked back at me. "Why do you always choose him? You could have anyone." He gestured over to Grant. "All he does is play games."

   My eyes grew huge. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not choosing anyone. I just don't want you guys to fight."

   "Okay, good." He smiled at me. Then he turned to Grant. "Happy birthday man." He said cheerfully. They always fought. I find it strange how quickly guys make up.

   Grant stood back behind the kitchen bar. Watching us. "Hey thanks." Aiden stole one last glance at me before he closed the door. Grant and I were the only ones left.

"What was that about?" I stared at him curiously.

He shrugged. "He was acting like a dushe."

I used the couch as support, the room was still spinning a little. "Why do think he was being a douche?"

Grant made a disgusted face. "He's just trying to hook up with you."

  I crossed my arms. "Oh, so wanting to hook up with me is disgusting?"

  "Kind of." He said, a little bit of fire behind his words. "When that's all he wants from you."

"What if he wants more?" I questioned him.

"Then, that's not disgusting." He looked over at me. The peacock walked over, cutting off my train of thought. "Shoot! I forgot; I have to return him."

At that, the peacock waddled away angrily. "I don't think he wants to go." I said, jokingly.

"Well, sorry little man but you've got to." He walked over and picked him up. "I'll be back." He directed the last part at me.

"I wanna come." I followed him to the door.

He turned to me. "You sure you want to risk going to prison?"

  "Since when do you ever get caught?" I met his gaze. I found myself staring at his hair. It was a dusty brown, spiked up slightly to one side. I had never seen anyone else with quite the same style. I wasn't sure there was anybody else that could pull it off.

"Good point." He opened the door. "What are you staring at?" His eyebrows raised.

"Nothing." I said quickly. "Let's go." He stood there a minute, unconvinced, then headed out of the shack. We headed towards Grant's exotic, nut-job neighbor's house.

"Are you nervous." I asked, trying my hardest to keep up. Grant was 6'5"and I trailed behind at a measly 4'11", which was something he loved teasing me about.

"Nope. I don't get nervous." He kept his pace, looking forward.

"Shouldn't we use a flashlight or something?" It was pitch-black out.

"That would be way too easy." He smiled at me.

"You didn't think of it did you?" I accused him.

  He chuckled. "Yeah, I was in too big of a rush to get out of the house and my phone's dead."

I shook my head. "You're too impulsive Grant."

"Isn't that what you love about me?"

  "I guess." I looked up at him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge. There was a police cruiser parked outside of Fred, the crazy neighbor's house. Grant threw me over his shoulder and ran behind a group of trees. This was something he frequently did when I was being stubborn.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Taking cover while I explain the plan." He put me down.

  "Grant, couldn't you have told me the plan before we got here?" I sighed.

  "No, I just came up with it." He said, like it was no big deal. He thought for a moment. "Okay follow my lead." He emerged from behind the trees.

"What happened to explaining the plan." I asked, leaving the trees behind.

"No time." He said, holding his badge out in front of him. There was an officer standing on the porch. Grant walked right up to him. "State police. I've been assigned to take control of this case."

  The officer placed his arms right above his round belly and squinted at Grant. "I wasn't told anything about that."

  "Well, that sounds like a problem with your system, not mine." Grant handed him his badge.

  The officer rubbed a hand across his bald head, and examined it. He handed it back, accepting it as authentic. "Who's she?" My nerves soared.

   Grant cleared his throat. "Not that it's any of your concern officer.." He looked at his name badge. "Officer Lloyd, but she's my colleague. She's undercover. So, as you can see, this is important business." He stepped closer to Officer Lloyd. "Now, if you don't want me to get your license provoked, I suggest you leave this to the professionals. Take all your fellow officers with you."

   Officer Lloyd hurried to gather his partners and high-tailed it out of Grant's range. I placed a hand over my mouth, stifling my laugh. Grant walked to the door and opened it without knocking. "Fred, want your bird or not?"

   Fred crept out from behind the curtain, wide-eyed. "Where'd the real officers go?" He ripped the peacock out of Grant's hands.

  "I am a real officer Fred." Grant stepped in front of him. "Call the cops on me again and I'll take every single one of your illegal pets." He took my hand and we walked out the door. Fred watched us leave, dumbfounded.

   Once we were outside, he released my hand. "You coming back to my house or do you want me to walk you to yours?"

I remembered his gift. "Yours, I have to give you something."

He stopped. "I told you not to get me anything."

"Too late, I can't take it back now." I moved forward in a crocked line. The alcohol still very much in my system.

  He came up behind me and threw me over his shoulder. "You're making me nervous."

"I thought you don't get nervous." I teased.

"Only about you Rinnie." He said, walking into the shack.