Chapter 29
Jupiter
CHARLOTTE
A loud voice jolted me awake.
“Rise and shine, gorgeous!” The words were followed by a heavy thud
on my stomach.
“Ouch!” I yelped.
“Did you just leap on me, Nep?”
“Guilty as charged. Breakfast is served,” he informed me.
“Awesome! Let’s go!” I sprang out of bed, racing down the stairs with Nep hot on my heels.
We both vied for the honor of being the first to enter the kitchen, and we ended up bursting through the door simultaneously.
As soon as we crossed the threshold, I spotted a woman in the kitchen.
Oh no, we weren’t exactly on our best behavior to meet Plut’s mom.
“Good morning, you two,” she greeted us warmly.
“You must be Charlotte. It’s a pleasure to meet you, dear.”
“Um, good morning, ma’am,” I responded politely, as she enveloped me in a hug.
“I won’t be around much during your visit, but I trust that Frank will take good care of you,” she said.
“I really must be going now, but I wanted to meet you first.”
“It was lovely to meet you,” I told her sincerely before she had to rush off to work.
“Your mom seems really nice,” I told Plut.
“Yeah, she’s pretty cool. So, is anyone coming with me to pick up Jup today?” Plut inquired.
“I’d love to, but I’m still a bit sore, so I’m not sure I should sit in a car,”
I confessed.
“I think I should stay and keep Mars company,” Nep suggested.
“I think she needs me to massage her pain away.”
“Dude, you are not touching my butt!”
“Regardless of his twisted motivation, it probably is a good idea for someone to keep you company while I’m gone. What time does Jup’s flight land again?”
“Let me check my phone,” I said, pulling it out.
I noticed I had a few unread texts from Jup and quickly skimmed
through them.
Jupiter
This is WAY too early to be up!
Jupiter I suppose you’re still asleep, I guess I’ll see ya at 11
“He lands at eleven, and apparently he was texting me at five this
morning—weirdo.”
“You sure he isn’t gay?” Nep asked.
“He sure does text you a lot.”
“Well, if he is, he hasn’t told me,” I replied.
After we finished eating breakfast, I helped Plut clean up before we all retreated to the living room to play a video game. We knew as soon as Jup arrived we’d have to focus on the tournament, so for now we just played some racing game to kill time.
We were in our fourth game, and I was in the lead again. As soon as I crossed the finish line, I turned around on the couch, cheering and gloating to the guys about how I was the best. Plut accused me of cheating—which I totally wasn’t—and Nep was sulking.
He leaned forward and playfully pushed on my shoulder but hadn’t realized I was balancing on the edge of the couch—so I fell backward off it,
landing on my butt again!
“DUDE! Seriously!?” I exclaimed.
“What is wrong with you?” Plut asked.
“Hey, it’s not my fault she is like a fragile little porcelain doll or something,” he defended himself.
“And now I can’t move again. If I can’t play Friday because I can’t sit, I’m blaming you!” I warned him.
“Here, let me help you,” Nep offered, trying to pull me up, but it only made me move in a way that hurt badly, so I cried out in pain.
“Shoot, did I really hurt you that bad again?” This time his concern seemed genuine.
I just sat there and glared at him as an answer.
“Sorry, here,” he said, carefully picking me up and sitting me so my legs were on his lap, but my bottom was hanging off the side of his legs. He was then supporting my back with his arms, so I didn’t fall. It was actually pretty comfortable since he leaned back on the couch, allowing me to rest my head on his chest.
“I’m not sure I can play in this position,” I told him.
“You keep creaming us, and Plut needs to head to the airport anyway.
Let’s watch a movie,” he suggested.
“Okay, but no funny business,” I warned him sternly.
“You got it, ma’am,” he said while saluting me, which made me laugh.
“Nep, hands to yourself while I’m gone,” Plut cautioned him before he left to go pick up Jup. Speaking of Jup, I grabbed my phone to text him
back.
Mars Nep broke me again. He pushed me off the couch this time. I think my butt is permanently broken
Jupiter
What the… What is going on over there?
Mars Hey! You answered! Have you landed already? Plut just left to go get you.
Jupiter Yeah, just landed. We are taxiing in now.
Mars Awesome! Can’t wait for you to get here. Maybe you can protect me from Nep so I can heal enough to compete in the tournament
Jupiter Dude, man up, you sound like a whiny chick
Suddenly, Nep burst out laughing. I looked over at him in confusion until I realized he was reading my text conversation with Jup. I guessed it was funny, him telling me to “man up.”
“Man, Jup is gonna be so shocked when he gets here,” Nep said.
“Yeah, he really is,” I agreed.
“I think I’ll go pop some popcorn when they’re on their way back, so we can enjoy the Jup Meets Mars show,” he said, chuckling.
“I’m not sure it will be that great, but whatever, man.”
“So, what are we going to watch?” he asked me.
“I think I’ll actually go shower and get dressed. I’m still in my pjs, and I’m sure my hair is a rat’s nest,” I told Nep, attempting to get off the couch.
“I wasn’t going to say anything about the hair, but, um, yeah.”
“Jerk! Help me up, though; it really does hurt to walk,” I replied.
“Want me to help you in the shower too?” he asked, wiggling his
eyebrows.
“Ew, no thanks.”
With that, Nep helped me to stand up, and I slowly walked upstairs to grab some clothes to change into. After my shower, I loosely braided my hair and put on Daisy Duke jean shorts and a green tank top. This was one of my favorite shirts since it was a throwback to Watchtower. I wasn’t sure if Nep or Plut would recognize it, but I knew Jup would.
Watchtower was how we met, after all.
I went downstairs and found Nep standing just inside the living room.
Payback time! I ran at him and jumped on top of him, yelling, “ATTACK!”
My genius plan was to make him fall as revenge for jumping on me this morning and for dropping me three times now. Unfortunately, however, I forgot the fact that he was built like a tank.
He didn’t move an inch, other than to grab me and throw me over his shoulder again, so that my butt was in the air and my head was hanging upside down in front of him. He then proceeded to spank me, making me
squeal.
It kind of hurt.
I heard both Nep and Plut cracking up. I wondered when Plut got back.
That was when I heard an unexpected voice.
“Charlotte?”
I quickly—or as quickly as possible given my current position—lifted
my head and stared in shock.
“TJ?”
