Bickering and more bickering

"Interesting." Kate couldn't hide her astonishment as she gazed at Kincaid as if she was seeing someone divine. "All of you?"

"Yes." Kincaid nodded, his lips curling into a smirk, and opened a can of beer before taking a sip. Holding the can in his left hand, his right hand returned behind Kate.

"That's amazing. But it must be tiring and risky at the same time."

"More or less." Kincaid shrugged as though he was unfazed by the danger his job put him in daily and Kate didn't ask more.

"Why are you guys having such a boring conversation? Let's talk about something else." Paul intervened and Kate leaned back as well. Now, to the onlookers, it seemed as if Kate was sitting in Kincaid's embrace.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Tell us about yourself, Kate." Paul looked at her curiously. He had not missed the way Kincaid's eyes kept darting toward her every few seconds and he didn't have to intrude his thoughts to know what was running in his mind.

"About me? What about me?"

"Anything."

"How about this? What are your hobbies?" Tristan came to her rescue, saving her from thinking more about her reply.

"Car racing." Kate gave the same answer she had said earlier and noticed the men staring back at her in surprise.

"That's a riveting hobby you have out there," Paul remarked while his eyes shone in excitement.

"I'm an adventurous person. Can't hate the adrenaline rush. Can we?" Kate grinned in delight and Kincaid nodded in agreement.

"True that. Kin's an adventure geek too. It's fascinating, isn't it?" Tristan winked at her and Kate sneaked a glance at Kincaid who was already staring at her. 

Kate's throat ran dry at being caught by him and especially so when she noticed the intensity in his eyes. Licking her lips in nervousness, she gripped her bag tight.

"Here." Desmond held a bottle of water before her and Kate's head snapped to him. Confusion filled her mind as she noticed his mysterious smile.

"Something tells me you need it." His voice was laced with mischief. But Kate was too agitated to notice it. So, with a quick mumble of thanks, she took the bottle and emptied more than half of it in one go.

"What are you guys playing?" Kate tried to ignore the man beside her and asked the four men who had not stopped playing since the time she had entered the apartment.

"Poker. Do you want to join us?" Rhys questioned and Kate, for the first time, noticed how similar Paul and Rhys looked. She looked back and forth between the two and Paul quirked his brows when he noticed her questioning keek.

"What's wrong?"

"Are you two related?" Kate pointed at Rhys. "I'm sorry I forgot his name." She smiled apologetically at Rhys who didn't mind it. It was their first time meeting. She'd get to know them as time passed.

"You are observant." Paul praised and gave her a look of approval. "Yes, that duffer over there is my cousin. So, I have to say begrudgingly that we're related."

Rhys was quick to react and threw a cushion at him, making sure to aim at his face. Paul didn't see it coming and the cushion ended up smacking his face.

"Hey, I'm going to sue you for violence."

"Go ahead. Do it. We have an IB agent here. Sue me." Rhys shot back and Kate sat back and watched the cousins bicker with amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Kate, I want to file a complaint. Please help me." Paul cried as he gave her puppy eyes.

"I'm sorry. This is completely out of my responsibilities. You'll have to sort it out yourself." Kate showed no mercy to Paul and Rhys beamed at her in delight.

"See. Even Kate knows you're being unreasonable." Rhys snuck out his tongue and Paul rolled his eyes in dismay.

"This is not fair, Kate." He whined and Kate burst out laughing.

"You're hilarious."

"I know. But you need to support me. Otherwise...." Paul thought for a moment before his eyes lit up. "Otherwise, I'll bombard your chat with messages."

"Oh, please. You don't even know my number."

"It's not a big deal for me. I have the Wizard to help me." Paul winked and Kate looked back at him, puzzled.

"Wizard?"

"That's Desmond's call name," Kincaid answered and Kate shivered as his deep voice hit her heart. 

'Fucking hell! Get a grip of yourself, Kate. Don't be such a loser.' She scolded herself for a few seconds before she turned to look at Kincaid who was smiling at her cryptically.

Clearing her throat to ease the awkwardness, she took another sip of water. "Do all of you have call names?"

"Yes."

"Nice." Kate didn't ask more. It was their secret and they'd say it if they wanted to.

"No!!" Tristan screamed suddenly and Kate was taken aback by how squeaky he sounded, his high-pitched voice not losing out to any girls. "You cheated. How could I lose?"

Dean scoffed and looked at him in despise. "I don't need to cheat to win against you. You're just clueless when it comes to poker."

"You...I'm going to kill you." Tristan seethed and Dean started shuffling his cards as he ignored him.

"Accept it, Tris. You suck at card games." Victor remarked as he opened a box of pizza and placed it on the table along with a few plates.

"No, never. I don't suck at anything." Tristan was unwilling to give up and was even prepared to fight it out with them. But the delicious pizza called out to him and he stopped arguing as he picked up a slice.

"What a chowhound!" Victor shook his head and opened a can of beer before he settled on another bean bag. "Kate, please help yourself for some pizza."

"How can I?" Kate was embarrassed and she shook her head immediately. 

"Why can't you?" Kincaid rejected her rejection instantly. 

"But, it's your food. I can't..."

"Kate, we have a lot of pizza. You don't have to worry about us." Tristan mumbled as he chewed on his pizza and Kate let out a helpless laugh.

"Fine. In that case, you'll have to share my food as well. Although I don't have much with me, we may get a spoonful or two at least." Kate placed her takeaway box on the table and opened it and a mouth-watering aroma spread through the apartment.

"What is that? It smells delicious." Tristan dropped his half-eaten pizza back on the plate and peeked at her food.

"It's spaghetti and meatballs. I have three servings here. I hope each of us will get a bite or two." Kate didn't even have to finish when Tristan picked up the disposable fork and a plate and helped himself to some of it.

"Umm, this is fucking delicious." He moaned and Kate smiled in pride.

"You guys can fill your tummies with pizza. This spaghetti and meatballs in mine." Tristan licked his lips as he emptied the plate. Before he could pick up the box, however, Victor beat him to it and Tristan just stared at the vacant space.

"Hey, give it back." He demanded as he held his fork threateningly at Victor.

"No, this is for all of us to eat. How can you have it alone?"

"But I already called the shots."

"That's not how it works. Since you had your share, you're done. Now, go back to your abandoned pizza." Victor snorted and turned around as he started to serve the remaining spaghetti to everyone. 

Kate didn't know whether to laugh or to cry when she saw Tristan's pitiful gaze. He looked like a bullied child as he kept staring at the spaghetti. Her heart softened and she decided to be the brave soul and compromise. "You can give my share to him. I'll have the pizza."

"Are you sure?" Kincaid asked and gave her a look and Kate gave him an assured nod.

"Yes. Anyway, I can have the spaghetti whenever I want." Kate picked up a slice of pizza and a plate.

"What do you mean?" Paul gorged the spaghetti on his plate before Tristan snatched it from him. "This is good." He hummed in delight.

"It's my mother's recipe. I can have it whenever I want."