Shelly PoV
Toren kept staring at Cassian's swirled M. The poor kid had never had one before. We could barely afford a burger, let alone ice cream like that. It made me sad to see him so amazed by such a simple thing.
Cassian raised his hand as he noticed Toren's gaze. "Hey, little guy, do you want a taste?"
Toren's eyes lit up. "Yes, please!"
Cassian hummed and stared at his swirled M. "Alright, here's the deal. You can have it, but in exchange, I want you to be on my team in the next competition. Deal?"
Toren nodded eagerly. "Deal!"
I sighed. "Cassian, don't bribe my brother with ice cream."
"Yeah, Cassian," Damien said. "That's not cool. Don't try to buy his friendship. It's not right."
Cassian scoffed. "Oh, come on. It's just a bit of banter. I'm not really going to hold him to it. Right, Toren?"
Toren grinned. "Yeah! Banter!"
Cassian handed him the swirled M. "Here you go, little buddy. Enjoy."
Toren grabbed the treat and started eating it, his eyes wide with joy as the sweet taste hit his tongue. "Yummy, Rawr! Thank you, Cass!"
Cassian chuckled. "No problem, little guy."
I sighed. "Toren, eat your burger and fries before having that. Ice cream should be last, not first."
He pouted. "But it's yummy!"
"I know, but you need to have some actual food in your stomach first. You can have more of the ice cream after you finish your burger and fries."
Toren nodded and popped a fry into his mouth. "Yummy!"
Damien smiled at us. "You're a great mom, you know that?"
I blushed. "I'm not his mom. I'm his sister."
"Yeah, but you take care of him like he's your own child. That's really admirable."
I shrugged. "I do what I have to do. He needs me, and I'm not going to let him down."
Zara smiled as she joined our table. "You're doing a good job, Lady Shelly."
"Thanks, Zara," I said, taking a bite of my own burger. "It's not easy, but I try my best. Say, what took you so long?"
"I had a hard time finding a parking spot," she said. "This place is packed."
Damien hummed. "Sorry, Zara. We should've parked farther away and walked."
She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I found a spot eventually." She took a bite of her burger. "This is pretty good."
Toren grinned. "I love Big M!"
Cassian sighed. "At least he's happy. I still don't get why we had to come here instead of somewhere else. There are better places for burgers than this."
I sighed. "My brother has certain tastes, and this place fits them. He's a simple guy. As long as he has his burger, fries, and kids meal toy, he's happy."
"Fair enough, but in hindsight, we could've just driven up to get his meal and then go somewhere nicer," he said.
I frowned. "Cassian, we're already here. And Toren's already eating. We're not going anywhere else. Besides, this place isn't bad. It's not fancy, but it's good."
He sighed and ate another fry. "Tastes cheap."
Damien glared at him. "Stop being such a snob. This place is fine. It's cheap, it's tasty, and it's a classic. You just don't like it because you think you're better than everyone else. You're not."
"Hey, I'm not saying I'm better than everyone else. I'm just saying that there are better places out there. The burger doesn't taste fresh at all, the bun is stale, and the fries are soggy. I could get a better meal from a street vendor."
Damien scoffed. "Yeah, well, not everyone has the money to eat at five-star restaurants every day. Some of us have to make do with what we can afford."
"Uh, Damien, need I remind you that you're rich. I mean, sure you dress poor, but you're not exactly struggling to make ends meet."
He blushed. "I-I know. I'm just saying, not everyone is as fortunate as us. We should be grateful for what we have."
I sighed, feeling a bit annoyed. "Can we not fight? We're supposed to be having a nice lunch together. Let's just enjoy our food and each other's company. Please?"
They both sighed and resumed eating their food. The tension was still there, but at least they weren't arguing anymore. I guess that's the best I could hope for. These two were so stubborn and competitive.
After we finished our meals, Toren was already playing with his new toy. It was a small plastic figure of a Capumon character. He was having a blast with it, making it fly around in the air and attacking imaginary enemies. It was cute, and it made me smile.
Cassian was looking at his phone, his brow furrowed in concentration, and Damien was sipping his soda, his eyes watching Toren play.
"So, what now?" Cassian asked, looking up from his phone. "Wanna hit the arcade or something?"
I shrugged. "Sure, why not. I could use a bit of fun. Toren, do you want to go to the arcade?"
Toren looked up at me, his eyes wide with excitement. "Arcade? Yeah!"
Damien smiled. "Alright, let's go then. We can't play too long, though. I have work later, and I need to get some rest beforehand."
Cassian scoffed. "You work?"
Damien glared at him. "Yes, I actually do my share of the work at our family's company. I'm not some spoiled rich kid who sits around all day doing nothing."
Cassian blushed and looked away.
"Come on, boys," I said. "Let's go to the arcade."
Toren was already running ahead of us, his toy in his hands and his black hair bouncing. "Come on, slowpokes! Let's go!"
"Toren! Don't run!" I called after him, but he was already gone. I sighed and ran after him. "Toren! Get back here!"
I finally caught up with him as he looked around in the parking lot for the red sports car. He grinned as he saw it. "Found it!"
"Alright, but wait a moment," I said. "Zara has the keys and she's not here yet."
Toren sighed. "Come on, Zara! Hurry up!"
Zara sighed as she and the boys caught up to us. She was finishing her food. Toren had ran off before she could finish.
She opened the door for us and Toren hopped in, his eyes still glued to the toy. I got in next to him and the boys followed. Zara started the car and drove off, the wind blowing in our faces. Didn't think spending time a snob like Cassian and an oddball like Damien could be so fun. Sure they fought, but that just made it livelier. Well, as long as they kept the arguing to words, we should be fine.