All the DirtyDetails
Harlow
“Yourbrother?”
I hold my breath a moment, and he gives the slightest hint of a nod. He’s had those sad puppy dog eyes sealed over mine the second we started the caffeine tango, and now if coffee and creamer were the only things we had to worryabout.
“Does Raven know?” Good God! I feel as if I’ve stepped on a landmine and an entire treasure trove of Masterson family secrets just took out the wallsaroundme.
“She knows.” His eyes close for a moment, hiding those blue lenses of his from the world oh so briefly. His phone burps back to life, and the two of us straighten as if it had the power to level this room once again. “It’s my mother.” He offers a sour smile to his phone. “She thinks it would be a great idea if I paid them avisit.”
I suck in another quick breath. “Are you kidding me?” I growl it out, incredulous, as if it were my own family that had eaten bonker-cakes forbreakfast.
“I’m not kidding.” He holds the phonebetweenus.
Please come! It will be a great way to put the past behind you and show them you’re above all this. The baby is here, and you’vemovedon.
“Well, in that case.” I give a little shrug up at his marbledframe.
“In that case, what?” All of the sorrow he held a moment ago melts right off, quickly replaced with annoyance at the idea of me siding with the enemy, or at least hismother.
“You should probably do it. My sister, Lisa, has had two kids, and believe you me when I tell you she keeps a running shit list of the ingrates she once called relatives that didn’t visit her on D-Day.” That’s totally true. But then, Lisa has a bit of a hostile nature, thus the fact I’ve withheld from her the tiny little detail that I’m living with a man—amarriedman to boot. She’d jump into her truck and hightail it right out of Friar’s Corner to commit a little felony before dinner. Levi here thinks he has it bad now, but once Lisa is through with him, he’ll be begging for a bed in that den of disease right alongside his ex and her new little anklebiter.
“In that case”—he gives a slow blink and moans—“I’m quite possibly already on everybody’s shit list in town, so I don’t think it’dmattermuch.”
“Sure, it does. Not only will they never get to lord the prenatal unit malfeasance over your head for the next eighteen years, but you’ll prove to them you’ve happily moved on. I think your mom isbrilliant.”
“Have you met my mother?” Those dark brows of his twitch, and my stomach twitches in turn right along with them. Wow. I have to admit that Raven looks damn hot as a man. What the hell is up with his ex-wife, anyway? Why would she ever kick to the curb a beast like Levi? A wicked thought comes to me, and I shelf it forlater.
“No, technically, we’ve never met. I did see her from behind on move-in day freshman year, but that was before Raven and I actually knew one another, so an introduction wasn’t even on her mind. After that, she was sort of persona non grata.” Now it’s me wincing. “I mean that in thenicestway.”
His chest trembles with a dry laugh. “You pegged it. She means well, though. And she’s trying harder than ever to pull our family back together. It’s just sort of a bigger job than sheimagined.”
“Raven is in Barbados this week.” I shrug as if apologizing for my inattentive bestie. She texted me this morning with a totally obscene picture of her tighty-whitey lineup, but I leave that lewd and more than slightly crude detail out of the conversation. The last thing poor Levi needs is a detailed account of his little sister’s newfound ball ogling hobby. Sure, she’s getting paid for the dirty endeavor but still, she’s a first-class pervert, and she knows it. “I know for a fact she would be championing for a Masterson reunion just as much as your mother if shewerehere.”
“She very much is campaigning for just that.” He shakes his head in that wistful way that lets me know it’s useless. “And for that reason alone, I’m glad she’s out of town.” He glares out the window a moment as if he’s spotted that two-timing brother of his and he’s about to decapitate his little head and those two jingle bells dangling around its neck. “Chip and Mer aren’t really holding their breath for me to show up today. I can promise you, I’m the last thing ontheirmind.”
There’s something about the tired way he said it that outlines the fact things had gone to shit for him rather succinctly and he’s still not over the situation. I can imagine a betrayal that big stays with youforlife.
A disbelieving growl works its way up my throat. “I think you are completely on the forefront of their mind. He’s your brother. And, well—she’s your ex.” A horrible thought comes to me. “She is your ex, isn’t she?” I’m pretty sure he called her his wife, but I’m assuming, and hoping, old habitsdiehard.
“Nope.” His dimples dig in deep and take my stomach on one of those roller coaster rides the thirteen-year-old in me can appreciate. Yes, he’s cute, but he also happens to be injured. Just because a cow gets tipped over doesn’t mean you should be having filet mignon later that night. Wait—is that how the saying goes? My God, is that even a saying? Great. I’ve dragged a bovine into this for nothing. “She’s my wife. At least for another few weeks while we close up shop on thatdisaster.”
“That disaster?” I muse. “Sounds like the nuptials were a barrel of laughs.” While they lasted. Selfishly, I’m a bit relieved he’s given her the big heave-ho. She sodeservedit.
“If you think getting tangled in a barbed wire blanket is fun,thenyes.”
Oh my God, that totally means his wife slept with his brother while she was still on the marriage clock! Holy crap, she’s a skank to end all skanks! And thatbrother. We should have a weenie roast instead of that filet mignon and we should use Chip’s teeny weenie todoit.
“Nickel for your thoughts.” His lips twitch as if he’s daring himself tosmile.
“I would give them to you for nothing, but I’ve just internally insulted your wife and blood relation to the point of no return. I think it’s safe to say you have your own thoughts on the subject. How about we get dressed and get down to the hospital in an hour? I still have a few nickels to rub together. I’m buying lunch after. You likeChinese?”
His mouth opens and closes as he considers the prospect before his spine goes rigid. “Did you saywe?” He’s back to being perplexed with those dark brows, those day-glow Raven-blue eyes—well, technically, they’re a bit more aqua-gorgeous-marine, and it takes everything I’ve got not to sayawwas if he just morphed into a baby bunny. Who am I kidding? Levi Masterson is no bunny rabbit. He’s more of a tiger—one of those exotic black and white ones with those commanding ocean-colored eyes that hypnotize you with theirbeauty.
“Hell yes, I saidwe.” I scoot him right out of the kitchen and down the hall. “Take a quick shower, or better yet toss on a baseball cap. Your man stink and my messy hair will give off all the wrong vibes.” I give a quick wink, and he recoils amoment.
“I don’t stink. But I’m taking a shower just in case.” He starts for his bedroom before glancing back at me. “You really think this is the right thingtodo?”
