“Okay, well, I just came in here to tell you that you and I are on the Jenny Bell detail.”
For a few seconds, he only stares at me. “He’s letting both of us go? How did you convince Jack?”
I shrug. “It wasn’t that hard. He knows how importantthis is for the company, and we need the best guys on the job. And since he refuses to leave Ella, that leaves us.”
He nods slowly. “Sounds good to me. When does the tour start?”
That question has me grimacing. “Sunday.”
He widens his eyes, and I rush to continue. “I know it doesn’t leave us much time to prepare. But we can make it happen.”
A pinched brow precedes his response. “It’s Thursday.”
I cross my arms and sigh. “It is. But we don’t exactly have an option.”
He closes his eyes and shakes his head in frustration. “Alright, let’s figure this shit out.”
We spend the next thirty minutes discussing everything we need to do to prepare. Once we’re done, we have a good plan, and I’m less annoyed to be on this assignment.
A few hours later,as I’m pulling into my driveway, my phone starts ringing. I groan when one of my sister’s names shows on the screen.
I love both of my sisters, but they can be a bit obnoxious, nosy, and overbearing.
I prepare myself before I connect the call and climb out of my truck. “Lori, it’s been almost twenty-four hours since we last talked. I’m shocked you lasted this long to annoy me.”
“Listen, jerk, you may be bigger than me, but I’m still your older sister, and I can take you out.” Lori is the middle sister. When it’s all three of us, she’s the classic middle child mediator, but when it’s just her and I, she takes the bossy older sister role seriously.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you’ve told me.”
Lori’s laugh tolls through my phone. “I did call you for a reason. Are you coming to Brian’s birthday party on Saturday night?” Brian is Lori’s long-time boyfriend. They decided a long time ago not to get married. He’s a good guy, more reserved and cautious than my sisters and me, but he balances Lori. And he treats her like a queen, so I haven’t had to kill him.
Once inside, I throw my stuff on the dining room table and grab a water from the fridge. “Absolutely. Can I bring anything?”
“A date?”
“Will you leave me alone about that? I will find her when I find her.”
Lori’s long, dramatic, drawn-out sigh makes me roll my eyes. “But what are you doing to find her, Nathaniel?”
“Oh man, I have a bad connection. I need to go. I can’t really hear-”
“I know you’re-”
I disconnect the call as I flop down on my couch and turn on my TV. I’ll get crap about hanging up on her when I see her this weekend, but I don’t have the energy to get lectured about my love life by my sister today.
They mean well. And they’re worried about me, but I don’t want to force anything. Before they died, my parents had a wonderful relationship and were madly in love. That’s what I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember.
And even though I’m not getting any younger, I’m only thirty-nine. I still have time to meet the person I’m meant to be with.
My phone vibrates next to me, and I pick it up, expecting it to be one of my sisters.
Ian: Want to go work out?
I’m tired, but I text him back that I’ll meet him at the gym in fifteen minutes.
My muscles protestas I press the barbell. Ian stands at my head, spotting me. “Nate, stop being a little bitch. You benched this last week with no problem.”
A grunt leaves me as I rack the barbell and sit up, undoing my wrist straps. “Fuck you. Let’s see you do better.”
