“Because I’m her favorite,” Jordan responded stiffly. She stuck out her tongue at him and shifted her glasses back into place.
“Now, Jordan Alberta…”
Jordan cringed at the name. It was bad enough that her parents had given them such stupid names, but it was exponentially worse when they actually used it.
“Enough of that,” her mother reprimanded firmly. “I have five children and I love all of you equally. I don’t have a favorite.”
“Except Kevin,” Jordan and Max chanted in unison. It was their standard response to that statement.
“Well…yes,” she admitted, sheepishly toying with her fingers. “Except Kevin.”
“Who’s the stiff in the suit?” Max asked, pointing his thumb towards the living room. “Looks like it’s gonna come to blows with him and Makayla. The argument seemed pretty intense when I saw them.”
She couldn’t hide her shock. They’d been there for less than an hour and Tyler was already doing something weird. “What? She’s only three years old, Max. Why didn’t you do something?”
“’Cause my money’s on her.”
“I’ll go check on them.” The offer from her mother came much too quickly and Jordan knew she was using it as an excuse to speak to Tyler.
She turned to her brother once they were alone and noticed something was different, something was missing. Oh, that’s right. His other half wasn’t there. “So where’s Danny?”
He nipped his lower lip, a tell-tale sign that he was about to lie. “I didn’t want her meeting everyone at a time like this. Who’s the guy in the suit?”
She knew him well enough to know that reason didn’t make sense. “You’re lying! Why didn’t you bring her?”
“It’s complicated, Jo-jo. Who’s the guy in the suit? Is he the one you were obsessing over?”
Her eyes narrowed with scrutiny. “You tell me then I’ll tell you.”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“Bullshit! You and Danny are attached at the hip. So where is she?”
Max walked across the kitchen and took out two cups and a jar of instant coffee. She didn’t have to ask for that either. “You first,” he said.
She let out a slight huff of exasperation. “Fine. Tyler’s my boss.”
“And?”
How could she say this in the least uncomfortable way? “And…we’ve…made out.”
“Didn’t need to know that part.”
She ignored the disgusted look on his face and moved swiftly along. “He’s weird and I think slightly crazy. He thinks I’m…tall and that’s about the only concrete thing I can get out of him. He just got out of a long term relationship so I’m not sure what’s going on, but whatever it is, it’s nothing serious. Now you.”
Max exhaled slowly. “So you know what happened with Danny, right? And I may have told her a small white lie.” He paused, looking nervous and unsure. “I stretched the truth a bit and now…and now we’re kinda…dating.”
“What?!” Her eyes widened as his words sank in. Her brother had been in love with Danny for six years, but never, ever had she expected him to lie to get what he wanted. “Max, this is…not good. Is that why you don’t let mom talk to her? This is seriously a bad idea.”
“I know that. I didn’t even want to do it, but then Charlie—”
“Charlie?” she shouted. Now the stupidity of the idea made sense. “You took dating advice from Charlie? The same guy who jerks off to CGI characters?”
He handed her a cup of coffee and they sat down at the wooden table. “It was stupid, Jo-jo, and now I’m stuck in this lie and I can’t get out of it. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I didn’t think…it would get so out of hand.”
“Oh, my God.” There it was, showing plainly in his brown eyes. Guilt. He’d taken it that far. “Oh, my God. You slept with her. What’re you? Insane? What were you thinking, Max?”
“I wasn’t thinking.” He shrugged almost helplessly. “It’s just…how…how could I say no to the idea? It’s what I’ve always wanted. I’ll tell her the truth, Jo-jo. I will, just not now.”
