“I should have punched your lights out a long time ago.”
“Good luck with that.” I snicker. “Your right hook sucks.”
Silence hangs between us for several minutes, then Joe leans forward. Placing his beer on the table, he rests his elbows on his knees. “She’s special. If you’re only after—”
“No.” I shake him off. “I can get that anywhere. I know she’s special.”
“Alright.” He nods. “You have my blessing.”
Why was that so easy? “Did you suspect?”
“The only thing I knew was that Becklyn has had a thing for you for years.”
“She has?” I guess I can see why he’d think that. She used to look at me like, well, like I look at her now.
“Uh, yeah.” Joe looks surprised. “That’s why I know she’ll forgive you.” Pausing, he adds with a laugh, “Eventually.”
Eventually? I don’t know how much longer I can take this.
I’m a little surprised when Joe asks, “So, we going to Beck’s class in the morning?”
“Absolutely.”
“This is what we’ll do.” He smirks. “I’ll ‘accidentally’ punch you. She’ll get all concerned and come to your aid.” He swipes his hands together like he’s just finished something. “Bam. All fixed.”
He used air quotes around that word “accidentally.” There’s nothing accidental about his idea. He’s going to get that punch in if it’s the last thing he does.
You know what? I’m going to let him.
“We’ll be brothers,” he says, walking into the kitchen to grab another beer.
“Excuse me?”
“I said…” He cracks open the can. “When you marry my sister, we’ll be brothers.”
Wow. Seven words I’d never thought I’d hear from Joe. Marry Becklyn?
I let those two words roll around in my head for a minute or two.
Marry Becklyn.
It sounds right. It feels right.
The question is, how does Becklyn feel? About me?
24
Becklyn
What on earthare they doing here?
Sure, I knew my brother was in town. I’d seen the text messages from both of them, but I knew if I made arrangements to see Joe, I’d have to see Lucky as well. It’s not like I haven’t seen Lucky. Of course I have. He’s everywhere. Here at the gym, for example. He’s continued to work out early in the morning, which makes it impossible to avoid him altogether. I’ve also seen him a bunch of times in our complex. He’s taken to parking his car in front of my building, which is absurd because I know there are parking spots in front of five. Not only that, he also works on his car. A lot. Whenever I’ve walked past, the hood is up and Lucky’s doing something to it. Plus, he’s waxed it twice, as far as I could tell.
Deena says she saw him rotating his tires one weekend. I missed that.
And yes, I’m talking to Deena again. It was impossible to stay mad at her, thanks to her determination. She wore me down—exhausted me with all her begging and whining. She swore Lucky threatened her life if she didn’t tell him where my date was, which of course I don’t believe. On the contrary, I think the pair were in on it together. Deena was probably thrilled when Lucky approached her. She was convinced Lucky and I would come home from that whole thing a couple.
Ha. What a joke.
