“I didn’t know his intentions,” Gordon answered simply. He leaned back in the booth, resting his arm along the back of it. “I mean, we all went years without seeing him or talking to him, and suddenly he was back in town and sneaking around with my sister? It wasshady.”
“Well we didn’t exactly have his back when it all went down,” I reminded him. “At least, not as much as we should have.” I had tried calling Brock a hundred times after I heard about the arrest, but he hadn’t returned a single one of those calls. Nobody else had known the details, either…just that Brock was doing jail time for aggravatedassault.
Turns out he had every reason to beat the ever living crap out of Becky’s ex after he put her in thehospital.
Thinking about it made me grip my beer a little tighter. I’d never heard the whole story, and never from Becky—but what I did know made my blood boil with rage, and it made me feel ashamed too. Ashamed that I hadn’t reached out to her, ashamed that I’d given up so easily onBrock.
“I know,” Gordon nodded with agreement, pursing his lips. He wore the same regret Idid.
“So if Brock hadtoldyou that he was interested in Tessa, you would have been cool withthat?”
“I probably would have punched him in the fucking teeth,” he shrugged, grinning. “But, then I would have been fine with it. Iamfine with it. I see how he looks at her, how he treats her. He loves her with everything he has, and I know he’ll take care ofher.”
I exhaled, rubbing at my jaw. “Basically, no matter what I do, he’s going to rearrange myface.”
“I didn’t say that. Brock’s not me, and Becky isn’t six years younger than us. I saw Tessa as a little girl still, and it freaked me out that my friends didn’t.” Gordon paused, shivering as if that thought disgustedhim.
“In Brock’s defense, it was his first time coming home in years, andIwas struck by how stunning she is. Honestly, I didn’t even realize I was talking to your sister until she told me. She looks and acts older than she is,” Icommented.
Gordon scowled at me. “Shut up, Travis, or I’ll rearrange your face myself.” I laughed in response, glad I’d managed to get under his skin a little. He’d pissed me off first, and that was kind of how our friendshipworked.
“What the fuck are you chicks talking about?” Tommy demanded, flopping down in thebooth.
“Strike out so soon?” I grinned, laughing when he shot me thefinger.
We shot the shit for a while longer, mostly talking about Gordon’s renovation company and Tommy’s inability to hold down a job. It wasn’t long until we called it anight.
I had just put the keys in the ignition of my truck when my phone rang. Fishing it out of my pocket, I couldn’t slide my finger over ‘answer’ quick enough when her name and picture flashed across the screen of my phone. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me,” she said hesitantly. “So…I actually managed to find a sitter for Aiden tomorrow evening. Katie offered to have him over for a sleepover. So, if you still wantedto—“
“Fuck yeah I still want to,” I interrupted. She laughed, the sound like music to my ears. “I can pick you up atseven.”
“I’d rather meet you somewhere, if you don’t mind,” she said. I could hear the uncertainty in hervoice.
“My place?” Isuggested.
“What about yourmom?”
“It’ll just be you and me,” I answered, the plan already forming in my mind. I knew that she would have no problem giving us privacy for the night. “Meet me at my place at seven. I’ll text you theaddress.”
Just as I expected, my mom had no qualms with making herself scarce for the night. She jumped on my suggestion to go see amovie.
When she left the house, I started cooking dinner. I knew Becky didn’t want to chance anybody seeing us and outing us before we had the chance to tell her brother, so I figured a romantic night in would do thetrick.
I didn’t want to make it too complicated, so I made baked honey mustard chicken with a touch of lemon, scalloped potatoes and green beans. Becky pulled up with ten minutes left on the timer, and I watched her through the window while she seemed to give herself a pep talk before exiting hercar.
Her nervousness made me smile. I was glad I wasn’t the only one whose nerves were in overdrive. This would be the first official date the two of us had ever had with each other. Skinny dipping in lakes or meeting up in hotel rooms for an afternoon delight aside, I mean. Those couldn’t be classified asdates.
I met her at the door, throwing it open before she had a chance toknock.
“You look stunning,” I told her, my eyes eating her up. She was wearing a floral print dress with a low neckline that made all the blood in my body travel south. She hadn’t even set foot inside yet, and my need to have her wasoverwhelming.
But tonight wasn’t about sex. It couldn’t be, I already knew we connected on that level and I wanted her to know that I saw her as more than walkingsex.
“Thank you,” she blushed prettily, stepping inside the foyer and lookingaround.
“Do you want a tour? We were a little preoccupied the last time you were here,” I pointed out, taking her hand. She nodded, and I led her around the main level. Just as we were walking back into the kitchen, the timer wentoff.
