“I don’t know you.”
“What do you mean? We’ve been working together every day.”
“And?”
“And so that means something.”
“No,” I said, gripping the frame for the left side of the house, waiting for him to grab his end before lifting it up. “What it means is that we work together.”
“So, if we grabbed a beer, would you tell me then?”
“What the hell is wrong with all of you? Don’t you know what it means to mind your own business? I swear to God, the whole fucking town knows what everyone does every second of the day.”
“Well, in our defense, she walked outside in only your t-shirt.”
“Fucking Remi,” I muttered.
“Oh, no. It wasn’t him,” he chuckled. “Nope, the neighbor across the street saw everything and called a few people, who called a few people.”
“And why would the neighbor across the street give a shit what I do?”
“Well, you live in a house the Parkers own. She’s got her eyes on the neighborhood, so we’ve asked her to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”
“And a woman being at my house is suspicious?”
“Nope,” he grinned, “but it sure is interesting.”
“Am I going to hold this up all day, or were you planning on getting Liam over here to finish it off?”
But that didn’t stop him. He just kept yammering.
“You could have at least let her stay until she put on clothes. Maybe given her a mug to carry home. Then it might have looked like she was borrowing coffee. Then again, she doesn’t drink coffee, but she could have been borrowing sugar. People still do that, don’t they?”
“I have no idea.”
“Instead, you sent her running home in only your shirt!” he laughed. “I mean, either it was really bad or she was trying to escape something really embarrassing.”
He looked at me expectantly, hoping I would give him the details, but not even gossip that I was bad in bed would make me open my mouth and spill my secrets.
Or lack thereof.
“Well, since you don’t want to tell me, I’m going to have to jump to my own conclusions, and since rumor has it that she spent the whole night at the bar with you, I can only assume she got drunk and then went home with you and did something she regretted. Maybe she was doing the walk of shame because she was literally ashamed she spent the night with you.”
He quirked an eyebrow at me.
“I hope you’re a giver. Women like that.”
“Do they,” I deadpanned.
“Well, I know it’s nice to be on the receiving end, but every once in a while, you have to reciprocate. They can’t always be gagging on?—”
“Liam!” I shouted, snagging his attention before I let the frame fall on his brother’s face and mar his good looks for the rest of his life.
“You ready?” he asked, making his way over.
“Find a way to shut him up.”
“Hey, I resent that,” Jeff scoffed. “I’m just asking what anyone else around town would.”
