I grit my teeth, frustration building up within me. She’s such a pain in the ass… what sucker could she be out with right now? What pathetic sap did she manage to catch in her web?
Is it the elusive Kodiak? The motherfucker she couldn’t seem to get off her mind when I was tongue deep inside her?
Grinding my teeth, I try to push down the agitation crawling up my spine.
Maybe she doesn’t even have a date. Oh, that could definitely be it. She could’ve just said that to get a rise out of me. I say I have a date, so she says she has a date just to piss me off.
But even if she is actually going out, why should I care? I don’t!
Fuck, she’s so infuriating!
Enough. I don’t want to think about Rylee anymore. I need to focus on what’s important right now -ClickTease.
I drum my fingers on the steering wheel, struggling to figure out where I can go to actually have this date. When I can’t come up with anything, I decide that I need some help, so I grab my phone and call my oldest sister, Lauren.
“Hey, baby bro!” she answers in a bright tone. “What’s going on? Shouldn’t you be out partying with your boys or whatever?”
“Ugh, don’t try to be hip,” I reply, my tone teasing.
“Such a party pooper,” she sighs. “So, what’s up? Why are you calling me on a Friday night?”
“Well, here’s the thing… ”
Before I can continue, however, I hear squeals and little kid laughter in the background.
“Uncle Zander!” Toby, my six year old nephew shouts into the phone so loud I flinch.
“Hey, buddy,” I reply, grinning. “How are you?”
“I got a bearded dragon!” he exclaims.
“Ohhh, that’s exciting.”
“Uncle Zander!” Sam, Toby’s younger brother by two years, gets in on the conversation. “It’s green!”
I chuckle. “You’ll have to have your Mom send me a picture.”
“SanSan!” And there’s two year old Nina who can’t quite say her Zs yet.
“Okay, kids,” Lauren says in her firm mom voice. “Mommy’s talking to Uncle Zander, and you all need to go brush your teeth. Go on.”
“Ugh, Mommy, please!” Toby whines. “Can’t we stay up?”
“No way, bucko,” Lauren replies. “You’re all going to be little bears tomorrow if you don’t go to bed on time. Say goodbye to Uncle Zander and find Daddy to help you.”
Toby groans. “Okay… ”
Sam mimics him. “Okay… ”
“Bye bye SanSan!” Nina exclaims happily.
“Bye bye. You all listen to your mom and I’ll talk to you later.”
It takes a few moments for Lauren to usher all the kids away before she can focus back on our conversation.
“Oh, my gosh,” she sighs. “If only they knew how much they're going to appreciate sleep when they’re older… they might not fight bedtime so much.”
I chuckle. “Youth is wasted on the young.”
