Silence fills the other end of the speaker, and for a moment, I’m sure he’s fallen back asleep, but then I hear the rustle of blankets that confirms he hasn’t.
“I thought you said Honey Grove was quiet and safe.”
“I did,” I say, not understanding his point.
“You didn’t make it seem like the type of place that had escorts.”
I let out a small gasp. “It’s not like that at all!” Except, now that I think about it, it kind of is. Also, we haven’t exactly discussed the specifics of this deal, so who knows what Knox is expecting.
“Who suggested thishypotheticaldeal?” Eli asks, adding in an exaggerated yawn at the end of his question. “I’m guessing it’s some rich dude.”
I scoff. “Definitely not.”
“Then who is it?” he presses.
I bite the inside of my cheek. I didn’t want to tell him, but this is why I confided in him and not Eve. “It’s that guy I dated the summer I lived with grandma.”
“The douchebag that made you cry?” Eli badgers, not skipping a beat.
“Yeah,” I murmur.
“Emery, really? I still can’t listen to anything byA Day to Remember. You blared their music day and night, and guess who had to suffer through it with you? The poor little kid whose bedroom was next to yours.”
I laugh remembering the time my twelve-year-old brother knocked on my door and brought me a half-eaten box of chocolates. He even hugged me without gagging and running away. He used to be so sweet.
“I was going through a heartbreak,jerk,” I defend, my cheekbones aching from smiling too wide.
“You were such a drama queen,” he mutters. “You wore a flannel with scary dark eye makeup every day and tried to box-dye your hair black. You scared Mom.”
Black is still my favorite color, and my hair is still recovering from the cheap box dye I’d picked up from the drugstore. “It was just a phase, Eli.”
“If that’s what you want to call it,” he mumbles, “and now you want to fake date the dude who caused it?”
“It’s not like that,” I argue. I tossed and turned all night trying to convince myself it could work without all the feelings bullshit. I just needed to convince someone else it would too. “I could really use the help with my truck, and I can handle a few public appearances together. It will be over before I know it.”
“What’s in it for him?” Eli asks. He’s the level-headed one in our sibling trio. He questions everything and never makes a decision without considering all angles first. Eve is alsolevel-headed, but gravitates toward her heart more, even if she’d never admit it.
“He’s buying an auto repair garage and needs his dad to co-sign the loan. But as of right now, his dad won’t do it because the entire town thinks he’s a no-good home-wrecking whore.”
“Come again?” Eli asks. I quickly explain the lore of Knox’s last scandal, giving my little brother more reasons to be apprehensive about the situation I’ve found myself in.
“And hence the no-good home-wrecking whore label,” I say, almost out of breath. My eyes follow Klepto as he moves from one napping spot a few feet across the living room to a new spot shimmering in bright morning sunlight.
A light hum comes from the other end of the phone as my brother debates what to say. I can feel his brain working from here. He used to make the cutest little scrunched-up thinking face when he was younger, so that’s what I imagine.
“Let’s recap, shall we?” he begins. “You’re going to date your emotionally unavailable ex-summer fling that made me wonder if you were unstable for an entire year so he can get a loan co-signed, and you can get your truck fixed.”
I rub my temples. “When you put it like that, it sounds…”
“Fucking insane.”
“I was going to say eccentric, but sure. Let’s go with yours.”
Another beat passes before he replies, “Is there any chance you still like him? Because that would be?—”
“No,” I say firmly, not letting him finish his thought. “I wouldn’t even be considering it if I didn’t need the help.”
“If this is a money thing, Ree, I can?—”
