Page 68 of Deal Takers

She laughs when I flip her off.

“Tell yourmammawhat’s wrong,amore.Carlotta, you make sure he eats before you go home.”

I groan. “I’m twenty-seven years old, Mom. I don’t need my mother or myannoying sisterto feed me all the time or interfere with my love life.”

“Ha!” Charlee shouts. “So you admit thisisabout a girl!”

I grab the phone out of her hand. “Mom, I love you, but I’mnotdiscussing this with you right now. I will call you later, okay?”

“B.J., if you no call me by tomorrow, I will drive to city to make you talk to mein person,” she threatens.

“Bye, Mom.” I press the END button and throw thephone back to Charlee with a little more force than necessary. “You’re an asshole. I can’t believe you did that.”

She shrugs. “You asked for it.”

I sit on my recliner and pop the footrest open. “It’s nothing I can’t handle. Just drop it, Charlotte.”

She takes a seat on the couch cushion closest to me. “B, I don’t like seeing you like this. Talk to me. Who has you all wound up and why? I didn’t even know you were dating someone.”

“I’m nottechnicallydating anyone.”

“But thereissomeone you’re fucking?”

I sigh. “Rainey.”

She raises her brows in surprise. “The nurse?”

“Yeah.”

“When did this start? I thought you said she was involved with someone.”

“That’s been over for a long time,” I tell her. “It’s only been five weeks or so since we started hooking up.”

“Five weeks is pretty serious for you, Brody. So what’s the problem?”

I scrub a hand over my face. “I feel like such a pussy right now.”

“Oh, shut it. Men are allowed to express their feelings. You know I’m a vault, B. Tell me what’s going on.”

I take a deep breath. “I’m in love with her. I’m pretty sure I’ve been in love with her for years.”

Charlotte gasps. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah, holy shit.”

“So, why is that a bad thing?”

“Because she refuses to take me seriously. Says we’re justscratching an itch,or some shit like that. She won’t even let me tell our closest friends—she’s really big on keeping the whole thing a secret. The five of us took Drew’s nephew to the zoolast weekend, and she freaked out when I accidentally kissed her in front of everyone.”

She slams a hand over her mouth. “How in the hell did you explain that?”

“Rainey made it seem like I was just being a handsy asshole, and I went with it. It was purely out of habit, but she’s acting like I did it on purpose.”

“Did she specifically say that to you?”

I shrug. “No, but we haven’t been doing much talking since then. Every time I bring it up, she practically jumps on my dick to shut me up, then kicks me out immediately afterward.”

Charlee tucks her feet beneath her and smiles. “Well, well, well…I never thought I’d see the day.”

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