Page 48 of Unbearable

Lenny lets out a whistled breath. “Yeah, that’s a sure way to piss him off.” And then she frowns. “He came on your face?”

I nod, my cheeks burning with my admittance.

“He came on my face.”

“And you liked it?”

“Yes. Is there something wrong with me? I mean, I get into all that dirty shit with him and it confuses the hell out of me because he’s so damn nice and polite anywhere other than bed. It’s like here, I’ll hold the door and then later I’ll jizz on your face. And fuck, I’ll let him stick it in my ass too. If that’s not love”—I flop my arms up dramatically—“I don’t know what is.”

Lenny clears her throat. “I never saw him that way. Didn’t really want to either.”

Standing, I grab her arm before she can get away from me because she’s trying to leave the room now. “You know what I mean, he’s like that saying ‘Lady on the street but a freak between the sheets.’ Except he’s a gentleman on the street but a nasty hair-pulling ass-spanking handcuff-me-to-his-steering-wheel in the sheets.”

“You know.” She faces me, laughing now. “I don’t understand why that’s not a saying cause it’s not a mouthful at all.”

“Right? But I’ll tell you whatisa mouthful—”

“Nope!” Lenny cuts me off. “That’s enough.”

“But I need someone to talk to,” I whine, falling back on the couch again. To add to the dramatics again, I pull my hood over my head once more.

“Fine.” She sits down next to me, her posture stiff, as though this is painful. “I get to tell you what your brother did to me in bed first so you can see how this feels.”

“Fine.” I wave my hand in her face. “Try me.”

“Well.” She seems way too pleased with this and sits back in the chair, grinning. “I told him I wanted him to—”

I stand up, my stomach turning at the idea of hearing anything sexual about my brother. “Nope. Let’s not.”

I caught Red and Nevaeh having sex once and it was way more than I ever wanted to see of my brother naked. Way too much. The sight still burns my eyes and I’m immediately reminded of it when she begins to talk.

Lenny looks relieved. “See? I told you it wasn’t cool.”

“You’re right. But seriously, why is he confusing me?”

“I think there’s something going on with him and his parents,” Lenny admits. “Red told me they called him asking if Tyler was okay, but they didn’t go into detail as to why they hadn’t heard from him. Apparently he hasn’t talked to them since March.”

Since March? Wow. Okay…. So maybe he does have something else going on. Still doesn’t excuse the fact that he’s stringing me along, but I do have a little more sympathy for him than I did an hour ago.

AROUND FOUR, I’M getting ready to head home when Red shows up with Nova and a tree. She’s happy, pointing to the tree with a big grin.

“We got a tree, Auntie!” she yells as she’s running past me into the house to tell Lenny.

I smile, happy that she’s in a better mood.

Red sees me and gives me a nod. “Can you untie the other side for me?”

“Sure, if you start being nice to Tyler again.”

He groans, a slow shake to his head. “I’m already nice to him. I took the beer from him last night, didn’t I?”

“True, but stop giving him all the shit jobs. We didn’t do this to piss you off.”

“I know that.” His voice is off and I feel bad right then because I know he’s going through something too. Everyone is. Seems like life these days.

“How’s Nova?”

Red sighs, anxiety flooding his face. “She’s better. I asked her if it’d be okay if I took Lenny away for a weekend alone and she asked if you could watch her.”

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