Page 6 of The Hang Up

The night air was cool for early July, and it was a relief to be out of the hot kitchen. Before I could make a run for it, Nevaeh grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the crowd.

“No.” Protesting would do me no good, but I still tried.

“Just a quick drink,” she said, practically vibrating. “Come on.”

“I’m tired—”

“We both know you’ll spend precious sleep time hyper-focused on everything that happened today. I’m proposing we do that together—but with a drink to help process everything. Then, when you lay that cute head of yours on a pillow, you’ll be able to actually sleep.

“So this is you helping me—”

“Exactly.”

“—and not just being nosy.”

“It’s a fine line.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Nev,” I said, following her into Johnny’s. It was Thursday, so it wasn’t busy.

“Then just a drink.” She looped her arm through mine and pulled me over to the bar. We each ordered a beer and grabbed a booth in the middle between the door and the pool tables in the back.

“Missy brought home a dog—okay, the mangy thing followed her home. Why does she attract so many strays?” Before I could open my mouth to comment, she pointed her finger at me. “Think carefully about your next words.”

“She has a soft spot for”—I stopped, and she narrowed her eyes—“cuddly things?”

“I’ll take it. Okay, there’s my relationship drama sorted. Now you go.”

“I’m not in a relationship, as you well know. My biggest worry is my roommate keeping his job and my sis—” I blinked back the hot rush of emotion and cleared my throat. I couldn’t talk about Angel.

She squeezed my arm and said, “Tell me about the hot Daddy.”

I choked on my beer. “What? That’s not—there is no—stop laughing at me.”

“Oh, babe. I’m sorry, but your face.” She handed me a napkin. “And you have a little spittle right there.”

Glaring at her just earned me another laugh, so I grabbed the napkin and dabbed at the beer droplets on my shirt collar. “I could be in bed right now, sleeping instead of getting laughed at.”

“But the question is…would you be sleeping? Or taking matters into your own hands?” She mimicked jerking off, and I pushed her hand away.

“Stop. I’m not—”

“If this denial goes on much longer, I’m changing to the hard stuff.” She raised her hand to get the server’s attention, and I pulled it back down.

“No hard stuff. Last time, I had to call Missy to come get you. That wasn’t fun. Why does she think I’m corruptingyou?”

She downed the rest of her beer and nodded to the server. “Because that’s what I tell her. Keep up, Brock. Are you ready for another?”

“We just got here.”

“And I told you to keep up.”

The server was young and way too peppy for a Thursday night. She opened Nevaeh’s beer and put it in front of her. She glanced at me, and I shook my head. As the girl walked away, Nevaeh turned her whole body to watch.

“Isn’t she a little young for you?”

“So?”

“And aren’t you a little toomarriedfor her?”

---