Page 7 of Heat Wave
Chapter Six
Waylon
Igrab my sister’s phone and bring it closer. Sure enough, Nan has been busy. She’s not only told everyone in our small town I’m schtupping ‘little Oakley Nesbit’, but she’s got a pot going about when she’s going to get a great grandbaby.
Oakley comes over to stand next to me to try to look at the phone, but I hold it away from her. She’s already had a traumatic morning and been verbally assaulted by that asshole. The last thing she needs to worry about is this. I’m certainly not trying to keep her by my side, and I definitely am not taking notice of her breasts brushing up against me in a thin ass tank top. There’s no way she can be wearing a bra under that thing, can she? Or what about those shorts she’s put on and how they hug her ass like a lover’s hand? No wonder that asshat was outside lamenting over the fact that he lost her.
I can’t help but wonder if there’s any truth to what he was saying about her still having her cherry, too. She’s what? Twenty, nineteen. I seem to recall her being one year younger than my sister, so she’s…
I look down at her and take in her upturned face. “How old are you?”
“What?” At least the question has the effect of causing her to back up a little bit.
“She’s nineteen, Waylon. Why do you want to know?”
“Thank God for that.”
My sister and Oakley look at me like I’ve lost my mind, and they can’t figure out where I’m going with that.
“I think your brother is relieved that your Nan isn’t going around taking bets on when Waylon is going to knock up an underage girl, Terry. It must be a shock to have both their names splashed all over social media in such a way, but at least everyone is legal. Right, dear?”
“What?” Both girls say the word, but it’s Oakley I brace to catch just in case she faints again. Oakley is the one who looks up to me.
“Is…is that why you didn’t want to show me?”
God damn it. It’s not like I can lie to her and tell her mom’s just making it up.
“Yeah. I was hoping I could get everything straightened out before you…realized.”
“That’s really…sweet, Waylon. Thank you.” She leans in closer to whisper, “For everything.”
I open my mouth to speak when my mom makes things worse. “You know, you two do make an awfully cute couple. I realize this is just one of your Nan’s moments of jumping the gun, but the two of you are really well matched.”
I look down at Oakley and notice the blush staining her cheeks. It’s cute, and the way it also sweeps across her neck and shoulders makes me wonder where else she would blush given the right circumstances. Something I most definitely am not supposed to be thinking about. She won’t look at me, which for some reason makes me want her eyes on me even more. Another something I’m not supposed to want or think about, where Oakley is concerned.
“Look, Mom, is there anything you can do to help rein in Nan for me. I have to go to work, but this has to be cleared up too. I don’t want it causing any problems for Oakley or…”
I stop short of saying anything else. I should say something about it causing problems for Oakley’s love life or her chance to date someone who isn’t a flaming douche nozzle, but I can’t seem to bring myself to say any of that. And the thought makes me really angry.
“I’ll do my best, sweetheart. But you know how your Nan is. Once she’s got an idea in her head, it’s full steam ahead until it happens. And she’s quick, too. I didn’t even realize she was gone until you came out to talk to us. I’ll do what I can.”
Nan is quick, and she’s smart as all hell, too. She knew what she was doing, going on social media and hitting up the senior center when she was starting those rumors. She’s been after me to settle down for years now. Always pointing out different women or asking me what I would like for her to pick up for me at the grocery store…and she wasn’t talking about food. You have to be really careful around Nan, and I guess this morning I slipped…or rather Oakley slipped right out of my room and into a place Nan was just waiting for.
I give Mom a nod before turning to my sister and Oakley, “Ladies, if you’ll excuse me. I have to get ready for work.”
Oakley’s eyes flare wider as she takes Terry’s arm and starts pulling her to the front of my house. Before she gets to the door, I’m calling out to stop her.
“Oakley,” she turns around when I call, “you are staying with Terry tonight?”
She looks at me with questions in her eyes.
“So I know where to find you when we get this all straightened out.”
Sure, that’s why I want to know where she’s going to be. She gives me a nod before walking out the door.
Chapter Seven
Oakley
