Page 84 of Endurance
A simple nod of the head and a sigh is indication that she’s done. She looks down and adjusts the dress on her lap, allowing silence to fill the room all around us.
Finally, I let out a chortle. “So that’s all?”
She shoots me a determined frown. “Yes.”
“I erm…don’t even have a proper snarky comment to respond to that right now.”
“Good,” she replies. “Now, since we’re sharing so much, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course,” I reply, skeptically.
“What made you take a chance with Tanner? I’ve known you since med school, Belle, and you’ve never let a guy get this close before.”
“Is it not enough that he’s hot as fuck?” I shoot her a salacious grin and I can tell she is in no way satisfied. So I go for a novel approach. Honesty.
“Well, I think it’s a lot of what you said about tier one. He made me feel beautiful and he never shamed me for my outbursts. He just…embraces me as I am. Because of that, Tanner is my favourite person to be around. After you, of course.”
“Naturally,” she giggles.
“And even though we bicker at each other constantly, I’ve learned that it’s how we show affection. If we’re not arguing, we’re not caring.”
“And tiers two and three?” Indie asks, a knowing gleam in her eyes.
I look down, feeling my cheeks heat but still not ready to admit the truth aloud. I shrug my shoulders. “Stay tuned.”
“Why didn’t Vi give us an easier recipe?” I growl as I pull the chicken out of the oven and look at the travesty before me. I slam the oven door. “We totally fucked this up.”
Camden pops up over my shoulder to get a closer look. “Sod it, I’ll eat it.”
My eyes fly wide. “What about the girls?”
He shrugs. “I got them a bottle of wine. After a glass or two, they won’t even notice.”
I toss the pot holder on the counter. “I’m going to call Vi. You might be content with mediocrity in your relationship, but I’m still trying to impress my woman.”
Camden chokes on the drink of water he’s just taken. “Good grief, keep your shirt on, broseph! It’s only dinner. We don’t need to be bothering Vi. She has her own family to worry about.”
His remark brings me up short. “We’re still her family, too! Rocky is just an extension of all of us. Hayden, too, for that matter.”
Camden jerks back. “Christ, you’re a moody bugger today.”
I scowl and move over to the rice cooker on the counter and give it a cursory check. Vi says a rice slow cooker is something apes could operate, so luckily it doesn’t look like we fucked that up.
Grabbing the leaf lettuce and veggies out of the fridge, I bring them over to the counter peninsula. I toss a cucumber to Camden.
“Make yourself useful.”
He exhales and begins carefully slicing while I work on the carrots. I haven’t been in my flat very much as of late, opting for the sanctuary of Belle’s body, I mean bedroom, over my own. Though, if I’m being honest, I don’t just go over there for the shag. I simply prefer to be around her. And with her big event coming up tomorrow, I wanted to do something special here at our flat to help her relax and take her mind off the stress of that.
I can feel Camden’s eyes on me as I chop.
“You all right, Tanner? You seem…tense. Is it the match tomorrow? That magazine interview next week?”
I exhale heavily. “No, I mean, I’m dreading the magazine interview, especially because Santino said they converted it into a video feature or some bullshit.”
“Oh, what a sensation!” Camden peals in his imitation of the Queen’s voice. “You and Belle are going to be positively scrumptious on camera!”
I roll my eyes and reply flatly, “You’re one to talk.”
