33. Brooke
33
***Brooke***
I nstead of eating dinner at home that night, we wound up at the diner. I should’ve known better than to go where my mother and aunt had been detained by police the night before, but I was throwing caution to the wind. There was also a nervous energy in the air between me and the guys and I was being a chicken about going home so fast. I didn’t know what came next and it felt like it’d been a huge day so I just needed to breathe a little bit of air that wasn’t clogged with desire for a bit.
The second we entered the diner, the entire place went quiet. A fork clattered and a chair scraped the floor but other than that, there wasn’t a sound in the place. As painfully embarrassing as it was, I would’ve welcomed it over the voice that filled every nook and cranny of the diner.
“Well, look who came up for air!” Aunt Karlene made a siren sound with her mouth while waving her hand around. “Everyone give it up for my niece, the only woman in Beaumont that can have her horse and ride it, too, if you know what I mean!”
Colt snorted and Logan smirked. Noah just shook his head and intertwined our fingers. Me? I let my family blood get the best of me.
“I’m hardly the only woman in Beaumont who can do that, Aunt Karlene. I know all about the time you went frog giggin’ with Brent Pearson and David Howser! Mom said you were the only toad getting gigged that night.”
“You went frog giggin’ with my man?!” Brent Pearson’s wife, Karla, stood up. “David is my m-”
Brent Pearson’s head snapped around to his wife. David Howser just so happened to be sitting at the same booth with the couple. A dawning silence was better than the one we’d entered on but it was still rough to watch Brent realize his wife was two-timing him.
“Jeez. Is no woman in this town satisfied with just a single willy anymore?” Boomer Perry was closer to a hundred than he was ninety and he stood up, balanced on his cane, and grabbed a handful of the mashed dinner on his plate.
“Don’t you do it, Boomer!” Henry shouted from the kitchen but it was too late.
Boomer Perry had excellent aim for a half-blind guy. His torpedo of mashed food sailed over diners’ heads and splat -ed right on Karla’s chest. She screamed and Boomer chuckled. “Be happy with one penis, ya floozy.”
Logan grinned. “I love this town.”
“And you!” Boomer turned his ire on me. “How many men are you doing the dirty with?”
I waited on Karla to scream again or for Brent to hit David but it looked like everyone was more interested in my answer. I was never that good under pressure. I knew I was blood red and the longer everyone looked at me, the worse it all got. I could feel the word vomit coming up and there was no way to stop it.
“Three! Three men. These three men, to be clear. I’m not sneaking around like Karla. Oh! Sorry, Karla. I’m sure you have an excellent reason for cheating on poor Brent. I was with a guy once who screwed like an eel. If Brent does that, I can sort of start to see a little bit why you’d think about stepping out. Do you do it like an eel, Brent?”
Brent’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Well, girly, show us what you mean.” Boomer tapped his cane on the ground. “We need to know how Brent screws.”
I silently begged the guys to stop me but they just watched me with laughter playing across their faces. I was going to get a blood transplant when I could afford it. I didn’t want my family’s blood in me anymore. It was too unstable. I could feel my body starting to move and even though I told myself to knock it off, it was like I was possessed.
“You know? Kind of like this?” I gyrated my hips and wiggled my body. “And then he’d finish with a dolphin squeal. It was all very Free Willy .”
“That was a whale.” Someone called out from the back.
“Excuse me?” I stopped gyrating and put my hands on my hips. “I’ve gained a little weight since I was eighteen but I’d hardly say I’m a whale!”
“The movie, you idiot.” Karla scowled. “Willy was a whale!”
I sighed. “And to think I thought coming here would be less awkward than going home.”
Aunt Karlene put her finger to her head and made a sound like a poorly paid actor playing a ghost. “I’m getting a vision!”
I groaned and leaned against Logan. “I can’t believe I willingly came back to this place.”
“I see my niece! Married and knocked up!”
“Which ones does she marry?” Boomer was way too invested in my life.
“All three of them! I see it! She’ll marry all three of them and no one will ever judge because if they do a curse will fall upon their house! Especially you, Boomer Perry! And you, Karla!” Aunt Karlene slumped in her seat. “Wow. That was a big one. Anyone got a smoke?”
“Did you hear that? She just cursed me!” Karla reached over and slapped the back of David’s head. “Do something!”
“Why me? Ask your husband.” David rubbed his head and frowned. “The only thing I’m considering doing is giggin’ that witchy woman over there.”
“Same. I still have the boat.” Brent winked at Aunt Karlene. “Seems David and I really do have the same taste in women. How about it, Karlie?”
A cry came from behind us. “That’s my woman!”
I watched in horror as Dakota, the tourism guy, let out a war cry and charged at David and Brent. He was courageous for a small guy, I’d give him that. Before he could reach the men, though, Karla scooped him up like he was a child and held him to her chest.
“You’re a cute one. How about we go giggin’ ourselves?”
Aunt Karlene had her finger to her head again. “A curse! I sense a curse! Karla Pearson will be cursed with incurable jock itch and crabs, even though those things went out in the nineties. The crabs, not the jock itch.”
All hell broke loose. Henry locked eyes with me from where he’d come out of the kitchen. Pointing his finger at the door, he frowned. “You Monroe women are banned for a week! Two times in two days is too fucking much!”
Logan wrapped his arm around my waist and eased us towards the exit. “Does that extend to us, Henry?”
Henry groaned when a handful of food flew past his head and landed on the wall behind him. He shot Logan a look. “I suggest you get out of here before I decide to ban you all for a year.”
“Yep, yep. No problem.” Logan picked me up and carried me out like I was a bag of dog food. He didn’t put me down until we were at his truck. “Promise me that you’re not going to get a little older and start pretending to be psychic.”
I put my finger to my head and grinned at him. “I sense a curse!”
He laughed and slapped my ass. “Get in the truck before I curse your ass right here on the sidewalk.”
“Sounds kinky.” I groaned after speaking. “God. I need to spend a little time away from my mom and aunt. I think the crazy gets stronger when we’re together.”
“Can we talk about the fact that not only did you just announce to the entire diner that we’re fucking you, but that you also did that eel thing?” Colt was struggling to keep his composure. “Fuck, this town was boring without you.”