15. CHAPTER 15 #3
“I put in the hours, trust me. But Anaise asked for some help and I can’t say no to that woman.”
“She’s cute,” I say, because it’s true.
“She’s fucking beautiful.” I look at Austin. “Don’t you start, too… She’s like an angel that nobody can touch. I’ve had a thing for her since high school and it’s not going away.”
“Aren’t y'all a little old to have an entire group of friends that are all single?”
“We’re not all single.”
“But you are?” I ask with a cheeky smile.
He stops in his tracks. “I think I just remembered somewhere else I need to be.”
I cock my head to the side. “If you chase her too much you’ll give her the ick.”
Austin shakes his head and starts walking again. “Every time you open your mouth you remind me more of your brother.”
In only a few minutes the furniture is in the truck.
“Is this the best shit you could find?” Austin asks as he lifts the armchair onto the truck bed.
“Pure impulse purchase.” I shrug, lifting the second bedside table. “Shawn cleared Eden’s place out.”
“I bet she did.” Austin closes the tail gate and heads to the driver's door. Once we’re both inside he continues. “They were pretty good for each other. Shawn's wild and your brother's game, but I could always see she liked him too much.” He starts the engine and pulls out.
“I guess you’d know better than me.”
“I’ve got a theory, right. It’s called the five to ten percent rule.
If a relationship is going to last, the guy needs to be five to ten percent more into the girl.
That way he keeps chasing her just enough for her to know he’s only ever looking at her.
I’m not saying I think your brother ever cheated on Shawn, but I do think she started looking for attention elsewhere. ”
“What about same sex couples?”
“That, I know nothing about.”
“Do you think things will last with her and Reeze?”
He breaks out into a loud laugh. “Not a chance in hell. If they’re still together now I’d be surprised.”
“Why do ya say that?”
“Reeze is a nice guy. Like, a genuinely nice guy. He doesn’t have the same I wanna watch the world burn aura that Eden and Tek have got.
He’s a people pleaser. I don’t excuse what he did, but I also don’t think it would have taken long for Shawn to wear him down.
A few compliments in his direction and he would have been putty in her hands. ”
I ponder on Austin’s insights, but it’s something he said earlier that I can’t get out of my head. “You said before, not all of you are single. Of your friends, I mean.”
“Yeah. They’re not. Some even have kids.”
“Right. So, um… I know how you feel about Anaise, but she looked really close to Tek.”
“She is.”
My chest tightens. “So there’s a history?”
“I don’t cut my friend’s grass.”
“I—I wasn’t saying you would. But, high school was a while ago for you guys, and I just wondered if they…”
“They both went to Oregon State. They might’ve hooked up, I don’t know.
But as far back as I can remember it’s always been…
sibling vibes, you know? Something happened to them both back then—a car crash, I think.
Anaise stayed at OSU but Tek went off the rails for a bit then switched from medicine to art before disappearing to Canada for three years. ”
“Oh… Okay, then,” I say, trying my hardest to sound like I don’t care.
“I couldn’t tell you the last time Tek was in a relationship. He dated some girls in high school, but… we lost touch for a few years after that, so I'm not the person to ask.”
“Right… So… What does he… do…”
“He lives on Tinder.”
“Really?” I blurt out and instantly try to back pedal. “I mean, why? Because, you know.”
“Your guess is as good as mine. I’ve never seen that man struggle for female attention in his life. So it’s gotta be because he doesn’t want a relationship, not because he can’t get one.”
I have so many more questions I want to ask but I swallow them all down.
“You got plans for Saturday night?” Austin asks.
“I don’t know anyone. So, other than with my own hand, no.”
“So that asshole hasn’t taken you out anywhere?”
I lower my head and smirk down into my chest. “He took me to his parent's for Thanksgiving.”
“Mawww.” He glances over to me. “Maybe you’re his girlfriend.”
“Shut the fuck up.” I smile back at him.
“Seriously though, he’s not taken you anywhere?”
“Nope… I asked him a couple times, but he’s at the shop twelve hours a day, so it’s fine. I get it.”
“Goddamn he’s a stubborn son of a bitch.” Austin shakes his head as he turns the final corner. “Guess Anaise was right again.”
“About what?”
“That’s why we were there today. She knew he’d just ignore our texts and calls, and it’s harder for him to say no to two people.
” Austin pulls his truck up out the front of the apartment building and keeps talking like he knows it’s something I need to hear.
“You’ve gotta be firm with him. He pushes, but you’ve gotta push him straight back.
Being Eden’s brother, I know you know what that's about. That pair are two peas in a pod, if I’ve ever seen it.
So, how you handled yourself in there today, was really fucking refreshing.
Not many people would talk to Tek like that, so don’t ease up.
He needs a strong hand. Anaise is the only one where a gentle approach works. ”
I have no idea what I’m meant to say to that?
About any of this.
An hour ago I set out to pick up a package. Now I’m sitting in the truck of someone who's been friends with my brother for twenty years, but I’ve never heard of before. And they’re giving me unsolicited advice that I really need to hear.
I reach for the door handle. “Thanks for the help. You really didn’t have to.”
“We’re going out on Saturday night.”
“Okay.” My tone is timid, and sounds more like why are you telling me?
“Straight from the shop so he can’t back out.”
“Okay,” I say again in exactly the same way.
“You can leave your hand at home, or you can bring it along.”
I look down at my hand before balling it into a fist and huffing out in embarrassment. “It’s alright. You don’t need to—”
“Oh, you’re coming. We already knew you worked there. Brooklyn’s got a big mouth. The first thing Anaise did as soon as we walked through the door was jump on the computer to check Tek’s schedule and see when you were working.”
I can’t hide my smile, and I feel like an idiot.
“We look out for our own. Your brother’s an asshole, but he didn’t deserve what happened. So we step up when he can’t be here. Tek did, that’s why he gave you the job. But he’s got no room left to move, so now it’s our turn."