Chapter 50
50
Jason
A few months later
Malone takes off early after the softball game tonight.
Which is perfect since I need to chat with Nick without my best mate around.
We head out of the park on the late summer evening, and I clear my throat, then dive headfirst into my request.
“Can we grab a pint? Because I need to pick your brain.”
He reaches for his skull, as if protecting his hair. “No! Not the brain. I need that. It’s one of my favorite organs.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “Listen, it’s about your cousin.”
Nick furrows his brow. “Malone? Are you having a bro fight with him?”
“The other cousin.”
“Truly?”
“Yes. Precisely.”
“What do you want to know about Truly? Seems you know her pretty well.”
“And yet she appears to remain impervious to my charms.”
Nick laughs, stroking his beard. “Ah, the plot thickens. You need a little advice in the how-to-win a lady department.”
“Correction: I need a little advice in how to resist a lady.”
He cocks a brow. “That’s an unusual request.”
“Well, the lady in question is the aforementioned best mate’s sister. Ergo…”
“The same best mate’s sister who’s impervious to your charms? That sounds like resistance is a piece of cake. For her at least.”
“It sounds like it, but it’s not. Trust me.”
“You’re going to need to explain.”
“There’s a whole long backstory. The fact that she’s Malone’s sister is only part of it. She’s also one of my closest friends, as you know, so there’s the whole don’t- fuck-up-a friendship bit.”
“As well as the she’s-immune-to-you part.”
I grin. “Or is she?”
“You dog.”
I nod. “Have I mentioned I love a challenge?”
“We might need two pints.”
We head to a pub, order, and roll up our sleeves.
Truly is indeed some kind of challenge. And the trouble is, we just struck a deal that’s going to have us spending a lot more time together.
I’d say things are about to get quite challenging indeed.