Page 99 of Toxic Wishes
“Sure, bud.” I reach for the remote and press play. Bodie wanted to watch Ninja Turtles, the real-life version with Megan Fox. And whatever else after that. I am trying to spend as much time with him before I have to leave again, and my schedule is so busy that it's hard for me to cram anything in if it doesn’t pertain to football, working out, sponsoring a product, or publicity bullshit.
But right now, I am having a tough time being present, especially after seeing what Abigail wore tonight. The idea of guys hitting on her didn’t sit well with me. I could feel the anger rise as I played different scenarios in my head. For seven days straight now, I’ve been trying to figure out ways I can come up with to pay her double what she’s making at that shit hole.
There was a project I needed her help with, but I didn’t dare mention that to her. I don’t think she’s been upstairs since she’s been here. She knows there are two rooms up there.
She thinks there are two anyway.
There are three. One has never been rented out to the public or touched since I kept it locked. I told Bodie it was a storage room, so I had to keep it locked so people wouldn’t steal anything when renting it out. But the truth was, it was Blake's old room.
Namoi found it creepy that I still had a room for him after almost five years, so she suggested moving it to a room here until I was ready to get rid of his stuff.
At the time, I thought it was a great idea, but now that I’m here, I realize I can’t erase the memory of my brother by shifting his stuff to another house.
I needed to get rid of it.
And the only person who would understand how hard that would be is Abigail.
The doorbell rang, so I got up to grab our food. After tipping the guy and getting some plates, I joined Bodie. He was invested in the movie as he ate his chicken sandwich. I added honey since he loved the sweet and salty taste of fried chicken, like me. Once situated, I dug into my twenty-five chicken wings with coleslaw.
My phone began buzzing when I was in the middle of deboning my fifteenth wing in my mouth. I grabbed a generous amount of napkins, wiping the sauce from my fingers.
“Bolt, dude, please tell me you are not doing anything and are free.”
I look to Bodie, “Ya, I mean, I’m not doing anything busy-wise. I’m just eating an early dinner with Bodie, watching a movie.”
“Dude, I need to get a drink, please. Jenna's emotions are driving me crazy. I’m so ready for this baby to be here so she goes back to normal.”
“I hate to break it to you, Troy, but that’s just women for you. They are always emotional, it’s just heightened during pregnancy.”
“You know what I mean. She gave me permission, permission to go out and grab a few drinks with the guys, and I’m telling you man, this may be my only chance to do something fun before my life is over. And I thought I’d have a break when training started, but she’s insisting on coming with me with a brand new baby. I mean, the chick is going insane.”
I try not to laugh because I remember feeling the way he felt when I was about to be a dad, the same time I got signed on to the Las Vegas Rams. I was shitting my pants freaking out too.
“First of all, she’s only saying that now, once that baby is born, trust me. The last thing she will want to do is travel with you everywhere to be on the road or stuck in a hotel somewhere. Not going to happen. She’d rather be in the comfort of her own nursery, nesting.”
“Dude, I hope so,” Troy says through a weighted breath.
“I know so.” I grabbed another chicken wing, taking a bite as I continued, “Everything will be fine. It will all be okay.” I say with a mouthful.
“Well, I told her I would hire a full-time nanny if she can’t handle it.”
“That’s a great idea.” And it was. I never even thought of doing that for Bodies mom. Maybe if I had, she would have stuck around longer.
“Can you meet me instead of talking on the phone? Like I said, I need to get out. I'm getting fidgety. You know how I get when I stay in one place too long. I need to move around.”
Troy played wide receiver. He’s one of the most athletic people I ever met. He grew up with a football in his hand. Troy and I didn't have reliable fathers growing up, so our mothers put all their time and effort into us, ensuring we became reliable men when we got older.
“I would love to, but I’m with Bodie,” I say, lowering my voice so he doesn’t hear me.
“Please, man, please. I’ll pay you or whoever to come over and watch him five thousand dollars. That’s how much I need this right now.”
I take a long sip of my water before saying, “Where are you trying to go anyway?”
“Well, a couple of other guys mentioned Shifters. It’s wet t-shirt night or lingerie,
I can’t remember.”
Now that Troy mentions lingerie, it dawned on me that Abigail's red top resembled a lingerie corset.