Page 19 of Bean
Which, of course, was the perfect segue into telling them about…whatever his name was, so I did. I told them everything. Well, everything that I remembered anyway.
“He was so sweet and attentive…”
Even I could hear how dreamy my voice sounded. Like a teenager waxing poetic about their first love. Which was nonsense, of course. It wasn’t like I had feelings for my mysterybear. Yup, that was what I had started calling him. Kinda hard to refer to him otherwise without knowing his name.
“Yeah, yeah, it was all perfect and sunshine, rainbows, and fucking unicorns. We know. You need to stop talking about sex,” Creek said with a sigh. “And them’s words I never thought I’d say.”
“You’re just jealous he got some,” Tameron teased. “What with your boyfriend being on a school trip and all.”
“Like I can’t survive for four days without him,” Creek said with a scowl.
Nash quirked an eyebrow in that impressive, almost intimidating manner of his. One eyebrow could be more scolding than a thousand words from anyone else. “Can you?” he said mildly. “Because I’m seeing Creek 1.0 again. The bitching, complaining version I thought we’d deleted and replaced with the improved Creek 2.0.”
Creek cringed a little. “I haven’t been that bad.”
“You have,” Tameron and I said at the same time.
Creek dragged a hand through his hair. “Fuck. Sorry. I didn’t mean to… It’s hard without him. It makes no sense because six months ago, I didn’t even know him, but I’ve gotten used to having him in my bed. And my life. My life, most of all, I meant.”
“Glad to see you have your priorities straight,” Nash said.
“You’re jealous ’cause I’m getting some,” Creek fired back.
Nash chuckled. “You think I’m not getting any sex? You’re funny.”
I frowned. What did he mean? “But we never see you with anyone. Like, you never bring someone home.”
Tameron bumped my shoulder. “Maybe you’re not the best person to point that out since you wouldn’t remember even if you had seen someone come out of Nash’s room, but I can confirm.”
Fair enough. “Good point, though, honestly, it might make enough of an impression that even my foggy brain would store that info.”
Nash shook his head. “You really think I’d be stupid enough to bring any hookups here? Hell no. First of all, this is our home, and I don’t bring strangers here, but more importantly, do I look like I’m that much of a masochist? Like you guys wouldn’t make my life hell if you ever saw someone sneaking out of my bedroom. Not that he’d have to sneak because I’m a grown-ass man who can damn well have sex with anyone he pleases, but you get the point. Just because I choose not to entertain you with tales of every guy I fuck doesn’t mean I’m not getting any. Except I’m mature enough not to brag about it.”
I blinked. Gee willikers, I’d never seen Nash that defensive. “That’s a lot of words when you could’ve just said yes or no.”
Nash opened his mouth, then closed it again. “What’s on your schedule for tomorrow?”
It was about the most blatant change of topic I’d ever seen from him, but I owed him, so I went with it. “I’m working from noon till eight and have to pick up a special grocery order on my way.”
“A full shift?” Nash frowned. “Isn’t that a bit much?”
“Jordan’s wife is being induced tomorrow, so he asked me to cover his shift. I could hardly say no when he’s been such a help the past two weeks.”
Jordan, a Navy veteran and the sweetest bad-ass biker you’d ever meet, had taken me under his wing, and he’d been amazing. Despite looking like he could kill you with one hand—though come to think of it, he probably could—he was a total softie who showed off pictures of his two girls. The third one would be born sometime in the next couple of days, and I would cover his shift even if it killed me. Figuratively speaking. I wasn’t quite that dedicated to the job.
“Make sure to eat regularly, okay? Set your alarm.”
I held up my phone, showing the alarms I’d already set. “Every three hours, and yes, taken care of.”
“Good. Anything else?”
I checked my little black book, which I had left in the bar. Luckily, someone had handed it to Zayd, who had recognized it as mine and kept it. Bless him because my whole life was in that book. My life and my sanity—what was left of it. “Nope, that’s it.”
“You gonna try to hook up again?” Tameron asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe. If I meet someone like last time, sure.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t get his number,” Creek said.