Page 53 of Indescribable
Those words make me feel instantly better. “He isn’t.”
She gives me a look that tells me she’s not buying it. “Your eye tells me differently.”
“It’s nothing. He got in a few shots, I got in more.”
A stare-off between us commences. I know she’s watching me to see if there’s something I’m not telling her. Eventually she visibly relaxes, her lungs releasing the breath she was holding and her shoulders dropping, no longer stiff and rigid.
“He was with another woman?”
“Seemed that way, but she saw through him and called a friend to pick her up.”
She grabs one of the throw pillows on the couch and hugs it to her chest, pressing her chin into it. “She made the right decision. I don’t care that he was with another woman, by the way. He’s such a terd bucket.”
Chuckling, I agree. “That he is.”
“You know he cheated?” she asks quietly.
“Yeah, sweetheart. Wish I had heard it from you, but I know why I didn’t.”
“You do?” comes her whispered response.
I confirm with a nod and reach over, playing with one of her blonde curls. Her hair is soft and silky and I want to plunge my fingers in it. “It was yours to tell me and I’m sorry Cash blurted it out, and he is, too, but it’s out there now and you don’t have to explain it. I had a feeling for a while, so it wasn’t so much a shock as it was hard to hear.”
“It was hard to believe for me.”
“I’m sure it was. He’s an idiot.”
“Well, duh,” she scoffs, adding a giggle at the end. “I know that. Now. It took me a while, but I learned.”
“Good. He didn’t deserve you.”
I’m about to tell her that he never did deserve her. That one of the reasons he’s an idiot is because she’s the most beautiful woman in the entire world. Inside and out. That if she were mine, I would never even look at another woman, let alone sleep with another. It makes me sick to think about.
I don’t get the chance to tell her any of that, though, because my phone is ringing and it’s Cody’s ringtone. “Sexy and I Know It” by LMFAO comes from my phone’s speaker and Naomi immediately bursts into a fit of giggles.
“Cody assigned it,” I say defensively.
“Uh huh. Sure.”
I give her the stink eye but it only makes her laugh harder.
“What’s up, little man?” I greet my nephew.
“Not much. Heard Auntie Naomi’s at your house and wanted to see if I could come over and say hi.”
I do a quick time check and see that it’s only seven. “Did you ask your dad?”
“Yeah. He said I would be interrupting something but I know I’m never an interruption. Besides, I’m pretty sure Auntie Naomi missed me anyway.”
“I’m sure she did,” I murmur.
“So can I?”
This is the problem with living three houses away from your brother. There’s zero privacy. Normally it doesn’t bother me, but I like having Naomi to myself. However, I have a hard time saying no to this kid.
“Yeah, it’s fine. You can come say hello to her. I gotta check with your dad first. I’ve learned not to take your word for it.” Naomi smiles so big and lets out a little squeal that has me rolling my eyes. Cody might be the most loved kid on the planet.
“Awesome! I’ll be right there. Here’s Dad.”