Page 6 of Deny Me
“I don’t know, Lu.” He dragged his fingers through the longer strands of his hair, sounding exasperated at being under his sister’s microscope. “I guess this past year I’ve realized how short life can be. Maybe I shouldn’t waste time with people I don’t really care about.”
In the past year Jameson had changed. Luella had been in a serious accident that left her in a coma for months. I guess the possibility of losing the only family he had left had affected him in ways I hadn’t realized. Before, we had both been on the same page regarding never being serious with anyone. While I may have been more flamboyant with my activities, Jameson dated plenty of women who screamed booty call. The two of us used to have an unspoken solidarity about not settling down, but in the past year he had started dating a different type of girl. Not the type who came in to King’s and got shit-faced with friends, but the kind with morals and confidence. It unsettled me, just a little. Would he and Lu move on with their families and leave me behind? What would happen to our family lunches every Sunday? That was where the unsettling feeling came from; not because I cared who he decided to stick his dick in.
I couldn’t relate to the need to find someone serious because I never saw that kind of life for me. Finding Lu and Jameson was an extra bonus to my life. Who needed anything outside of the people sitting at the table? I had seen what love could do to someone. I’d seen what happened when you became so dependent on a person that when they were gone you lost yourself too. I’d watched my mom crumble into a lonely, angry woman when my father died. He was a firefighter and had promised my mom he would always come home. One night he didn’t.
When my mom’s depression had turned to anger over being left alone, she would always tell me to never fall in love. That I didn’t need anyone romantically in my life. She never moved on to the other stages of grief after anger, sharing her bitter beliefs with me. She’d shown me what an independent, successful woman could be and taught me how to love everything about myself so I never needed anyone else. Being young, I took in every word. And she was right. I was Evelyn Valero; I didn’t need anyone.
Regardless of the confidence I had in myself, I didn’t want to hear about Jameson’s date anymore, and I knew Lu would harp on it until Jameson begged for mercy. So I changed the subject.
“Jack,” I said with a clap, drawing all eyes on me. “When are you going to put a ring on it?” I asked, flipping my hand back and forth, imitating Beyoncé’s dance moves.
I swear I could hear Jameson sigh in relief that I’d saved him from Lu’s interrogation. I reached my hand under the table and gave a pat to his knee, before moving up higher and lingering longer than necessary just to feel him squirm. His thick thigh muscles jumped under my fingers and after a few more seconds I pulled away.
“Well… uhhh … um,” Jack stuttered, looking over at Lu for help. She returned his stare with wide-eyed innocence and a smile, letting the moment drag on as Jack grew more and more flustered.
“Cut him some slack, Lu,” Jameson cut in.
“It’s a simple question.” I injected innocence in my words, hiding the fact that I just wanted to watch Jack squirm. He knew I was messing with him; we had known each other long enough. But there were still some things that I could call him out on.
“Oh fine,” Lu said, sighing in exasperation. “As much as I like to see you sweat, I’ll hold Evie back.”
Jack tried to defend himself. “I don’t need protection from Evie,” Lu just raised her eyebrow letting him know she was calling bullshit. Jack was a security specialist and it always made Lu and I laugh at how much I could intimidate him. But he usually held his own with me which allowed me to give him my stamp of approval to date my sister from another mister.
“So, how is living together? Are you guys driving each other crazy yet?” I asked. They had moved in together six months ago, and I never saw Lu without a dreamy smile on her face. Probably from all the sex.
“Nope. Still amazing. I’m pretty sure it always will be.” Lu beamed.
“It’s that vibrator I got you as a housewarming gift isn’t it? It keeps the magic alive,” I said with a straight face. Lu smiled and Jameson groaned. Poor Jack just shook his head and looked down at his plate. To rub salt in the wound, I turned to face Jameson and continued. “Because they use it together. To get your sister off. It keeps their sex life spicy.”
Luella was full on laughing and Jameson dropped his head back as though looking above for patience. And that was how our family lunch continued. Sundays were my favorite days.