Page 41 of My Brother's Bad Best Friend

“Left my mom for another woman and never bothered saying bye to me. I have no clue if he’s alive or not anymore, and I guess I don’t care.”

“That must’ve been hard.”

“Harder for my mom,” I say. “I was just a kid. I could escape into anger and fantasy and vent all my frustrations out on the world. But my mom, she was an older single mom with a kid, she had no chance anymore. I think part of her left with my dad back then and just never came back.”

We lapse into silence again. I look over at her and she looks back at me, the sunlight playing through her hair, and I can feel my breath coming in fast. My heart’s beating hard in my chest and I have this sudden urge to reach out and stroke the hair from her face.

But I remember the way her brother stared at me earlier, throwing the pile of cash onto my desk, and I know I need to keep my distance, at least until things with him have quieted down.

“I think I’m going to ride home.” She hops to her feet suddenly, tossing the helmet on her head.

“Do you know the way?” I ask her.

She shrugs, pulling the bike upright and getting on. “Pretty sure. It’s not that far.”

“Okay then.” I stand up and watch as she rides in a big circle around the parking lot. She looks fucking gorgeous on that bike, and for some weird reason, I feel proud. She’s getting out there, getting out into the world and owning it. I’m fucking proud of her for that.

“See you back there!” she calls out.

“See you.” I watch as she rides off, her tone, firm legs pumping the pedals. She smoothly pulls out into traffic and speeds off down the road, her hair blowing behind her.

“Shit,” I say softly to myself, turning back to the Jeep.

“She’s hot.” I turn to see Randy standing in the door of his shop. “She your girlfriend?”

“Nah, you old perv.”

He grins at me, hand running through his ponytail. “She should be. If I were your age and she were around, I’d make sure she got a taste of my—”

“Okay, I get it,” I interrupt him. I really don’t need to hear about anyone tasting Randy and his weird hippie dong. “See you later.” I climb into my Jeep before he can answer. He grins at me and waves as I pull out.

Randy may be fucking weird, but he’s right about one thing: I should be tasting that girl every chance I get. If only things were simpler.

Maybe if I’m smart, I can make things simpler for both of us, and get everything I want.

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