Page 46 of Game On

Penny whacked him on the head with a dishtowel. “Too young for the likes of you, buster!” she said. “Now, if you boys are finished, bring your plates into the kitchen. This isn’t a restaurant.”

Molly jumped down from her stool and grabbed for the remote control. An argument followed between her and C.J. over what channel the TV should be tuned to. It was a daily occurrence in the Richardson household. Lisa interceded before the inevitable tears began.

“Hey!” she called. “Molly, why don’t you and Troy go downstairs to the playroom and watch TV down there?”

Molly stomped out of the room, pulling Troy with her. “We have a Wii. Do you wanna play?” Her voice trailed off as they headed down the stairs.

“Do you have Xbox?” Evan asked.

“What do you think?” C.J. said, and they headed after Molly and Troy, Dante following behind. The big Samoan boy stayed to help Penny with the dishes, much to her delight. While Lisa dealt with the kids, Carly made her escape upstairs.

She kept some work clothes and essentials in the guest bedroom for nights when she watched the kids. Lisa found her there a few minutes later. Carly mentally sighed as her sister sat on the bed and watched her pull a suit out of its dry cleaner wrapper. Obviously, Lisa wasn’t giving up.

“Do you have a camisole I can wear with this?” she asked, trying to distract her.

“I could dig one up,” Lisa said, reclining back against the headboard and crossing her arms in front of her. “If I get some answers.”

“Now I see why you’re such a good psychologist. You’re annoyingly persistent.” Carly realized the futility of avoiding her sister’s questions and sat down on the bed with a thump. “Shane didn’t know what to do with him. He’s freaking out about mini-camp starting today and winning the starting job. As if that’s the most important thing in life. His agent is looking into changing the custody codicil of the will. The grandparents want to raise Troy, apparently. But the process could take a couple of days. I said I’d help out. Hank would want me to. For the team.”

“Well, of course, you’re just doing your job,” Lisa said as she picked at a loose thread on the comforter. The room was quiet for a few moments as Lisa employed her psychologist skill of waiting a patient out. It was a skill that really annoyed Carly. Probably because it always wore her down.

“I was there when Troy showed up.” Carly’s back was to Lisa, so at least she didn’t get to see the look of disappointment on her sister’s face.

“So you just happened to pop over at the crack of dawn with coffee and donuts?”

Slowly, Carly turned her head at her sister’s sarcastic tone. “No. I never left after dinner. Are you happy?”

“Are you happy?” Lisa asked, once again employing her best psychologist voice.

“Ugh!” Carly moaned, flopping back on the bed. “Please don’t use your psychobabble on me! You know I hate it when you do that.”

Lisa unsuccessfully bit back a small smile. “How long have you two been dating?”

“We’re not dating,” Carly said. “It’s just sex.” Carly closed her eyes, bracing herself for a rant from her sister.

Instead, Lisa surprised her with a simple question, still using her best psychologist voice to ask it: “And how long has it been ‘just sex’?”

“Just last night. And the night before.” Carly continued to avoid Lisa’s eyes, staring at the ceiling instead.

“Ahh,” Lisa said.

Carly grabbed a pillow and clutched it to her face before screaming into it.

“Did you have to take a class in that?” she asked as she threw the pillow across the room.

“A class in what?” Lisa asked, not working very hard to suppress her grin.

“The condescending ahh,” Carly said. “It’s so annoying.”

Lisa did smile now. “It’s not meant to be condescending. My apologies.”

Carly desperately wanted her sister to tell her that she was an idiot for making the same mistake twice. That she had awful taste in men. But Lisa remained frustratingly mute.

Giving up, Carly let out a heavy sigh. “I thought he was different. Different than Maxim. With Max, I always knew it was about the publicity.” Carly turned her head to stare at a startled Lisa. “I’m not stupid. I knew I was being used to keep Max’s name on the cover of the tabloids. But Max made me feel so needed and, in his own stupid way, loved. Aside from you and Julianne, no one had ever made me feel that way before.”

Lisa reached over and intertwined her fingers with Carly’s as they lay side by side on the bed.

“And let’s face it,” Carly continued. “It was kind of nice living the rock-star life. Except for the paparazzi, of course. And, up until a few nights ago, I thought the sex was great.”

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