Page 36 of Totally Geeked

“Trust me, he is. He doesn’t understand how the world works, or even how to look after himself properly. Just look what happened last time he was on his own. He smashed his wrist and then ended up in the ER all over again just trying to cook forhimself. I’m hoping he’ll agree to stay here longer, at least until I’m sure he can actually look after himself.”

“You get that he’s a grown-ass man, right?” I say a little too loud, but the guys don’t look our way.

“You get that he’s my brother, and he and Noah are the only family I have, right?”

“You have me, too.”

He smiles and wraps an arm over my shoulder.

“Until you run away with Ryan.” He laughs, and Arlo glances over his shoulder.

“There iszerochance of that, trust me.”

“Okay, but when those balls start turning blue, you might reconsider yournew ways.”

“For a guy who claims to be straight, you spend a lot of time worrying about my balls,” I say loud enough for the table to hear.

Benny laughs. “Gordon Gets Bananad. It could be a sexy spin-off movie adaptation, like Star Whores or The Wizard of Jizz. You could target a whole new market, Arlo.”

We laugh and make our way back to the table.

I reach under the table and give Arlo’s knee a little squeeze and the smile it brings to his lips sends a flurry through my chest. I don’t care what Gordon thinks. Arlo isn’t some naive kid he has to protect from the world, and I am not trying to take anything from him. I just want to be with him.

I keep my hand on his thigh, edging it up higher and higher, careful not to draw attention from anyone at the table, especially Gordon. It’s kind of fun being sneaky, knowing that I can touch him, well, his leg anyway, right here in front of them and they have no clue. I don’t go for the full grope, because gross, not under a table and not in the same room with his brother. But I get close enough that he shifts in his seat.

Tonight is going to be fun.

Chapter fourteen

Arlo

All those Friday nightsin college playing online poker totally came back to me and really paid off. I ended up taking out the final pot against Gordon, and I would have totally thought he let me win if it wasn’t for the shit his friends were giving him.

“Do you think I can come watch a few training sessions?” I ask Gordon as he packs up the chips while Harrison picks up the glasses and loads them into the dishwasher. It’s sweet that he’s always the one helping to clean up after everyone else leaves.

“Probably. Is this for the next children’s book or another project?”

My cheeks burn, and Harrison glances my way.

“You’re working on something, not for children? Is it like a teen book or oooooh is it adult? Are we getting a GordieDoesthe Bananas?” he asks, laughing, and Gordon throws a red poker chip at him, just missing his head.

“I was going to write a children’s book to follow up from the first and base it off you, but if you're going to be like that…”

“No, no, no, you can do that. It will outsell the first one for sure. What will you call it? Oh, oh, oh! I can pose for a picture, so you can get some great images, like the one you showed me that could be a cover shot, don’t you think?”

“Slow down, Harry,” Gordon interjects. “He’s just getting started. Sketching is step one, right?”

“Yeah. I have sort of a story in mind, but if I can come to training it would help me to visualize it. Or at least it helped last time.”

“Sounds like a plan. We have training again tomorrow,” Gordon offers.

“Oh, oh, you can call it, Hit it, Harry!” Harrison blurts, and we all laugh.

“How about, Harry Hits a Homer,” Gordon pipes in, and I stop laughing.

“That’s actually pretty good,” I say, pulling out my phone and making a note of it.

“Except he’s never actually hit a home run, have you, Harry?” Gordon teases, and Harrison starts chasing him around the house. They move outside, and I finish packing up the rest of the chips. The other guys headed home after I beat Gordon and won all their money. I didn’t want their cash, but Gordon said it was the rules.

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