Page 35 of Feel Me

“Just being myself,” I say, throwing in another wink.

“If you were, you’d already have that blonde’s phone number listed under your contacts,” she says, tilting her head to the right.

Funny, I hadn’t even noticed her looking at me. But with Mel around, I have a hard time noticing other women. Her intelligence and sexiness are more than enough to hold my attention. Considering what a whore I am, it should scare the unholy shit out of me.

“It’s still not too late to get laid, counselor,” she tells me.

True, but it’s not the blonde I want to take to bed. I don’t tell her with Miles here. But I would if we were alone.

I groan, making a face like she’s left me no choice, but to retaliate. “You’re making me pull out the big guns.” She cocks her head, unsure what I mean. I ignore her and address Miles. “Care to share any embarrassing stories involving Melissa’s ex-boyfriends? I’m sure her magnetic personality have lured plenty of boys home.”

“Declan,” she warns.

“I can’t,” Miles begins.

“Thanks, Dad,” she says.

“There’re too many to choose from,” he continues. He ignores Melissa’s gasp and begins to tell me about Rodrigo, a state senator’s son who tried to serenade her beneath her bedroom window.

“He wanted to be a professional singer,” Miles says, grimacing. “But the boy couldn’t sing. It was like a desperate cat, trying to make his way up a chimney. And you knew the little guy wasn’t going to make it.”

“He’s not joking,” Melissa admits, pouting her sweet lips. “By the second chorus I had to remove my hearing aids so I could finish my schoolwork. He couldn’t take the hint I simply wasn’t interested.”

With a sigh, she reaches for her phone.

“What are you doing?” I ask, grinning. “We’re just getting started.”

“Don’t worry, this will only take a minute,” she says, returning my smile. “Hi. It’s Melissa Fenske . . . No, nothing’s wrong. I’m having dinner with my dad and Declan. Is Curran home?”

All traces of humor immediately dissolve from my face. “Hey, Curran. Declan is here asking my father about my ex-boyfriends. But I don’t want him to feel left out, seeing how we’re only talking about me and not him. Care to share any interesting stories about his past girlfriends or hook-ups? . . . You would?” She bats my hand away when I try to reach for the phone. “Great, I’ll put you on speaker.”

She places the phone between her and her dad. “For shit’s sake,” I mutter.

Curran’s loud voice immediately fills the space between us. “Her name was Wrestling Rhonda Signaterri also known as Rhonda the Wrangler,” he begins.

No . . . not . . .Fuck.

“What aninterestingnickname,” Melissa gushes. “I wonder how she acquired a name like that.”

“Wonder no more,” Curran chimes in. “So Rhonda was hot?a slutty kind of hot?but still hot. She liked to wrestle, as in got off on it. Oh, can your dad hear me?”

“Yes,” Miles answers, laughing.

“Good,” Curran says. “I don’t want him to miss a thing. Anyway, so Declan, of course, challenges her to a wrestling match, trying to get her worked up so maybe they can wrestle afterwards with their clothes off, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, we know,” Melissa and Miles say at once, cracking up.

“Anyway, Declan wins, or so he thought. Rhonda’s breathing fast and so is he. They run back to our house knowing the house is empty and our mother is at work. But me and my brothers were curious to see if Deck gets the job done, or in this case, Rhonda done.

“We sneak back to the house only to find Declan tied Ma’s bed, spread eagle wearing nothing, but a pair of tighty whities and a grin. All our shit?our T.V., our sound system, everything is gone. Turns out while he was sleeping off the experience with Rhonda the Wrestler, her brothers Patrick the Prowler and Theodore the Thug robbed us blind.”

Melissa and Miles aren’t laughing. They’re howling, and so is Tess in the background because why not?

Curran continues. I don’t have to see him to know the son of bitch is smiling. “I don’t think we’re there two minutes before our Ma walks in. Angus, our oldest brother, tries to give Declan a running start and cuts him free. Deck barely rolls off the bed before our mother snatches him off the floor by his throat. The rest of us run for our lives.Oh, but that’s nothing. Wait till I tell you about Tina the Tramp . . .”

CHAPTER 10

Melissa

---