Page 31 of Nothing Left to Lose

The rest of the pizza went cold, and Vegas partied long into the night without us.

I had no regrets,and from the way Brody couldn’t stop grinning at lunch—because we’d slept right through breakfast—I could assume neither did he.

Or when we were in the lobby checking out, he took his phone and FaceTimed his mom. “Hey,” he said, not caring that the lobby was full of people.

“Oh hi, love,” she replied, her smiling face filling the screen. “Your dad’s right here. Where’s Miller?”

He turned the phone to show me, but then he pulled me in close, kissing me right in front of her before he grinned at her again. “Mom, we have some news!”

Okay then.

He was not being shy. He really was serious about this...

She squealed, then nudged his dad. “You owe me twenty bucks.”

Brody stopped smiling. “Huh?”

His dad’s face filled the screen. “Goddammit, Brody. You cost me twenty bucks.”

He blinked. “Uh, I’m sorry, what?”

“Your mom bet me twenty bucks that you and Miller would... well, you know, one day you’d pull your head out of your ass and realize that boy loves you?—”

“Oh my god,” Brody said.

“Oh my god,” I said, embarrassed, stunned. “Thank you, Mr. Molina.”

Brody looked at me. “They had a bet on me.”

I snorted.

Mrs. Molina’s face reappeared. “You can tell me all about it when you get back.”

Well, notallabout it.

Mr. Molina leaned in. “Don’t forget, Brody, next weekend you said you’d help me prune the trees in the backyard. Bring your boyfriend, two for the price of one. Easiest twenty bucks I ever spent.”

“Oh my god,” Brody said again.

“He doesn’t mean it,” his mom said. Then she waved. “I’m happy for you boys, finally! Okay, I can see you’re busy. Let me know when you get back, and we’ll see you both soon!” Then her hand appeared. “Now, how do I turn this off...?”

Brody hit the End button. “They could have acted surprised,” he grumbled.

I laughed. “They took it well.”

“They had a bet on me!”

Then Carina appeared like a genie in a puff of smoke. There was no photographer this time, thankfully. “How was your weekend? I trust you had a good time.”

I looked at Brody and he smiled at me. “Best weekend ever,” he said.

God, the way he looked at me made my heart thump. “The best.”

“We, uh, we didn’t see much of Vegas though, sorry,” Brody said, grimacing, blushing.

She laughed, guessing all too well why we didn’t get out much. “Just so you know, follow your hashtag on our social media page. Lots of pics from the pool party yesterday.”

Oh great.

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