Page 27 of Dear Mr. Brody

“Yeah… but you love me,” she said and opened the car door.

Dinner with the family had gone about as well as it always did. My brother actually only took three phone calls, and Olive only had three glasses of wine. All in all, I’d call it a success. The mess in my kitchen, though, not fun. Anne was on the couch watchingTwisterfor the thousandth time. She wanted to be a storm chaser when she grew up. And the president. And a veterinarian. I had to have done something right as a parent, at least she had goals.

I’d finished putting dinner away and had started on the dishes when my phone vibrated against the countertop. I held up my hands over the sink as I looked for the towel that should’ve been on the handle of the oven, but it never seemed to be there when I needed it.

“Anne,” I called out. The kitchen was open to the living room, and despite the volume on the television I knew she could hear me. “Can you grab a towel from the basket in the laundry room, please?”

“In a minute, Dad. They’re about to launch Dorothy into the tornado.”

“Now, Anne. You can press pause you know.”

She grumbled but did as I asked, huffing the whole way to the laundry room. I chuckled, shaking some of the water off of my fingers while I waited. I supposed I could have waited to check my phone until after I was finished cleaning, but I couldn’t deny the jump in my pulse thinking it might be a message from him. Him. Jesus, I didn’t even know his name. This online dating thing was weird as fuck.

“Here ya go.” Anne basically threw the towel at me and ran back into the living room, dive bombing onto the couch.

“It’s almost time to brush your teeth, kid.”

“Dad,” she whined. “It’s Saturday.”

“I’ll let you stay up till nine, but then it’s time to get ready for bed.”

“Nine-thirty?” She bargained.

“Nine-fifteen.” I wiped my hands dry and picked up my phone. “Deal?”

“Ugh… fine.”

“Thanks, little monster,” I said and unlocked my screen, my smile widening when I saw the Pegasus message icon.

@TheL0stB0y:You ready to swim?

It was only four words, but hell, my pulse picked up its pace, making my stomach feel light.

@MeAndMyShadow33:I think I’ve always been ready.

@TheL0stB0y:Good, because I have a lesson planned.

@MeAndMyShadow33:You planned a lesson?

@TheL0stB0y:Sort of… humor me…

@MeAndMyShadow33:You’ve got my attention.

@TheL0stB0y:First, we should establish a few boundaries.

@MeAndMyShadow33:I agree.

@TheL0stB0y:Good. I’ll go first. Are you looking for sex, or to start a relationship?

@MeAndMyShadow33:Definitely not looking for a one-night stand, but I’m not looking to get serious either. At least not right now.

@TheL0stB0y:Same.

@MeAndMyShadow33:What about personal information?

@TheL0stB0y:Good question. I think staying anonymous will make it easier for us to walk away if shit isn’t working. But I would like to call you something other than “the dating app guy.”

@MeAndMyShadow33:How about we use middle names?

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