Page 36 of Curveball

I nod.

Arizona barks, “Quincy, cut it out. Marc is agood guy.”

“No, he’s not. And he’s not good enough for you.” Actually, he’s a pompous asshole, and I can’t stand him. There’s no way he’s not running around on her.

“You don’t like him because you know he’s sleeping with your sister. He’s going to be your brother soon, so snap out of it. We’re planning to get married within the year.”

I can’t pretend to be happy for her. Marc Whittaker is a douchebag. He’s a pro baseball player too. I’ve only met him a handful of times, but I don’t like him at all. I certainly don’t like the way he treats her. She deserves better.

“Hmm. We’ll see. Don’t rush into anything. Make sure he’s the one.”

“Q, I accepted his proposal. I’m sure. I need you to be happy for me.”

“I’ll try my best. Have you told Ripley yet?”

“No, silly, I called my big brother first. She’s my next call.”

“Why don’t you do that, and we’ll chat later?”

“Okay. Talk soon. Love you, shit stain.”

I roll my eyes at the never-ending references to that unfortunate incident. “Love you too.”

I end the call and look at Ripley in my bed. The sheets are just barely covering her naked breasts. In the morning light, her skin glows bright like an angel. And her hair is so sexy. It’s wild, more wild than usual. Likely from the hours and hours we went at it last night.

She bites her lip. “I didn’t see this coming, did you?”

I shake my head. “No. I hate him. He’s not the right man for her. He doesn’t treat her properly.”

“Normally I think you’re an overprotective ogre when itcomes to the men she dates, but this time you’re right on the money. I can’t believe they’re engaged. She was talking about breaking up with him last week. What is she thinking?”

Before I can agree, her phone rings. Ripley reaches for it and nods at me, confirming it’s Arizona.

“Put it on speaker.”

She accepts the call, places it on speaker, and happily says, “Good morning, babe.”

“Rip! I have huge news! Marc proposed! We’re getting married! Can you believe it?”

Ripley St. James doesn’t have a fake bone in her body. In fact, I’m shocked that she’s been able to keep our marriage and sporadic sexual relationship a secret for the past few years.

With enthusiasm I can tell is hard for her to muster, she replies, “Oh wow. Congrats. How did he propose?”

“After he fucked my brains out in bed last night.”

My face falls and Ripley giggles. “That sounds…romantic.”

“It was spontaneous. He didn’t have a ring or anything. I think I’m just so good in bed that he felt compelled to lock me down in the moment. We’re ring shopping this week sometime.”

I’m sick to my stomach but Ripley has a huge smile. I know it’s not from the engagement news, so it’s clearly at me having to suffer through this conversation. She looks at me with mischief on her face. “Give me some more details about the sex.” She covers her mouth to hold in her laugh.

I narrow my eyes at her.

“Later, I need to give you wedding details first.”

Perhaps it’s time for me to have a little fun of my own.I quickly pull the sheets down and away from her, exposing her body to me.

Her eyes widen but she doesn’t otherwise flinch. Ripley has changed in the past three years. We’re only together once or twice a month, but she’s no longer shy about her body. She embraces her sexiness. Us showering together in the mornings after spending a night together has become the norm. She walks around naked all the time without a care. I love that I played some small part in making her feel that way.

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