Page 41 of The Main Event

ELEVEN

“It’s weird that you’re here.”

“Huh?” I jerked up my chin and met Jesse’s curious gaze as I did bicep curls on the weight bench. “Why is it weird that I’m here?” I asked, realizing what Jesse was talking about.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. You always seemed like a Boston guy.”

“So did you.”

Jesse was sheepish. “I wasn’t a Boston guy like you were a Boston guy.”

“How do you figure that?” I switched arms and kept pumping. I had to do something to keep my realization from the previous day at bay. No matter what my heart—and other parts of me—wanted, I could not embark on a romance with Daisy. That was the one thing my brain kept circling to over and over again, even as my heart started singing a song reminiscent of a 1980s power ballad.

Not that my heart sings a lot or anything. I’m not a musical theater guy.

“I was looking for an escape from my family when I headed over here,” Jesse argued. “I’ve never known you to want to escape from yours.”

“That’s just because I’m careful,” I replied. Why I was opening up to Jesse now when I’d spent so much time trying to hide my familial problems was beyond me. I figured it had to do with the effort I was exerting not to admit I liked Daisy. I didn’t have the mental bandwidth for anything else. That was the only explanation.

“You’re careful about what?” Jesse asked, confusion creasing his forehead.

I didn’t particularly want to have this conversation. Since it was that or blurt out I was hot for Daisy—she was the only thing crossing my mind at regular intervals over the past twelve hours—I opted for the lesser of two evils.

“My family is nuts,” I replied.

Rather than make sympathetic noises or dig into the issue, Jesse burst out laughing. “Join the club.”

To be fair, his familywasnuts. His mother and father declared war on each other on a regular basis. Having an entire family at war over restaurant patronage in one city was a lot. “How is Errol?”

“He’s good,” Jesse replied. “He comes over here two times a week to escape my parents.”

“Does he like Lux?”

“Everybody likes Lux.” Jesse’s grin was lopsided. “My parents can’t stand each other, but they both love Lux.”

“She’s got a certain charm,” I agreed. “She seems a bit mouthy.”

“I thought you liked mouthy girls,” Jesse teased. “I remember that redhead you were dating—what was it, three years ago?—she was as mouthy as they come.”

“Ah, yes, Carly.” I frowned at the memory. “She liked to go to bars and accuse men of staring at her. Then she expected me to protect her honor … whether it was from the men or their girlfriends. I had to break up with her because I’m too pretty to get constantly punched in the face.”

Jesse’s eyebrows hopped. “Well, that’s no fun.”

“There’s mouthy, and then there’s addicted to drama,” I explained. “I like a woman who can hold her own when bantering. I don’t want to have to make sure nobody is following me when I go home at night, though.”

“That seems fair.” Jesse dropped the weight he was using and rubbed a towel over his face before speaking again. “I’ve always wondered what the deal is with your family. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but if you need someone to talk to, just remember that my parents are broken up but still occasionally screw on the bars of their respective restaurants, and they don’t care who catches them.”

I barked out a laugh before I realized it was going to escape. “Fair enough. My family problems aren’t as amusing as your family problems, though.”

“You can still tell me. I promise not to tell anybody else.”

“Not even Lux?”

He hesitated. Then he shook his head. “Not even Lux,” he promised. “I don’t have to tell her everything. This would fall into the category of ‘none of her business.’”

“Does she believe that category even exists?”

“She’s not as bad as you think.” Jesse looked suddenly uncomfortable. “She’s a good girl. She’s the best girl really. She just likes to run her mouth. It gets her in trouble occasionally. She can’t help herself, though. That’s simply who she is.”

---