Page 49 of Spiritwarrior

“Nothing. I was just hoping you … I thought you and Jody were hitting it off.”

“You thought I liked…likeJody?”

“You don’t?”

“I know he’s your brother, but I would never look at Jody romantically.”

Ginny’s mouth dropped. “Why not? Is it because of Baylin?”

Sophie leaned her hip against the counter. “No … Maybe a little. But I stay away from men like Jody.”

“What’s wrong with Jody?” Sisterly outrage poured out of Ginny.

“Nothing. He’s been really good to me, helping out here, and I honestly don’t think I would have made it through this morning without him.”

“Then what’s—”

“Ginny, you may be his sister, but have you noticed how women react around him?”

Ginny’s outrage vanished and was replaced with a pained expression. “It’s hard to miss,” she acknowledged.

“They can’t keep their hands off him, and he must be a breast man, because they love flashing their boobs at him. They aren’t even discreet about it. The woman who falls in love with Jody is going to have to have thick skin, be willing to overlook his wandering past, and deal with trust issues each time when they’re apart. I’m not that woman.

“Look at me, Ginny. I’m a four on a one-to-ten scale, and I’m being generous to myself. Jody is a twenty just wearing jeans and a T-shirt. I don’t want to know what he would look like all dressed up.”

“Joel isn’t exactly chopped liver,” Ginny argued.

“No. He’s a ten, a normal ten.” Sophie put both her hands up, mimicking a scale. “This is Joel.” Sophie put one of her hands out in front of her. “This is Jody.” Her other hand went way higher than Joel’s. “With Joel, at least I stand a chance of keeping him faithful. Jody … not a chance in hell.”

“Jody could be faithful to his soul mate.”

“Good for her. She’s a better person than me.”

Ginny gave her a mysterious smile. “You never know … She could bejustlike you.”

Chapter Twenty-One

The trailer looked cozy and comfortable. Sophie stared around the living room that had two sofas before wandering over to the small kitchen. “It’s cute.”

Jody winced at her description.

“Are you sure I’m not inconveniencing your family?”

“Not at all,” he lied, taking a seat on one of the sofas.

“None of you live in here?”

“I stay over at Jacob’s most of the time.”

Sophie turned to stare at him. “This isyourhome?”

“When I’m here, which isn’t often,” he explained. “Jacob gets a better Wi-Fi signal than I do. We like to play computer games at night. His speed is better than mine.”

“My dad likes to play games, too.”

“Your stepdad?”

“My dad,” she corrected him. “I don’t think of Marty as being my father.”

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