Page 80 of Not A Chance

“It’s Theo!” It was Emery’s turn to shout. She was so loud that half the neighborhood knew who my boyfriend was now.

Abbie’s eyes widened, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You’re right! That is way bigger news. Whew. Em, I’d never say this because it would have been weird before.” Abbie dropped her voice to a whisper and glanced quickly at her surroundings. “Your brother is pretty damn hot.”

“Sweetheart, what was that?”Aiden’s voice called from another part of the house.

“Ohh, Daddy heard you, sweetheart,” I teased, knowing Aiden had come a long way in being able to take a joke. With me as Abbie’s friend, he’d had no choice, of course.

“Speaking of daddies, actually. Em, remind me how old Theo is?” Abbie grinned.

“He’s thirty-one.” She narrowed her eyes and looked between me next to her and Abbie on her screen.

“Well, that seems old enough to be a daddy, don’t you think, Ind?” Abbie winked.

Emery made a fake vomiting noise, but I pretended not to hear.

“Well played, friend. You can ask him yourself next time you see him,” I suggested.

“Maybe I will ask him. You’ll see,” Abbie insisted. She would not ask Theo. She’d burst into flames before those words would leave her lips. “We’re leaving in the morning to spend Christmas with Aiden’s family. Does that mean I’ll miss you this trip?” Her lips turned down with her question.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, babe. Theo and I fly out on the twenty-seventh. Well, he’s off to Denver for an away game, and I’m taking Giz back to Toronto.”

Just then, Aiden said something in the background, but this time, we couldn’t make out his words. Whatever it was, it had Abbie blushing again.

“Uh, okay. Text me. I gotta go. Love you!” With those words, she ended the call.

“I wonder if she’s going to get spanked for thinking Theo is hot?” I wondered out loud.

“God, girl, your mind is filled with debauchery. Make sure you keep all those thoughts about my brother to yourself, okay? We’re notthatclose.” Emery scrunched her nose.

“Fair,” I agreed.

Dropping her phone in her lap, Emery employed her superpower again, her eyes widening to the point she looked like an animated character. There wasn’t a Disney Princess in existence that could top her sweet expression.

“Does that mean you and Theo are staying here for Christmas?”

Now is not the time to gloat over winning a stupid bet. So just keep that competitive shit under wraps. Just shut up and listen to whatever she wants to say.

Gizmo’s head turned one way and then back the other as her stare followed my pacing in our hotel room.

“Listen, I’m not an idiot, okay? I know that was probably ridiculously hard for Rocky to force herself to do. I’m not even going to mention the bet. I mean, I know my sister and predicted that she wouldn’t have a problem with me dating Indie. But I like my balls attached to my body, and fucking with your mommy is not on tonight’s agenda.”

My hands went out in front of me in a “you know what I mean?” kind of gesture. I stopped in front of Gizmo as she lay on not one but four stacked couch cushions. We’d discovered she liked the view from up high on the couch.

“Sorry for the swearing, baby girl. Though, with a mommy like yours, you’ll be more fluent in profanity than any sailor, past orpresent.” And I swear, Giz’s eyebrow arched with judgment about my comments on Indie.

I flipped my hands over in a “take it easy” motion. “I’m not criticizing your mommy. It’s just not my fault Indie uses profanity the way most people use punctuation.”

Keeping my stare on Gizmo’s face for any more objections on her part, I dropped my arms back to my side. “Where was I? Right.” I started listing off the ways I could reassure Indie after her rough night.

“One, shut up and listen. Two, do not mention the bet. That was just to distract her from worrying about Emery, anyways. You’re too young to know about these things.” Gizmo let out a sigh.

“Three, room service or a bath?” I looked at my Chihuahua companion for her opinion. “You’re right. I’ll offer both. This is a very nice hotel—even if the pet damage deposit is going to be over one thousand dollars because they don’t actually allow pets—that tub in the bathroom is the size of a small swimming pool. She might love it.”

I moved over to the unoccupied edge of the couch, far enough away that I posed no risk to her tower of pillows, and sat down. Gizmo, confident that I was no threat to her comfortable bed, put her head down between her paws, her eyes half-closed. She was probably thrilled to have me shut up so she could catch some sleep.

I slouched further down into the couch so my head could lean on its back cushions. The reality of what Indie had done tonight started to hit me.

Jesus. She really chanced blowing up a friendship foryou, asshole.

---