Page 129 of Savage Suit
“That’s why we have these lunches, dumbass. To stay up to date about each other’s lives.”
I didn’t know where to begin.
“Soraya thought your deer-in-the-headlight look when Ryan walked in on you two hilarious.” Graham chuckled. “You couldn’t explain you hugged Soraya because she gave you a head’s up about a letter she intended to publish from the Concerned Sister.”
I gave him a dark look.
“Stop dodging my damn question, Noah,” Graham ordered, unperturbed. “If you’re not up for a long story, simplify it.”
There was no simplifying my clusterfuck. My hangover raged on, and my head pounded, but I needed some fucking advice, so I eased into the subject.
“It’s Ryan.”
He considered me for a moment, before realization dawned in his eyes, and they widened. “You fucked her?” he exclaimed louder than I would’ve liked.
“Quiet the fuck down.”
“What about her?”
“After Soraya left, Ryan and I didn’t have sex, but I did fucking kiss her.”
We had sex, just not yesterday. I couldn’t bring myself to admit how I couldn’t control myself around her. It was the most fucked-up kind of karma.
“You kissed her. What’s the issue? Your technique? Your timing? Did she not like it?”
“She loved it,” I snapped, “but you’re missing the point.”
“It seems so. I can’t say hello to you lately without hearing about her, so what’s the issue?”
“The issue is she fucking works for me!” I exclaimed, dropping my hands to my side to glare at Graham.
“Look, man, I’ve never been in your situation, so I can’t offer you too much advice. But the two of you share an attraction. As consenting adults, what’s the problem?”
As my story concluded, Anna returned, carrying a tray of food.
“Here you guys are.” She set the dishes down and smiled. “Enjoy!”
Alone again, we dug into our meal, silence falling over us.
“What else is going on in your life?” Graham questioned, halfway through our eating. He shoved a forkful of chicken into his mouth.
“Work.” Besides Graham, I counted only one or two other people as friends, since almost everyone only wanted to use me.
“How exciting. How’s your family?”
My siblings were the poster children of people who wanted to use me. “Nicholas and Tina are fine. Rosalie’s husband is a dumbass, unable to handle money. Remy is touring Europe, then she’s going to East Asia. Nathaniel’s life is a shitshow.”
“Didn’t he crash your car some weeks back?”
“Yep. Now the girl he borrowed it for is pregnant.”
Nathaniel’s irresponsibility still astonished me. My perception of him changed slightly after his surprising defense of me.
Graham’s eyes widened. “Jesus!” He sounded as horrified as me. “Nathaniel’s going to be a father?”
“I can’t believe it either.”
After learning of his fling with Megan, I couldn’t picture my irresponsible playboy brother as a family man. May the Lord have mercy on that child. He swore he loved Alessia and wouldn’t cheat because he was determined to marry her.
