Page 48 of Rebound With Me
Nina
“So,you’re the reason he’s been smiling lately.” Tyler’s mom/Eve appears next to me as I stand by the bar, waiting for Vince to return from the restroom. Her curly hair looks adorably insane and she looks like a very happy birthday girl.
“Oh I don’t know. Why—does he not usually?”
“Hah! Mr. Seriously Sexy? I don’t think so.” She smacks my arm with her hand. “I can’t believe it’s you!”
“How’s Tyler?”
“He’s great! He’s with his sperm donor dad for the week, at Fire Island. He really loved you as a teacher,” she gushes, with her hand to her heart. “You really opened him up. Where’s Roxy? I told her you were here, she flipped out. We’re always talking about how you turned things around for Ty.”
“I appreciate you saying that, but he probably would have started to open up anyway as he got older.”
“No. It was you. Let’s hope you can work the same magic on our boy Vince. Turn his life around. Wouldn’t that be nice.”
I smile. “Actually, I think it’s safe to say that he’s the one who’s turning my life around.”
“I’m sure, but still.” She waves her hand. “Thank God that Sadie’s gone. Ech. He was always in such a bad mood when he was with her those last few months.” She shudders.
Someone comes up behind Eve and hugs her. She looks back to see who it is and screams, and thus ends our conversation. I wish we could have talked longer.
I hear Vince call my name. I see him standing with two other men and a lady. They are all staring at me, and Vince waves me over.
The older man looks like a heavyset present-day Alec Baldwin and the younger man looks like a bigger more angular version of Vince. The middle-aged woman standing in between them looks unequivocally happy to be near them and I can see why. The Devlins all have the cool-sexy-handsome gene. God help us.
The woman waves at me, holds out her hand. “I’m Sharon! It’s nice to meet you!”
“This is my Dad’s girlfriend,” Vince says, and Sharon starts beaming like he just said she’s the queen of the universe.
I shake her hand. “Hi I’m Nina, it’s very nice to meet you.”
“This is my Dad, Neil Devlin.”
Neil Devlin has a poker face and mischievous dark eyes. He looks down at me as he shakes my hand, saying nothing.
“How do you do.”
He bows his head and slow-blinks his eyes, watching me. I can’t tell if he hates me or not.
The bigger, bolder version of Vince, who has been studying me while standing very still and holding a tumbler, takes my hand and doesn’t really shake it, doesn’t let go of it either. “You really dating this idiot?”
“My brother, Gabe.” Vince is shaking his head, amused.
“Hi, Gabe. Yes, I really am.”
“Well, you ever want to hang with a real man, you come see me.”
“And then he’ll send you to the real man in the family—me—and I’ll send you back to Vince.”
“And I will keep you the hell away from these assholes from now on.”
Sharon giggles as Neil puts his arm around her.
“The new nanny watching Charlie tonight?” Vince asks his father.
“Yeah. Karen.” He looks at me. “We hire a sixty year-old nanny this time and this one can’t even remember her name.”
Good to know.
