Page 74 of Brew
“Seems kinda basic. Be decent. Give your wife what she wants. Protect her and her kid above all other things. Be loyal. For better or worse…”
I must be in the twilight zone. This isBrew. My grumpy boss. The man who spent almost two years practically mute, aside from the odd directive. A man who can be brutal and yet he’s fiercely loyal.
“Did you hit your head?”
“Not that I’m aware of, let me check.” I hear a shuffle, then he says, “Nope, no bleedin’.”
“Brew, you’re being ridiculous, and it’s late,” I sigh, yawning. “I need to be up in four hours.”
“Did you want me to come over and read you a bedtime story?”
This man has me enduring so many emotions. Shock. Disbelief. Lust. I’m laughing. I’m crying. I’m a mess.
“Very funny.”
“Get some rest, we can talk about this tomorrow,” he says.
“Brew, there’s nothing to talk about. We’re not getting married.”
“Sex might be off the cards then, on a matter of principle.”
I can’t work out if he’s taking the mickey. If it were anyone else, I’d say yes, they were, but with Brew he never does anything without conviction.
“Go to sleep.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I hang up, then stare at my phone. I know Brew isn’t a big drinker, so he isn’t drunk. He’s also not on drugs, so that can’t explain it. Is he just saying what I want to hear? I can’t imagine him agreeing to anything as crazy as marriage, but now I know I’m never going to get to sleep after that conversation.
I snuggle back under the duvet. Today wasn’t just a lot, it was a turning point.
I know he instigated it, but I also took charge. I’ve always believed it’s sinful to lust after someone, to do what we did, but I’ve also never experienced someone as considerate and caring as Brew. Okay, he may have pushed me up against a wall and had his way with me, but that’s beside the point. Maybe I’m turning a new leaf after all, or maybe Brew just brings out the wild side in me. Either way, I close my eyes and drift off to sleep because today’s memory was enough to keep me sated, at least until tomorrow.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
Brew
“Hey, Brew,” Olive says as I look up from my screen.
“S’up?”
“Mom and Nova are busy on the computer. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind checking out what I learned today in ASL.”
My heart thunders in my chest.
She’s got some guts, I’ll give her that. Olive knew from last time I wasn’t entirely comfortable, but I’ve since learned to take the giant stick out of my ass and cut the kid some slack.
“They teach you the alphabet yet?“ I ask her.
“I can do some of the alphabet,” she replies. “But that’s it.” She signs the letters perfectly. It could just be me, but she looks a little deflated.
I wasn’t going to do this.
I wastryingnot to do this.
But the kid is getting really disheartened because there isn’t enough time in class to learn how to communicate with her friend. And I know from what Erica has told me she has taken it upon herself to be a kind of mascot for this kid.
