Page 62 of The Jackpot Screwer
“Hey, sis. If you see Mom and Dad, you haven’t seen me. Okay?”
I pulled Ellie to a stop. “Hang on. Why? What you up to?”
He glanced around the field and as I watched his eyes linger in a corner by the Slip ‘n’ Slide, I spotted Peggy Browning. Her gaze seemed to be most definitely in my little brother’s direction.
“Is she why you don’t want me to tell Mom and Dad I’ve seen you?”
Austen colored up and shifted his feet. “No.”
“Oh my God,” Ellie cried. “Peggy is why you were asking Carter and Hunter for sex advice, isn’t she?”
“So, you did talk to Carter, about sex.” I hissed at Austen, before swiveling around to look at Ellie. “He asked those two idiots for sex advice?” I then turned back to my brother. “Why didn’t you ask me and Ellie? We could have given you some real good stuff to work on.”
Austen took a step back and grimaced. “Ugh no. The point is you haven’t seen me. Okay. Oh, and Ellie,” he said curling his lip at her. “Tell Hunter he’s a snitch and I won’t be asking for his help again. He was pretty crappy anyways.”
Ellie gasped. “Hunter is the best at sex. How can you say he was crappy? There is nothing crappy about Hunter where sex is concerned.”
“Ellie, please,” I groaned and then turned back to Austen. “Actually, what the hell are you doing asking about sex? You’re fourteen.”
“Fifteen.” He grumbled and turned to walk away. “I’m not going to do anything stupid, don’t worry.”
“Make sure you don’t,” I called after him. “You’re only fourt-.”
“Fifteen, yeah, yeah, I know.” He waved me away and then jogged off in the direction of Peggy who was looking at him like he was a long, cold drink in a desert. God, the kids started young nowadays.
“How could you not tell me that my little brother was asking for sex advice?”
Ellie shrugged and carried on her path toward her cowboy. “Didn’t have a chance and it’s not like either of those two will have given him any good tips.”
“I thought you said that Hunter was great at sex. There’s nothing crappy about Hunter where sex is involved is what you said.”
“There isn’t, but you really think he or my brother telling Austen to ‘make sure you give it to her good and mix up the positions during every session, buddy’, is what he needs to hear.” She threw her hands in the air. “They’d never think to tell him to whack off before his first time to make it last longer, or to imagine her nipple is a juicy popsicle. Am I right?”
She had a point and her voice, a cross between Carter and Hunter, was pretty spot on to be fair. Not feeling the need to say anything else, we continued on. As we reached them, my heart tumbled as I saw Mindy smile and wink at Carter and then walk away with her group of friends.
“Hey, baby.” Hunter immediately pulled Ellie into his arms and kissed her hard. It was so full on it even made me blush.
“Lollipop, you want the breakfast burrito?”
My tumbling heart actually deflated and fell right down to the pit of my stomach. He hadn’t noticed I was wearing his shirt, or that I’d taken extra time on my hair and make-up. Actually, he wasn’t even looking at me, but his gaze was over my shoulder.
“Hang on, hold that, I just need to catch up with…” He didn’t finish his sentence, but when I turned to watch him, Carter had run over to chat to a group of women I recognized from my yoga group. I say my yoga group, Ellie and I had been twice but after Ellie farted in downward dog position, she never wanted to set foot in the place again. Like a good friend I supported her, and we’d decided to drink wine at Stars & Stripes between seven-thirty and eight-forty-five every Tuesday instead.
“So, you ladies want the usual?” Hunter asked, evidently having had his fill of Ellie for the time being.
“Hmm?” I asked, distractedly, my eyes still on Carter laughing with the yoga women.
“Breakfast burrito?” Hunter smiled and tugged at my elbow.
I turned to him and narrowed my eyes. “What’s Carter doing with those women? And why was Mindy all giggly with him.”
Hunter cleared his throat. “Not sure what you mean,” he said, with a shake of his head before turning to Ellie. “Breakfast burrito, cutie pie?”
Hunter’s face told me something was going on, and the fact that Carter couldn’t wait to get away from me, told me everything I needed to know.
“You know what,” I said, putting a hand on Hunter’s arm. “I’m feeling a little queasy, so you both get breakfast and I’ll catch you later.”
“Bronte,” Ellie whined. “It’s tradition.”
