Page 17 of Bodyguard Baby Daddy

Sophie grins, and Sebastian turns to me, his eyes wide.

“I don’t think either of you wants that,” she says, seriously now. “I don’t think either of you wants that at all.” She sits down in the car, and they pull away. She’s already got her phone out and is making another call.

Sebastian and I watch her drive away. We stand for a few beats in silence, listening to the grasshoppers chirping in the grass. The banana tree on the corner of the block is drooping, and I feel exactly the same.

“Guess I’ll get my things then,” Sebastian says. He turns to say something else, hope on his face at an idea. Then he just smiles and walks off.

Suddenly, my heart is racing.

What has just happened?

I fold the passenger mirror down and look at myself.

What just happened?

Chapter 7

Sebastian

Thefirstfewmilesare awkward as fuck. I don’t mean that as an exaggeration, I mean that we’re like kids who just learned their parents are away for the weekend and they finally have a chance to bump uglies.

Mimi and I are heading down I-85 North and listening to the eighties channel in the van. Teddy Pendergrass is telling us about how he wants to shower together and break out the oils…

I know my mind’s racing and I can only bet hers is too. I can still feel the curve of her body still in my mind and in my hands. What an ass…

Andwhat an ass I am.The awkwardness is this tiny wall between us from me having jammed my foot in my mouth the other day. All because I tried to explain things by telling her who her brother is…

“Mimi…” I begin, as I pull out from behind a truck and overtake it. “About the other day.” She looks up from her phone and waits for me to finish. I’m pausing constantly and evaluating every single damn syllable I’m uttering. “I want to apologize.”

“What for?” She doesn’t skip a beat.

“Um, the way I, ugh, explained things.”

“You mean how you hooked up with me and then explained it all as me being Carlos’ sister?”

I purse my lips and look at her. “You’re really not gonna make it easy for me?”

Mimi laughs. “Hell no! What kind of apology was that?”

“I didn’t get to apologize.”

“And you’re trying now by bringing it back up?” She shakes her head. “Unbelievable. How you kept a girlfriend for a couple years is beyond me.”

“Well, Lindsey didn’t make me nervous. You make me nervous.” That shuts her up. Mimi goes a shade of red, like she’s a nearly ripe tomato. “I just, the reason I bring up Carlos is—”

“I really don’t want to hear about my brother if that’s the reason you won’t be honest with me,” Mimi says, her hands cutting the importance of each word she says. “How long did you know he was back anyhow?”

“I picked him up from the airport,” I admit. “He called and asked for help.”

Mimi shakes her head. “He’s always needing help. I wonder when he’s gonna help himself?” She says it to herself more than me.

I let the silence grow for a bit. I merge back into the slower lane, and we continue driving. Teddy’s gone, and so is the song about hot oils, I breathe easier for a few beats. Only for Lionel Ritchie to begin crooning away. I sigh.

“Just change the channel,” Mimi says, rolling her eyes and switching the radio station. “Okay look,” she has her hands up again, like she’s mediating a boxing match. “Let’s put theothernight behind us. We’ve been placed in this van by afriend,let’s call her, and need to be in proximity of each other until it’s all finished. If you keep bumbling along with apologies and makingus both nervous, we’ll just be bickering like an old couple again. We won’t survive by the time we arrive.”

I go to speak, but Mimi cuts me off.

“We need to survive,” she finishes. She’s pointing at the road too. “If we keep imagining each other because of the damn radio crooning to us, we’re both gonna be going a little nuts.”

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