When I opened my mouth to speak, Ty interrupted me. “Our time is about up. Why don’t you pedal us back to the docks, and then I’ll buy you an ice cream.”
I snorted. “This was your idea. You pedal back.”
“Fine, then you have to buy me ice cream,” he insisted.
“I’ll give you anything you want if I don’t have to pedal this damn boat back to the dock,” I assured him.
“Anything?” he asked, with a wicked grin.
“Anything,” I purred, and Ty definitely seemed motivated to get us back to the dock quickly.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ty
This was my first time meeting up with Chelsea since I’d kicked Jason’s ass at her studio. It wasn’t like I hung out with my older sister all the time, but I was still worried she was avoiding me. I found her already in our usual booth at our favorite hole in the wall diner. The place hadn’t been a hole in the wall when we were kids, but it had definitely seen better days, as evidenced by the duct tape on the seats in our booth.
“You’re late,” she complained without looking up from her menu.
I’d never figured out why Chelsea looked at the menu since she’d been ordering the Philly cheese steak with onion rings for as long as we’d been coming here. Even if I met her for breakfast, she talked them into making Philly cheese steak for her, but she still looked at the menu like she didn’t know what she wanted.
“I figured I’d better give you more time to decide what you want. You always have a hard time making a decision,” I teased. “So, what’s it going to be today? Wait, let me use my psychic abilities to predict what you’ll order.”
“Brat,” she shot back, before returning her attention to the menu.
Our usual waitress, Nadine, slowly made her way to our table. This was her restaurant, and while she’d technically retired and left it to her son, she still showed up to work most days, claiming her son couldn’t handle things without her.
“Can I get you kids the usual?” she asked with the same disapproving scowl she always wore. When I was younger, I thought that scowl meant she didn’t like us, but I’d grown to believe she loved me. I might just be delusional regarding Nadine’s feelings for me, but it was better than believing she hated me enough to spit in my food.
“Yes, please,” I replied, since I’d been having the turkey burger for the last five years and still wasn’t tired of it.
“I’ll have the turkey club with coleslaw, please,” Chelsea replied.
Nadine just stared at her until Chelsea explained herself. “I’m trying to get out of the rut I’m in.”
Nadine nodded and walked off, satisfied with Chelsea’s explanation. As always, she didn’t take our drink orders. Nadine hadn’t taken a drink order from us since she’d decided we drank too much soda. We’d get juice of her choosing and like it, if we were lucky. Some days, she said juice had too much sugar, and we got water.
“Why the sudden feeling you’re in a rut?” I asked my sister.
She shrugged without looking at me.
“Chels,” I pushed. “Talk to me. I know something’s bothering you, and I want to help. Is this about that shit with Jason?”
“It’s definitely not about Jason,” she replied with a shake of her head. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
“You don’t ever have to worry about saying something to make me think you’re crazy,” I assured her. “I already think you’re crazy.”
“Brat,” she shot back.
Rather than pushing, I stared at her, knowing my sister would break soon.
“Fine, I’ll tell you,” she grumbled. “Since you’ve been dating Brook, she’s been busy, so we haven’t hung out. Delaney’s working on a new book, and she’s having some issues with the story, so she’s been busy, too.”
“Delaney’s books have a story?” I asked, mostly because I’d always assumed they were one sex scene after another.
“Of course, they have a story,” she replied with an eye roll. “Even bad porn has a story.”
“Not much of one,” I argued.
“I’ll have to take your word on that subject since you seem to be the porn expert,” she stated.
With my sister’s knack for embarrassing me, it came as no surprise Nadine picked that moment to return with our drinks. She gave me a disapproving frown. “Does your mother know you’re watching those movies?”
“I don’t watch them,” I insisted.
Nadine let out a snort. “The next time your parents are in here, I’m going to have a talk with them about your behavior. Am I making myself clear, Tyler?”
Chelsea, my traitorous sister, looked more than a little amused. “I’m glad you’re going to talk to them about this,” she told Nadine. “Tyler’s obsession with those movies has gotten out of hand if he’s willing to discuss them with his own sister in a family restaurant.”
Nadine walked off, muttering something about me ending up with hair on my palms.
“Great,” I complained. “Now, Mom is going to call to ask why I’m talking about porn with you in front of Nadine.” While I didn’t have anything against porn, what guy wants his mom to know he watches it?
“Would it help if I told you Mom knew about the dirty movies you had when you were a teen?” she asked sweetly. “She also saw your magazines.”
“No! That most certainly would not help. Please tell me you’re joking, and Mom didn’t really find any of that stuff in my room.”
The only answer I got was a grin, leaving me wondering if she was just fucking with me. It was hard to tell with my sister.
“Even if she did find it, this could be worse,” I said with a shrug.
“You mean, like if Mom called Grandma to ask how she should handle finding your porn?” Chelsea asked.
“She didn’t!” I said louder than I’d meant to. “You’re joking, right?”
Again, my sister refused to answer.
“Are you punishing me because you’re feeling left out since I’ve started dating Brook?” I asked.
“I didn’t say I was feeling left out,” she argued.
“You said your friends have been too busy for you,” I reminded her. “I’ll give up some of my time with Brook so you can see her. Will that make you feel better?”
“Are you offering to set up a play date for me?” she asked with a laugh.
“That sounded really stupid, didn’t it?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied. “We already have plans to get together soon. Delaney should be wrapping up this book in a week, and then we’re going to hang out. That’s not the issue. I just realized I have this set schedule, and it bothers me when anything changes. I feel like I dealt with my break from Jason by trying to become the ultimate control freak. I even do my laundry on a set schedule. I eat the same things on Tuesday because they are my Tuesday foods. Last Saturday, when my friends were busy, I had no clue what to do with myself because the only time we don’t hang out on Saturday is when I have a photo shoot.”
“And now, you’re trying to change things up,” I finished for her.
“To be honest, this is my first change, but I have to start somewhere, right?”
“Sure, Chels,” I agreed.
“Don’t patronize me, Tyler,” she warned. “I’ll make you pay if you do. Why did you want to meet me for lunch?” she asked without giving me time to respond to her threat.
“So, now I need a reason to have lunch with my only sister?”
Chelsea gave me a stern look, much like my mom’s, and waited for me to say more.
“Okay, I did have a reason this time,” I admitted. “Other than wanting to make sure you’re okay, which was part of the reason.”
“And the other reason?” she prompted.
“I hate my job,” I stated.
“Duh. Uncle Calvin is probably the only person who doesn’t realize how much you hate your job. If you’re asking me to talk to him for you, the answer is no. Put on your big boy pan
ties and talk to him.”
“Big boy panties?” I asked.
“Listen, Tyler,” she began with a sweet smile. “I understand you prefer to skip underwear because it just gets in the way.”
“Gets in the way?” I asked, even though I should know better than to give my sister any opening.
“I’m worried about you, Tyler,” she continued, looking genuinely concerned. “Between the porn and your hours of masturbation, you’re missing out on too much of life. Start with wearing underwear, and then we’ll work on the next step.”
The grunt from my side grabbed my attention, and I found Nadine glaring at me. Apparently, this time, she was too disappointed to even scold me. Instead, she stormed off. “Great!” I began, stifling my own laughter. “Now, I’ll need to find a new place to eat. Nadine is never going to get over me being a sexual deviant.”
“This has been the most fun I’ve had in weeks,” Chelsea said, reining in her giggles. “So, what are you going to do after you quit working for Uncle Calvin?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” I began, reaching into my laptop bag to grab the envelope. I hesitated for a moment before sliding the envelope across the table to my sister. “What do you think of these?”
Chelsea opened the envelope and took out the pictures. One thing I did to pass the time while watching for evidence of cheating spouses was take pictures. I had a camera, anyway, and it gave me something to do. People also seemed less suspicious of me standing around with a camera if I was taking photos of my surroundings. Then, if I just happened to snap a photo of a cheating wife kissing her lover, no one thought anything of it. I’d first come up with the idea when it had been much too hot to hang out in my car for hours, and I’d ended up enjoying my time much more. It wasn’t until recently that I’d considered making a career out of photography.
“These are really good, Tyler,” she praised after examining the photos.
“I was wondering if I could work with you,” I told my sister, and the grin that lit up her face told me she liked the idea. “You know, take pictures, kick Jason’s ass if he shows up. That sort of thing.”
“How are you with photo editing?” she asked.
“Not very good,” I admitted.
“There are some online classes and some classes at community colleges,” she began. “I’m going to send you a list when I get back to my studio. Get signed up, talk to Uncle Calvin, and then we’ll arrange for you to start working with me.”
“Thanks, Chels,” I said with a grin. “I was a little worried you wouldn’t want to work with your own brother.”
“Just promise me you’ll get some help with your porn addiction,” she pleaded loudly when Nadine was within earshot.
I loved my sister, even if she could be an evil bitch at times.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Brook
Visiting Luke at the classroom he’d soon be teaching in brought back a lot of memories, and I laughed as one particular memory came to mind.
“What’s so funny?” Luke asked when he walked out of the supply room behind his desk.
“I was just thinking about the first back to school night I went to for you,” I explained.
Luke chuckled. “That was crazy. No one believed you were my stepmom.”
I nodded, still grinning at the memory. “I didn’t even tell you the worst part of that experience.”
“What happened?” Luke looked intrigued and uneasy at the same time.
“As you know, your English teacher, Mr. Brandon, was determined to prove I was a fraud,” I reminded Luke.
“Yeah,” Luke grumbled. “It was a major pain in the ass being called into the principal’s office and accused of hiring you to pretend to be my stepmom for whatever reason. I’m still not sure why they would think I’d do that for fucking back to school night when half the parents don’t even show up.”
“They assumed you were setting things up to have me excuse you from classes and meet with teachers so your parents wouldn’t hear if you were in trouble,” I explained. “I still have no idea why they would think you’d need that. You were a great student.”
“I can’t believe they thought I was that clever,” Luke added. “I still don’t get why Mr. Brandon had it in for me.”
“After demanding to see my ID, which of course, didn’t have Robinson as my last name because I never got around to changing it, the jerk commented on how nice it was that I was legal and asked me out,” I explained.
Luke’s jaw dropped. “He’s married.”
“I noticed his ring and commented on it, but he said a little tramp pretending to be someone’s stepmom had no room to question his morality,” I added.
“That bastard,” Luke spat out. “If I didn’t think I’d get fired, I’d track him down after school starts and kick his skinny ass.”
I laughed at Luke’s rage. “I’m pretty sure Mrs. Brandon took care of that for us. She came in as I was telling him I would never sleep with him, and she was not amused. I’m guessing that’s why he was so determined to prove we were involved in some elaborate scheme.”
Luke studied me with an almost bemused expression. “We’ve been through a lot, haven’t we?”
“We certainly have,” I agreed, tears burning the backs of my eyes. “I’m so proud of all you’ve accomplished.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he insisted, looking uncomfortable with the emotional turn of the conversation, even though he’d been the one to start it.
“It’s me who couldn’t have done it without you,” I argued. “I came into your life knowing next to nothing about how a healthy family is supposed to work.”
“Considering what assholes my parents are, I’d say we were about even on that,” he insisted.
“We learned together,” I said, reaching out to grab his hand and give it a gentle squeeze before releasing it.
“I want you to be happy, Brook,” he stated. “I feel like I took away this big chunk of your life.”
I rolled my eyes, which made him chuckle. “Fine,” he relented. “I know you don’t feel that way.”
“If you don’t stop saying things like that, I’m going to have to hug you and tell you how much I love you,” I threatened.
“I’ll behave!” he insisted, his hands up in surrender. “How are things going with Ty?” he asked, probably to change the subject.
“I almost messed things up after talking to my crazy mother,” I admitted.
Luke shook his head. “Ty’s not going to let you mess this up. You mean too much to him. I was worried you wouldn’t give him a chance because he’s my friend. I thought it might be awkward.”
“It was,” I admitted before adding, “In some ways, it still is awkward. I mean, being with Ty feels perfectly natural, but when I’m standing here with you reminiscing, it reminds me of how young Ty was when we met.”
“Five years was a big deal back then, but it’s not now,” he pointed out.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “Any luck with the online dating?”
“Nah,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I’m putting it on hold until after school starts.”
“Maybe you’re having so much trouble because you’ve already met the right woman,” I suggested, which earned me a laugh from Luke.
“The women I meet all want me to take care of them,” he complained. “They start out seeming strong, but then they’re calling me to kill spiders and change light bulbs. One even called me to change the batteries in her smoke detector because she couldn’t figure out what size to put in it.”
I had to laugh at the thought of someone being that helpless.
“It’s not like I need someone who can resurface a deck or change the oil on their own car,” Luke continued. “Although, that would be really hot. I’m just not into the helpless type.”
“You’ll find the right woman,” I assured him. “Now that I’ve seen your classroom, are you going to take me for lunch?”
“I thought you were paying,” he teased. “I’m just a poor teacher. You’re the successful business owner.”
“Fine,” I relented. “Greasy burgers are on me.”
“Now, that’s what I call a celebration of my new job,” Luke said with a grin.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Brook
Ty arrived at my house at exactly six in the evening, just in time for dinner. I wasn’t much of a cook, but I could make simple things. Thankfully, Ty was an excellent cook, one thing I’d loved discovering about him even if it did mean extra gym visits. I’d thought my sexy handyman fantasy was hot, but it was nothing compared to my sexy chef fantasy, which Ty had made a reality. There was nothing quite like walking downstairs to find a man cooking breakfast in nothing but his boxers.
Since I’d let Ty keep the extra key to my house, he let himself in and met me in the kitchen.
“Hey, beautiful,” he drawled, holding out the box he was carrying. “I’ve got a package for you.”
Looking down at the front of his pants, I raised an eyebrow. “Is that really the best line you could come up with?”
Ty laughed. “Let’s hope I never have to resort to anything that cheesy. This was on your porch, so I brought it in.”
Setting the package on the table, Ty moved toward me with determined strides. As soon as his spicy scent reached me, I felt the first pulses of lust. One arm slipped around my lower back, pulling me close to his body. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against mine. “What’s in this unmarked package?” he murmured against my lips. “Did you buy more naughty toys for me to use on you?”
I wasn’t sure how Ty expected me to think when he was this close. “I haven’t ordered anything, but now, I think I should order some new toys for you to use.”
“I really like the sound of that,” he praised. “Shall we see what’s in your unmarked package?”
Dirty at 30 (Love Without Batteries Book 1) Page 15