Brent is a bad influence. I don’t like to open up and talk about things and it hits me as I’m driving to his shop that he got me to do that last night without me even thinking twice about it. Okay, so it’s a good thing and probably a sign I trust him, but still. It’s a little unnerving that I’m able to confide in him so easily. And look at how easily he was able to convince me to come meet his brothers.
Bad, bad influence. In the best possible way, I know.
But I’m super nervous about meeting his brothers. I’d rather discreetly drop off the pizza and run away. I’m not a wimp, so when I park, I take a moment to compose myself before reaching over to grab the two pizza boxes and get out of my car. I should’ve texted Brent first to let him know I’m here because when I walk inside, I don’t see him.
A man notices me and walks over. “Can I help you, ma’am?” Maybe he’s related to Brent since he has the whole ma’am thing down.
“Is Brent around?” I scan the big open space, hoping he appears.
Before he can answer, a car pulls into one of the bays and relief pours through me. Brent. He gets out of the car and says, “Hey, Jamie. Sorry I wasn’t here.” He glances over his shoulder and shouts, “Peter! Lunch break.” Brent walks over to me, kisses me on the cheek while taking the pizza boxes, and whispers, “You really brought pizza.”
“I told you I would,” I whisper back.
He laughs. “They’ll really love you.” He faces both of his brothers who smirk. “Ronnie, Peter, this is my girlfriend, Jamie. Jamie, these are my dumbass brothers.”
“Nice to meet you both,” I say.
“We knew there had to be a woman for him to be working less and leaving on time,” Ronnie, the one I first met, says. “It’s nice to meet you,” he adds as an afterthought.
“Yes, it is,” Peter agrees.
“She brought lunch if you’re hungry.” Brent lifts the pizza boxes. When Ronnie steps forward, Brent hands him one of the boxes.
“Oh, no,” Ronnie says. “You can’t bring her here to meet us and then sneak her away to your office. We’re all having lunch together.”
“No,” Brent says in that no-further-discussions tone. “I only brought her so y’all wouldn’t bug me about if I had a woman. Now, you know I do and you can leave me alone.”
His tone must have no effect on his brothers because Peter says, “But now we need to know more. Don’t be rude, Brent.” Peter walks over to me, hooks his arm through mine and whisks me toward Brent’s office in one swift move. “You can ask us anything you want to know about Brent.”
I smile, wider when I hear Brent say, “I’ll tell you anything you want to know, Jamie.”
“Yeah, but will your answer match ours?” Ronnie asks.
“Probably not,” Peter answers.
Brent steals me away from Peter and we sit on the couch. Ronnie and Peter drag two chairs over to sit in front of us and Ronnie also grabs some napkins. As napkins and pizza are passed around, I’m asked what I would like to know about Brent.
What would I like to know? It would be interesting to get their perspectives, too. I ask the first question that comes to mind. “What is Brent’s worst habit?”
Peter leans back in his chair. “Easy. He’s a workaholic.”
“I am not,” Brent argues.
“What do you normally do with your free time?” Ronnie asks him.
Brent glares at him and I laugh. “He does what he likes to do: work,” I answer for him. “Name something else; I’m not worried about him working.”
Both of his brothers shake their heads. “He’s brainwashed her already,” Ronnie says to Peter. “Another bad habit is he can have a bit of a temper.”
“Really?” I glance over at Brent.
“What they mean is once I get pissed, I’m pissed. That’s all.”
He definitely doesn’t need to meet my parents, then. He gets mildly riled up when I talk about them. There’s no telling how he’ll respond when he actually meets them and hears the things they say without thinking come straight from their mouths.
“Okay, well, what’s something y’all would like to tell me that Brent would probably prefer you didn’t?”
Ronnie and Peter grin at the same time. Brent grumbles under his breath. I pat his leg and then take a bite of my slice of pizza while Ronnie speaks first.