“Russ, stop.” Lisa must’ve read my face because she patted her husband’s hand and cast me an apologetic look. “Reagan is a big girl. If she’s having trouble, she’ll tell you.”
“I don’t want you trying to deal with that kind of bullshit by yourself, Reagan. That’s all.”
I nodded. “I appreciate that.”
After a few seconds, Russ groaned. “You’re not going to say anything else? Is he bothering you? Is he still calling that much? Does August need to file a report against him?”
Lisa sighed and sat back in her chair. “Brownies, anyone?”
I looked over at my nieces. “You two should help Mom, okay?”
Piper sighed. “Grown-ups always say that when they want to yell at each other.”
Posie groaned and dragged her feet as she stood up and moved away. “They think we don’t know anything.”
As soon as they were gone, I leaned closer to my brother and spoke quietly. “While I appreciate your concern, I have been taking care of myself for ten years, Russ. There’s no need for you to bring Ben up in front of everyone and especially in front of the girls. What if you scared them? Ben is not an issue. He’s a sore loser who’s pissed that he can’t have his cake and eat it, too. Not a serial killer, coming for my skin. Take it easy on the chest-beating, would you?”
Russ scowled. “How about you don’t say things like serial killer and coming for your skin and I won’t panic?”
Lisa came back into the room and handed out brownies. She placed a plate in front of me and winked, but I was too focused on making Russ shut up to pay attention. I took a big bite and chewed, silently worried that Lisa wasn’t a great baker by the taste of things, before going back in on Russ.
“I love you, but you don’t need to panic. Or ever bring up my love life at dinner ever again. Okay?”
He rolled his eyes but I could see his shoulders sinking as he relaxed. “Just promise me that if he doesn’t let up, you’ll let me know.”
I nodded. “Sure.”
Lisa giggled as she watched me eating my brownie and winked again. “Poker night is the best.”
My brain finally caught up to my taste buds and I dropped my special brownie back on the plate, although it was just a few crumbs at that point. Staring at the brownie and then at Lisa, and then at August, I swore loud enough that everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at me.
“What is it?”
I cleared my throat and took a big gulp of water. “Nothing. Nothing, at all. Should we play poker now, or…”
I was going to murder Lisa. I’d consumed most of her special brownie without meaning to and I could only imagine how it was going to hit me when I was sitting next to Charlie and across from Theo and August.
I was screwed.