“Deacon! She’s a nice girl. Stop it,” Chloe responded, even though she was also nodding in agreement.
“I didn’t say anything that was untrue. She does whinny when she laughs. CrossFit? Isn’t that like boot camp type shit? I didn’t realize you were in that kind of shape.”
Laughing now, she said, “I’m not. I feel like my arms are going to break off. I’m going to have to get a masseuse to follow me around if I keep this up.”
He responded, “I hate to point out the obvious, but you know you could just not do the classes anymore, right?”
Her voice heavily laden with sarcasm now, she said, “Thank god you didn’t just wash your hands of me when I turned of age, Deacon. I don’t know what I’d do without your expert guidance.”
“Smart-ass,” he responded affectionately. Then he asked, “Anything else going on?”
Her lips twitching now, she said, “Clearly you’ve got something on your mind, Deak. Spit it out.”
“So, you and Chris, huh?” he asked, no longer being subtle.
“I think so. You okay with that?”
“Just be careful. I love you both. I don’t want for shit to get weird,” he said.
Softly, she said, “I love you too. Everything is going to be fine. We’re on the same page, and if that stops being the case, we’ll stop doing whatever we’re doing. We are both adults.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure he’s been into you for a while. Sara mentioned it at your birthday party. He seems laid back, but I think there’s more that goes on under the surface.”
Taken aback, Chloe said, “Are you warning me not to hurt your friend?”
Deacon said, “Don’t get all pissy about it. I basically gave him the same warning. I’m going to be pissed if I have to pick between you at some point. We’re family, and you’ll always win, but he’s been my best friend for over a decade now.”
“I get what you’re saying. I’ve known him just as long as you have. I don’t have any desire to torch a friendship over this either,” Chloe said on a sigh.
“Fair enough,” Deacon said. “You still coming over for Sunday football this coming weekend?”
“Yeah,” Chloe said, “Wouldn’t miss it. Hopefully the Legion will be able to put something together this season. They looked miserable last year.”
“No kidding. Since they cut Lamar Riggs in the off season, not that I blame ‘em, it will be interesting to see if they can put any kind of running game together.”
They spoke for a few more minutes about nothing in particular when her phone beeped, signaling another caller. Quickly checking, she saw it was Chris.
After telling Deacon she had another call she had to take, she agreed that she’d try and grab dinner with him at some point this week, then switched over.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” he said. “How did your case study thing go?”
“Almost done. It’s due on Friday, so I should be able to knock it out over the rest of the week. More than half-done. How was the rest of your day?”
“Good. I got everything done that I wanted to. Took a nap.”
“Jealous. I wrote a paper, did my laundry, went to the grocery store, then got grilled by my brother,” she said.
“Grilled about what?” Chris asked, “Did he want details or something?”
Laughing, she said, “God I hope not. I’m pretty sure they’d make him blush. He basically just warned me to be gentle with you.”
He was silent for a minute and then said, “What!”
Laughing harder now, she said, “You’re his best friend. He cares about you. He knows I’m a wicked seductress that pulls unsuspecting prey into her web all the time, so…”