“Well, Livvie is my baby sister.”
“So? I’m barely older than Zach.”
“Older is older. Besides, my father handed me Livvie the day she was born and told me that she was my responsibility to take care of. He said I always had to look out for her.”
“That was quite a bit of irresponsible pressure your father put on you,” I noted.
“Right?” Rex bobbed his head. “Anyway, I took my father’s orders to heart. I always took care of Livvie. Zach has never taken care of you.”
The way he said it—with equal parts disdain and pity—made me want to slam my elbow into his crotch. “I don’t think it’s fair to say that he’s never wanted to take care of us. It’s just that … we were older. We took care of him.”
“That’s what I’m saying. It’s different with big brothers and little sisters.”
Because I feared that he was right, that maybe Zach didn’t love me as much as Rex loved Olivia, I forced myself to go on the offensive. “There are other things you should be worried about.”
“Like what?”
“Well, for starters, you haven’t even asked me if I’m on birth control.”
Rex didn’t immediately panic. “I always use condoms.”
I had some bad news for him. “Not last night you didn’t.”
“I…” His smile faltered. “Wait.” It was obvious he was remembering the same thing I’d remembered two minutes before. “I couldn’t find the condom I usually carry in my wallet.”
“I believe you said you used it on one of the showgirls three days ago and forgot to replace it,” I corrected icily. It was small of me of course, but I got a little thrill when abject horror replaced smugness on his features.
“We didn’t use protection?” Rex’s face drained of color. “I always use protection. I’m always careful.” He gave me a cool look. “You don’t have chlamydia, do you?”
“You’re on my last nerve,” I warned him. “If anybody has chlamydia, it’s you. I mean … you’re the one who sleeps around. I haven’t been with anybody in almost a year.”
Genuine shock reverberated through him. “A year? That’s not possible.”
“Well, it’s not only possible but it’s what happened. It’s been eleven months, three days, and six hours. Although, I guess that clock is no longer ticking.” Was that a relief or not? I honestly couldn’t say. “Huh.”
“So, that’s a no on the chlamydia I’m guessing.” Rex touched his tongue to his top lip. “What about syphilis?”
I lost whatever I had left of my cool. Admittedly, there wasn’t much left. I was overboard and drifting toward Niagara Falls, however. “I’m clear of all of them, you nincompoop. You’re the one who sleeps with everything that moves.”
“Hey, I have standards. I don’t sleep with everything that moves. Just like … half the things that move.”
Oh, well, that made me feel so much better. “You should probably go, Rex.” It wasn’t as if I was expecting a cuddly morning after. Neither of us werethosetypes of people. I hadn’t expected to have to run the qualifying laps for the Idiot Olympics either, though.
“What?” Confusion had his eyebrows knitting. “You want me to go?”
“It’s not as if we’re together.”
“No, but … don’t we need to talk about this?” He didn’t look happy about broaching the subject. He was resigned, however.
“What is there to talk about?” I was baffled. “We got really drunk and had sex. I don’t think we need to dissect it or anything.”
“No, but … shouldn’t we come up with some rules?”
“What sort of rules?” Did he think we were going to do it again or something? He couldn’t possibly.
“Well, I was kind of hoping we could keep the fact that we did it to ourselves.” His cheeks flushed with color when I pinned him with a dark look. “It’s not that I’m afraid of your brother or anything,” he added hastily. “I just don’t want this to turn into a thing.”
“You just told me he didn’t love me, so it wouldn’t matter.”
