“Fine.” Raising his voice so he sounds like a prepubescent boy, he asks, “Have youmade loveto her?”
I smack him with my baseball cap. “No. Not that it’s any of your business, but we’ve been hanging out.”
“Is ‘hanging out’ code for some other sexual activity? Oral? Anal?” With a devilish grin, he adds, “You know, some girls don’t consider anal to be sex.”
This is why every father in a twenty-mile radius locks up his daughter when Logan Carter’s around.
Undeterred by my scowl, he elbows me. “Bro, if things were moving forward with Tori, why didn’t you say something to me? Every time I brought her up this week, you changed the subject. In fact, when she came home last weekend, youtoldme you weren’t making a play for her.”
“Have you considered that maybe I wanted to keep it to myself? That this is personal, and I don’t feel like announcing shit to you so you can make light of it?” Even now I don’t like talking about this. Not when everything with Tori is so new.
A beat goes by before he scratches his head. “Tori didn’t seem like it was a big deal, you going out with Sandra.”
“Sure she didn’t,” I say dryly.
He lifts his chin. “You falling for her?”
Shrugging, I lean back. “I like the girl. Isn’t that enough? She’s fun and sweet and beautiful, and she doesn’t make me feel like an asshole for working long hours. Does that meet with your approval, Mr. Dating Expert?”
This answer doesn’t appease him like I think it should because his brows pull tight.
“What about this isn’t working for you, Logan? You’re the one who suggested I hang out with Tori in the first place.”
“I’m worried, okay?”
“Why are you worried?” I point the remote back to the TV, ready to tune him out.
“Because this sounds serious all of a sudden and you’re only now getting out of a goddamn marriage. One you didn’t want, I might add, and you’re already diving into something else that’s way too ambitious. I thought you might get up close and horizontal with Tori, not fall for her.”
Now I’m getting pissed. “Why are you saying I didn’t want my marriage? I busted my ass to make it work with Allison.”
“Calm your tits.” He waves his hand like he’s trying to figure out what to say. “Can you honestly say you would’ve married Allison if she hadn’t gotten pregnant?”
That gives me pause. I drag my palm across my chin. “It’s hard to say. After graduation, she wanted to return to Dallas to be near her family, and I always planned on coming home. We hadn’t discussed anything serious before Mila came along, but I always cared for her.”
“That’s my point. Had she not gotten pregnant, you guys would’ve gone your separate ways.”
“Maybe.” All this talk about relationships is making me anxious. I finally flip on the TV, click the DVR, and immediately regret it when the Astros game from last night flashes on the screen.
Logan clears his throat. “Sorry if I messed things up with Tori. I swear I didn’t know you really had a thing for her, beyond thinking she was hot.” If there’s any consolation, it’s that my brother is more clueless sometimes than I am. “You gonna call her?”
“Already tried. She’s not picking up.”
He bumps my elbow. “Try again. You know you wanna.”
I do. Reaching for my back pocket, I slide out my phone and hit her name. It rings. Once. Twice.
Logan and I look at each other when we feel buzzing and then down at the couch. He reaches behind a cushion to pull out Tori’s phone.
That explains why she’s not picking up.
He scrolls through the messages visible on the lock screen, the nosey jerk.
“Don’t snoop.” I snatch it out of his hand and toss it on the coffee table.
“She’s popular, bro. All her friends want her to go out this weekend.” He tries to show me, but I wave him off. “I’m only saying you better get on this stat before she…”
His voice fades, and I turn to him. “Before she what?”
