All of my sisters should be happy.
“Yes, that’s her,” I reply.
“I didn’t think she wanted to have anything to do with you,” Ben says before he wraps an arm around Beau’s neck and tries to take him to the mat, but Beau twirls and slips out of the hold, pulls Ben’s arm behind his back and plants him in the mat face-down.
“Good one.” I clap once and rub my hands together. Today is going to be fun. “And I told Callie I was going to take her to dinner, and she didn’t argue.”
“You told her?” Beau says.
“I did.”
“Huh.” Beau scratches his cheek and scowls. “I thought you were supposed to ask.”
“If you ask, they can say no,” I reply with a smile.
“True. So, what did you do?” Ben asks.
“I took her to the football game, then back to my place.” Ben and Beau exchange a glance, then both scowl at me.
“Of all of us, you’re the romantic one,” Beau says and takes a swig of his own water. “You took her to a game and then fucked her?”
“I didn’t fuck her,” I reply immediately, then regret it when they both just stare at me speculatively. “I mean, I did fuck her—”
I break off and sigh, and these two yahoos just grin. Damn it.
“So, which was it?” Ben asks.
“And I thought you said you told her you were taking her to dinner?” Beau adds.
“I did. I bought her stadium food.” I walk over and punch the punching bag. “She likes football.”
God, why do I sound so defensive?
“Okay.” Ben nods. “And she was so impressed by your season tickets and popcorn that she begged you to fuck her?”
“It wasn’t that stupid. Or disgusting.” My voice is hard now, and I’m starting to get pissed. I know that in the past I would have laughed with them, and we would have moved on to another topic, but this time it grates. And I’m not sure why. I mean, Callie is a beautiful woman. I set my sights on her, took her out and tumbled her around in my bed.
No harm, no foul. Pretty much the standard operating procedure for me.
“You like her,” Ben says quietly while Beau busts up laughing.
“Of course I like her. I wouldn’t have slept with her if I didn’t like her,” I reply.
“No, you really like her.”
“You sound like a sixteen-year-old girl,” I reply and punch the bag again.
“So, she really was just a quick lay.” Beau nods, wiping his arm over his sweaty forehead.
“I didn’t say that,” I reply, again cursing myself for my fucking mouth. Why can’t I just shut up? Or change the subject?
Ben and Beau simply stand, arms crossed and watch me.
“Shouldn’t you be beating each other up?” I ask.
“This is more interesting,” Beau says.
“Why?”
“Because you’re not the one to get a crush. You enjoy women, you’re good to them, then you move on.”
“Who says I’m not moving on?” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, my stomach rolls. I don’t want to move on. I don’t have Callie out of my system yet. Not by a long shot.
“Have you already told her you’ll be taking her to the zoo?” Ben asks with a smirk.
“No, asshole. We didn’t make plans.”
“So what is the score?” Beau asks. “Are you going to actually pursue a woman?”
I frown. “Why do I have to decide this right now? I had a good time last night. I dropped her off thirty minutes ago. It’s a little soon to go shopping for china patterns.”
“You didn’t even say ‘I’ll call you’?” Ben asks.
“No. We both said we had fun and she went inside and I came here.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to see him again,” Beau says to Ben, who nods while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
“Could be.”
“I’m standing right here,” I remind them through clenched teeth. “Maybe it’s still really early, and we’re just enjoying each other and you all are over-thinking it.”
“I think you’re under-thinking it,” Beau replies. “She’s a woman and she had sex with you. She’s going to want some attention from you.”
“I’ll give her attention.” Jesus, what does he think I am, an asshole?
On second thought, yeah, he probably does.
“Doesn’t mean I have to text or call her every five minutes all day.”
“Look, if she’s what you want, good luck with her.” Ben claps his hand on my shoulder. “It’s going to be fun to watch you navigate this, especially since you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing.”
“I’ve had girlfriends,” I protest, but they just laugh. “I have.”
“A fuck buddy is not a girlfriend,” Ben says. “But if you want Callie to be a regular booty call, nothing wrong with that either.”
I definitely want her to be a booty call. I’d like to spend as much time between her long, slender legs as I possibly can.
But I don’t think that’s all I want, and it’s confusing the fuck out of me. I don’t do strings. And then it occurs to me: I didn’t have the you know this is just a fun time conversation with her so she knew the score beforehand, the way I always do. Why didn’t I do that?
“I’ll figure it out.”
“Gonna be fun to watch,” Ben says again, right before he surprises Beau with a body slam to the ground.