Dirty Thoughts - Megan Erickson Page 0,66
propose or commit to two-point-five kids, but what kind of coward was he that he wasn’t willing to try?
That’s all Jenna had asked for, after all. The chance to try.
WHEN CAL CLOSED up the shop for the day, Brent was still in the office. His brow was furrowed as he bent over the file of invoices, his pen tapping on the glass counter.
“You about ready to head out?” Cal asked.
Brent’s head went up. He wore a pair of reading glasses when he worked, and Cal liked to tease him about them. Brent must have seen Cal’s smirk, because he whipped off the glasses and threw them onto the counter. “Yeah, I’m at a good stopping point. Let me get this stuff put away, and I can help you lock up.”
Cal straightened up some magazines and turned off the TV in the waiting room while Brent shuffled papers.
“Nice of your wife to bring you lunch today.” Brent shoved the accordion file under the counter and straightened.
The word wife felt thick and heavy. Too heavy. “We’re friends. No need to rent a tux yet.”
“Uh-huh. Right. Because I’m sure you and Jenna will be just friends by next week.”
“Well, maybe—”
“Why did you look like I cut your brake lines when I said ‘wife’?”
Cal crossed his arms. He wasn’t sure exactly. Maybe he’d spent so damn long shoving that word into a corner until he was sure it was on permanent timeout, that now he couldn’t stop the knee-jerk reaction when he heard it. “Maybe that word just freaks me out.”
“Spouse?”
Cal shuddered.
“You have . . . ” Brent waved a hand. “What’s the word? Negative association. Yeah, that’s it. You have a negative association with the word ‘wife.’ Might wanna get over that if you ever plan on marrying her. Would look weird if you threw up every time you introduced her to people.”
“I wouldn’t throw up,” Cal retorted.
Brent raised an eyebrow.
“It’s just a lot to take in. My life . . . didn’t move. It was status quo for ten years. I settled in and dug the grooves so deep into my routine that I didn’t think I’d ever get off track. I got knocked when Max went into the hospital, but I righted myself. Then Jenna came back and Asher showed up on my doorstep. And my life . . . ” He shook his head. “My life isn’t what I thought it’d be, and maybe I’m just trying to adjust the best I can.”
Brent’s expression was composed. “Sure. I get that.”
Cal pointed a finger at him. “Don’t patronize me. You’re in a rut too, and you just wait, man. Some girl is going to knock you flat on your ass, and then I get to be the one who smirks and nods while you’re hurting.”
“You seem pretty sure of yourself there.”
“Bound to happen sometime.”
“I don’t have a rut. That’s the whole point of what I do.” Brent’s shoulders tensed defensively.
Cal enjoyed having the upper hand again. “What’re you talking about? You totally have a rut. Just because the girl changes every time doesn’t make it any less of a rut. When you have to deal with the same woman all the time and actually work at it, then you’ll see how it keeps you on your toes.”
Brent sniffed. “Well, whatever, then. I like my rut.” A smile curled his lips. “You only wish you had my rut.”
“Quit saying that word.”
“I rut well in my rut.”
Cal turned on his heel and walked out the door without looking back.
“Keep your eyes out of my rut!” Brent called after him.
Chapter Twenty-One
CAL COULDN’T STOP chewing the inside of his cheek. The skin was ragged, but at least it was hidden, where no one could see the evidence of his nerves.
Asher was humming happily to himself in the passenger seat of the truck on the way to pick up Jenna to take her to the movies. The kid had talked Cal’s ear off for the first ten minutes about the movie budget and the cost of the special effects and a million other things that went over Cal’s head. But he was good at nodding and murmuring at appropriate times in the conversation without really listening. And it’s not that he didn’t care about what Asher had to say; it was that he couldn’t stop his mind from replaying the last couple of weeks with Jenna and all that it meant.
Despite his worries about Asher and the sexual tension with Jenna, he’d been happier than he