asks, brows drawn together in anger or annoyance.
“Deven Danielle,” I say, trying to prove to him that I wasn’t exactly lying.
“Did you know who I was last night?”
This time, I do lie. “I knew you looked familiar, but I couldn’t place you. It wasn’t until later when I connected the dots.”
“And you haven’t told your brother?”
“Tell my brother that his eighteen-year-old sister has a fake ID that I used to get into a bar and then to fuck his friend? No, that must have slipped my mind.” I roll my eyes. How stupid does he think I am?
“Good. He can never know.” His eyes are wide. “Understood?”
I nod once. “Agreed.”
There’s a long silence between us for a couple of minutes. Finally, I feel so awkward, I have to break it. “So, you’re moving in here too?”
“Too?” he asks, eyes bouncing back up to me, surprise filling them. “You live here?” He points at the floor.
I shrug. “Well, I’m staying here for the time being. Just until I have enough money saved up to get my own place. Brad kind of saved me when I got kicked out of our mom’s boyfriend’s house.”
He hangs his head, shaking it as he rubs his eyes. “This is just fucking great,” he says under his breath.
“What is?”
“You. Me. Both of us living here with this huge secret between us.” He balls his hands into fists, causing his knuckles to crack. “He’s going to find out, you know?”
I laugh. “How’s he going to find out? I’m not saying anything. You’re not saying anything.”
“I’m going to have a guilty look on my face every time you walk into the room.”
I shake my head. “Oh, come on. What’s to feel guilty about? I’m legal. It was consensual. Nothing has been broken here. It’s not like you were my first.” I flash him a quick smile. “You were my favorite though. I can’t wait until we do it again.” I’m only teasing him, partly.
He jumps up and paces the floor. “Oh, no! It can never happen again.”
“Why not? Didn’t you enjoy yourself?”
He scoffs. “Of course I enjoyed myself.” He comes to a stop as he slides his hands into his jean pockets. “You’re…I mean, look at you.” He pulls one hand out and gestures toward me. “Any guy would be lucky to have a night alone with you. But me…us, it can’t happen again.” He shakes his head just as Brad walks back in with a box of pizza and a six pack of beer.
“Time to eat,” he says, passing us to head to the kitchen to set everything down.
I get up and walk past Hudson, shaking my ass a little more than necessary. I open the box and grab a slice of pizza. I take a bite and let out a long moan as the cheese pulls into strings from my mouth to the slice in my hand. I look over at Hudson, and his eyes grow in size as he watches me.
I set the pizza down onto a paper plate that Brad hands me and grab a beer. I twist off the top and take a long drink from the bottle. When I look back at Hudson, he’s swallowing something down, his Adam’s apple bobbing in this throat.
“Help yourself, man,” Brad says, stepping past him and taking his plate and beer to the living room.
The three of us all sit in the living room, watching TV and talking while we eat. Brad and Hudson have a lot to catch up on, and I sit back and listen as they talk about what each of them have been doing since they last saw one another. Hudson tells us about his time in the army, and Brad tells Hudson about living in Denver, finishing school, our dad passing away, and having to stick around to support Mama and me until she ended up with the loser boyfriend she has now—the one that kicked me out.
As their conversation comes to an end, I look up at Hudson. “So, you have a girlfriend?” I ask, putting him on the spot.
He looks like a deer in the headlights. “Oh, um, no. No girlfriend. I haven’t been home long enough for all that.”
“Shit, man. All you gotta do is say the word and I can hook you up. There’s plenty of single women that work at the brewery with me,” Brad states.
I watch Hudson closely. He looks at me, then back at Brad. “Nah, I’m good, man. Thanks. I think, right now,