I showed up at The Cow to meet Jackson and JJ for a beer, I was surprised to see Sasha there. JJ said that Destiny had asked her to join her and Cara for a girls’ night.
“Tami Lynn,” my brother answered flatly motioning to the waitress who was line dancing up a storm on the dance floor.
I didn’t respond but my eyes automatically shot back to Sasha, who was in the middle of an animated story. I could see why she was a successful actress, she was captivating, even from across the room.
Beside me JJ hissed through clenched teeth. “Man, you’ve got it bad.”
“What?” I turned to him.
“You have not stopped looking at that girl. It’s sort of pathetic.” He cringed as he took a sip of his beer.
I wish my brother was exaggerating but he wasn’t. I couldn’t stop looking at her. I’d catch myself doing it, even when I told myself it was obvious.
I’d watched her give autographs and take selfies with people with a huge smile on her face. I’d watched her laugh and talk with my sister, Destiny, and Cara. I’d watched her get up and covertly tell a young lady that had come back from the bathroom that her dress had gotten caught in her underwear. I’d watched her order a round of drinks for a group of women in the corner, one of whom had been crying in her nachos most of the night.
I wasn’t naïve. I knew that she was in public so it could be all for show, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t. She was kind. She was compassionate. She did things out of the goodness of her heart, not for recognition.
For years, I hadn’t trusted my intuition when it came to the fairer sex. I’d done that and gotten burned so badly I wasn’t sure I could take the heat of another fire. But somehow, Sasha had found a way into not just my mind and arms, she’d found a way into my heart, my soul. She’d gotten under my skin and I wasn’t sure what the hell I was supposed to do about that.
We’d briefly talked about how long she was staying. I knew that her plan was to fly back to California on Sunday. Then what? Would she be interested in seeing me again? Would she consider something long distance?
“I heard you took her fishing.” Jackson, who’d been quiet most of the night, spoke up. “That’s…romantic.”
He was obviously giving me shit, but it had been romantic. Still, I understood the impulse to knock it. I still wasn’t sure what had come over me to suggest it.
JJ’s face scrunched up. “You took her fishing?”
“She also went over to his place for dinner last night and didn’t leave until this afternoon.” Jackson informed JJ.
I looked at him, wondering where he’d gotten such specific information.
“I stopped by The Spoon for lunch and overheard the Golden Girls discussing it while they waited for her to show up. Mrs. Nelson was showing them the text she sent from your house saying that she wasn’t going to be home.”
Damn, did the entire town know? And if they did, would it end up on some gossip site? I wanted to go over to her table and make sure that she was okay, but I didn’t want to make more of a scene.
Since both my brothers seemed hell bent on talking about Sasha, I figured I might as well get some questions I had of my own answered. “Sasha mentioned that she’d met both of you before.”
I sipped my beer as I waited for their responses. They looked at each other and then back at me as if they had no idea what I was talking about.
“She worked on a movie with you called Long Road Home.” I turned to JJ. “And she met you at some parties when her friend Gen was dating one of your teammates.”
They both seemed to be considering what I said. Recognition dawned on Jackson’s face first. “Oh damn. She was on that movie. She was a kid, I think. Barely out of high school. I totally forgot about that.”
“Gen…” JJ considered the name.
“Genesis Monroe,” I filled in the rest of her name.
His eyes widened. “Oh shit! Yeah, Genesis Monroe, she was hooking up with Brooks Duncan. Man, that chick is bat shit. I stayed the hell away from her.”
I knew it was ridiculous, but I was relieved that neither of my brothers had any sort of a past with