one of those equations.
“Yo,” Turner called down the stairs, interrupting whatever Charley was talking to herself about.
She was still ahead, so Poppy hadn’t heard all of her friend’s ramblings.
Charley paused to wait for them. “What?”
“You screwing Leicester?”
Groaning, Charley grabbed the bannister to exaggerate her eye roll into a whole body move. “Geez, why? Because you want to do the big brother thing? Why don’t you focus that on Kev?”
“I will, he’s seeing the kids this weekend, picking them up from Mom’s.”
The three of them continued down the stairs.
“Didn’t Faye ask you to stay away from that?” Charley asked.
Turner just shrugged. “Maybe… I didn’t hear that.”
Laughing, Charley put an arm around his waist. “Sometimes you can be kinda alright for a big brother.”
“What a compliment, only took you twenty-two years to notice,” he said, herding both women around the stairs toward his apartment.
Instead of going in, Charley took Poppy’s hand and pulled her toward the door at the back of the building.
“Grab your keys, we’ll meet you outside,” Charley said, dragging Poppy along the corridor while Turner went into his place.
They went out the back door that would be directly opposite the main one at the front of the building. There were a few stairs down. They cleared Turner’s patio area and went through a gate to a small parking lot.
Both of them knew his truck, so went toward it, though Charley kept her hand. As soon as they were close, her friend drew her around in front of her and clutched her upper arms.
“Is Mindy hotter than me?”
The unexpected question raised Poppy’s eyebrows. “Mindy? I have no idea who Min—Mindy from work? The new girl?” Charley nodded fast. “Mindy’s all boobs and hair.”
Charley sighed and flopped back against the truck, burying her face in her hands. “Oh, man.”
“What?” Poppy asked, rubbing her arm. “What’s wrong, honey?”
Her friend produced her cellphone and scrolled through to show Poppy a message from David declaring he and Mindy were going to get breakfast after work. She tried to ignore Charley’s previous message which request he get breakfast with her.
“He’s going with her,” Charley huffed. “And I have no chest.” She sighed. “I wish I had your rack.”
Looking up, Poppy found her friend admiring her cleavage. “Would you stop? You are beautiful.”
“Hey, Shrimp, watch the paintwork,” Turner said. Appearing beside of them, he reached over to pull his sister away from the truck. “What’s wrong with you now?”
The locks snapped and he opened both the front and back doors. Once they were all inside, Charley in the front and Poppy in the back, Turner reversed out of the space to get them underway.
The slump of Charley’s shoulders really upset Poppy. Her friend was usually so bright and bubbly.
“The Maddoxes are sickly gorgeous,” Poppy said. “Remember, Charley? All of you. It’s sickening.”
Out of nowhere, Charley smacked her brother’s arm. “Guys are bastards.”
“What the hell did I do?”
Shifting around, Charley glared at him. “Boobs aren’t everything, you know. They’re not that great. Why the hell do you care so much about boobs?”
If it wasn’t for her friend’s sour mood, Poppy would definitely laugh at the utter confusion written across Turner’s face. Charley smacked him again.
“What the hell, Shrimp?”
Charley whirled around to lean over the shoulder of her seat. “Her profile is open, show him her profile pic.”
Double clicking the home button on Charley’s phone, Poppy found the picture of Mindy, definitely all boobs and hair. She leaned forward, stretching her arm between the seats to show Turner the picture.
He glanced from the road to the screen, once and again. “What about her?”
“Yeah, right,” Charley sneered. “Like you wouldn’t do her in a heartbeat.” Charley’s mood ascended as she bounced upright, pushing her shoulders back. “Oh! We’re off Friday and Saturday this week. If Poppy and me bring her to Naughtie’s on Friday will you sleep with her? Please?”
“No!” he exclaimed, all offense.
Poppy tried to stifle her smile. Not that it mattered, Charley reached around and snatched the phone without looking at her. She waved it in her brother’s face.
“She’s super hot… Big tits and fabulous hair.”
“I don’t care,” Turner said, stating fact. “Your dramas change every week, Shrimp, don’t drag me into them.”
“You always say that,” Charley said, thrusting the phone between his face and the windshield. “Look at her, how can you not want to get that naked?”
Grabbing his sister’s arm, he pulled it down out of his way. “She’s connected to you, that’s all the reason I need,” he said, though technically Poppy was connected