my poolhouse; I didn’t really need him saying anything ridiculous to me in front of her. If my sister was with them, same problem.
Xander and Courteney were both far too excited about this whole thing for my comfort.
My sister had already called me, twice, to tell me how happy she was that this situation was working out so well (a bit premature), and asking me to please let her know if I needed anything (I wouldn’t). If things didn’t work out well, she probably wanted to make sure she could whisk Taylor the fuck out of here as quickly as possible, so as not to upset me.
My little sister was big on not upsetting me. Though I supposed having a mental breakdown on her was probably a good reason for that.
She’d learned long ago to tread lightly.
Xander usually tiptoed around me, too, in his stupid-expensive designer sneaks, looking like he felt guilty for being happy. But he’d been fairly direct—for him—about this, when he’d hit me up with a string of texts the same night I hired Taylor. Which, apparently, he found out from my sister. I definitely didn’t feel the need to inform him and request his two cents on the matter.
I checked my phone now, but none of them had messaged me since they pulled into the driveway. I wondered what they were up to out there, but not enough to actually go look.
I scrolled back through my messages to that one-sided conversation the other night.
Xander: Heard you hired Taylor.
Xander: She’s hot.
Xander: Obviously you know that. Not judging. Just saying she gets a lot of attention at the bar but I’ve never seen her one and done with anyone. I thought about fucking her myself but don’t worry I didn’t. This was before Courteney. But full disclosure. I didn’t know she was your type or I would’ve brought her by to meet you long ago. Kinda feel bad I missed that.
About an hour later, when I hadn’t replied, he seemed to feel the need to go on.
Xander: Also she’s nice. And smart.
Xander: Guess that’s why you like her.
Xander: Also her last boyfriend was a fucking douchewad of the highest order.
Xander: Ash is glad you’re moving her into the poolhouse. He says her place is a slum.
Xander: Also she’s single. In case that wasn’t clear.
I didn’t respond.
Seriously, Xander was never this chatty about women.
Ever since he hooked up with my little sister behind my back, he’d been kissing my ass to try to smooth things over, so it was hard to tell if his apparent excitement about this was genuine or what. Nowhere in there was an actual question to me, though, so I figured he didn’t bother asking because he assumed he already knew the answer.
The last text was the most bizarre.
Xander: I’m happy for you.
You would’ve thought I’d proposed to her or something.
But I supposed the fact that I was interacting with a woman who I wasn’t related to and who wasn’t my sixty-something housekeeper was fucking exciting, if you were him. The fact that Taylor was hot sweetened the deal. Maybe he could mentally strike off Is he secretly gay? and Did his dick fall off? from his long-ass list of concerns about me. Because I knew these were serious questions in Xander’s mind. Every time he talked to me, he subtly probed for answers.
So, talked to anyone interesting lately? (Translation: Have you talked to anyone female lately?)
Hey, I ran into [insert name of hot chick], remember her? (Translation: You do remember that chicks are hot, right?)
It occurred to me that it was difficult for Xander Rush to fathom a lifestyle that didn’t involve a woman within reach at all times, ready and willing to get naked on demand. But Xander had never really understood me at all. And honestly, I’d never really understood him, either.
You didn’t need to understand someone to care about them, though, and I knew Xander loved me like a brother. He used to say that all the time; that Gabe and I were his brothers. He still called me his brother.
I knew I was his best friend since Gabe died. He was mine, too.
So when I thought about it, really, I appreciated his weird speech about Taylor. It was his way of saying Good for you, bro. Obviously he approved of the fact that I’d hired her, and if I was also planning to fuck her, I had his blessing. I knew him well enough to extract that much from his