AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Drew didn’t answer. He didn’t want to believe that scenario. The idea of Jeff anywhere near his—
"I should’ve talked to her myself," Amanda muttered as she pulled into her own driveway and fumbled for her garage door opener.
He glanced across the car to find his sister wiping at her eyes. "Mandy?" he said, realizing how inconsiderate he was being. He was such a tactless moron.
She didn’t acknowledge him until she’d parked and turned the engine off. Then she twisted to send him a teary-eyed look.
Melting, he opened his arms. "I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking—"
"Oh, Drew," she sobbed, hurtling herself over the parking brake. Once he pulled her into his embrace and she rested her head on his shoulder, she sniffed. "What am I going to do?"
He had no idea. He’d never been married, never even entered a serious relationship. And besides, Mandy was always the one he went to for advice. Not the other way around. She never asked him how to handle anything. This was foreign territory.
Smoothing her hair back so it’d stop tickling him in the nose, he asked, "Have you talked to Jeff yet?"
She shook her head, stuffing more curls up his nostrils in the process, very nearly making him sneeze.
"Well, don’t you think you need to address the situation with him?"
Snorting, she answered, "Like he’d tell me if it was true."
Yeah, but … "Maybe there really is a good explanation," he tried. "Maybe someone lost a loved one at work and it was his turn to send the flowers. This could mean anything."
"Roses? To someone who’d just lost a loved one?" Amanda asked skeptically.
"Well, maybe—"
"Drew," Mandy cut in, pulling back to frown at him through her raccoon eyes. "You’re not helping."
Resisting t
he urge to wipe at her dripping mascara, he sent her sympathetic look. "I’m just trying to remind you there are other alternatives. A flower delivery doesn’t automatically mean—"
"He won’t be with me. In the bedroom."
Well.
That stopped Drew in his tracks. Letting out an uncomfortable laugh, he lifted a hand. "Really, Mandy. I don’t need to hear every—"
"Last night," she went on. "I took a bubble bath before bed, put on some slinky lingerie and perfume. For once in my life, I was actually in the mood. But when I kissed him, he pulled away and said he was tired." Giving Drew an intense look, she said, "That’s not normal for a guy, is it?"
"Uh." It’d never happened to him before, no. But he’d never been in such a committed relationship before either. As an unattached bachelor, he usually took what he could get when he could get it. "Maybe he’s going through a mid life crisis," he suggested.
He wasn’t sure why defending his brother-in-law seemed so important. Probably because he didn’t want to see Amanda cry anymore. Plus he didn’t want to think of Jeff that way. Jeff was as much his big brother as Mandy was his sister. He’d known the guy since he was fifteen. Jeff had coached him through the last part of his puberty, given him advice on girls, and basically acted as his stand-in dad.
He’d say anything to stop the possibility of his sister and brother-in-law splitting up. Anything to give her hope.
"We haven’t been together in over three months," Amanda reported despondently.
Drew winced again. But really, did he have to hear about his sister’s intimate life?
"I hadn’t even realized," she continued, oblivious to his discomfort. "But yesterday at work, I overheard this woman relaying a date to one of her friends, detailing what this guy had done with her and … " she shrugged. "I thought it sounded interesting. So, I wanted to try it with Jeffrey." She wiped at her eyes. "I knew it’d been a while. We’re certainly not newlyweds and we do have three children. But, as I was primping, I realized we hadn’t done anything since his birthday, which was in the beginning of February. That was a good three and half months ago, Drew. Jeffrey’s never waited three months for as long as I’ve—"
"Honestly, Mandy!" Drew broke in. "I believe you." Please don’t elaborate.
"There has to be another woman," she whispered, looking beseechingly at him as if she needed Drew to do something about it.
Not sure what he was supposed to say, he stared back and dropped his shoulders. The only thing he could think to do was deny, deny, deny. "Maybe he’s … you know, impotent. I mean, if that were the case, then yeah, of course he’d be too embarrassed to tell you about it. I’d probably stick with the whole I’m-too-tired bit too."
