AllFreeNovel
Share Us
15 - SIMON
Growing up, Beth and I would watch Saturday morning cartoons in our pajamas with gigantic bowls of sugary cereal, singing along to the theme songs and commercials at the top of our lungs. One stood out because the announcer had this big booming voice yelling, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, before telling us about whatever spectacular show was happening, like it would be the end of the Universe if we missed it.
That stupid announcer with his stupid voice was on a loop in my head, chanting, Friday, Friday, Friday, like I couldn’t do basic math and count the days until I’d see her. But as the hours dragged on, I talked myself down from two fucking attacks brought on by listening to several goddamn voicemails my father left, and had to stop myself from going to her house half a dozen times.
Pathetic? Probably.Hell, I was man enough to admit the attacks stemmed from telling my father I was done being his errand boy. There was also the lingering suspicion that my feelings for her ran far deeper than I cared to admit, and the way she held my face and settled the knot in my chest during that horrid dinner said she felt the same. Or at least I hoped she did.
Fuck, I hoped she did.
“What the hell’s the matter with you?” Drake asked, bouncing a sugar cube off the side of my head. “Ginger’s not going to put up with much more of you ignoring her.” He pushed the mane brush against my chest and shook his head, whispering his apologies to the Marsh Tacky before walking over to Fred, the sorrel-colored Paint Horse he’d been grooming.
Drake took pity on me when he caught me sulking by the driving range at the club, slicing ball after ball and muttering a constant stream of profanities. When I looked up to see the guys around me staring, Drake pulled me away by my collar, muttering about the golf instructor who had to cover the ears of the five-year-old he’d been teaching. I wouldn’t have let him drag me away if we hadn’t gone to college together and stayed close. I hadn’t realized a kid was there, and honestly, shouldn’t he have been in school? I guess getting hustled to the stables was an advantage of knowing the Country Club’s Equestrian Director.
“Sorry, man,” I said, shaking my head then wiping my forehead on my sleeve. Ginger neighed, clearly annoyed at not being the center of attention, so I ran one hand along her neck and worked the brush in long strokes along her mane. She stamped her foot and huffed out a breath, satisfied with my ministrations. “Is that better, pretty girl?”
“Seriously, what’s going on? You haven’t been to the club in weeks, and then you show up on a random Friday slicing balls down the driving range like they’ve offended you.” Drake tossed me another sugar cube, and I fed it to Ginger, who nuzzled my hand.
“I’ve got a lot on my mind, and compartmentalizing has been a bitch.” I knew that was a vague, non-answer, but I didn’t know what the fuck to say to him. My thoughts were like a filing cabinet tipped on its side—the more I tried to organize, the worse it got.
“Huh. Then you need to break it down to the simplest terms possible,” he said, taking Fred’s reins and leading him back to his stall. I watched him fill the water and give him treats while wearing a three-piece suit and stable boots to protect his pants.
“When I took the job as director, they wanted me to schmooze the members, find donors, be seen at events, all that shit. I do that, but this—” he said, sweeping his arms around the stable and smiling. “Is what makes me happy. So no matter how busy I am, I come back to this.”
The simplest terms possible.
“That, um, makes sense.”
“Of course it fucking does. Are you ready to put some muscle into mucking out the stalls, or do you want to grab lunch?”
I barked out a laugh, and Ginger neighed, swishing her head so her mane brushed against my face. “Definitely lunch once I’m done with your girl here.”
“Sounds good, man. I’m going to check on a lesson in the arena. Back soon.” He nodded and walked out of the stable, leaving me to Ginger, who nuzzled my hand.
“Here you go, beautiful,” I said, giving her my last sugar cube and working down her flank. The horse’s quiet huffing and the stable’s sounds allowed my mind to break down the issues into a simple, workable form so I could take Drake’s advice to heart.
The shrill ring of my cellphone jolted me as I wiped the steam from the mirror and wrapped a towel around my waist. “Hey, Beth,” I answered after grabbing the phone from the dresser.
“Baby brother, how are you?”
“Living the dream.” I sat down on the edge of the bed and ran my hand through my wet hair, desperate to talk to Beth about the charade with Addison and my stupid ass catching feelings, but she had enough shit on her plate. “Any updates on your surgery yet?”
“Yeah. They want to wait four weeks from the last chemo treatment. Nana said it’s plenty of time for her to throw me a Bye Bye Boobies party.”
“A what now?”
“A party to say goodbye to my boobs,” Beth huffed, probably with her brow crinkled and one hand digging a knuckle into her eye.
“Well, leave it to Nana to come up with something like that,” I said, picturing Nana at her desk, writing ideas for tit-shaped finger food.
“Ten to one says you get roped into decorating with her, then aren’t allowed to attend.”
“Oh, you are on,” I said, standing up to grab a pair of briefs. “What are the stakes?”
“Babysitting. Seven dates, five afternoons.”
“Five dates, three afternoons.” We both knew I’d take any chance to watch her girls, but we still played this back-and-forth.
“Done. Can I preemptively use one tonight so Will and I can do dinner and a movie? Our sitter bailed at the last minute.”
