Page 42 of Good Directions

Pulling up my texts, I open a new one, selecting a name I never thought I’d use.

So…looks like we’re actually “dating” now…

Sawyer

Who is this?

Your “boyfriend” ;)

Who?

Anton

How did you get this number?

I silently chuckle, fighting the urge to shake my head. Her voice is clear in my head, the outrage dripping from every word as she angrily taps it out with her thumbs. Makes me wish I were there to see it.

You left it on a sticky note in the lab

Oh

Yup

So, I need to adjust our deal

Excuse you?

My brothers think we’re dating. So, play along?

I hold my breath, my heart rate picking up as I wait for a response. All I get is silence. Or whatever you call the stillness that comes with a lack of text response. Dead air? There aren’t even the dancing dots at the bottom of my screen to let me know that she’s typing. Nothing.

My stomach churns, the fried green tomatoes threatening to turn on me as I wait. This might be it. The moment where I went too far. I always knew it would come. Would have bet money that it was with one of my brothers rather than a woman I barely know, but here we are.

Leaving me feeling even more like shit.

Apparently I care what Sawyer thinks a lot more than I realized.

My phone goes dark, the screen saver photo of Cary’s old dog, Riley, holding a perfect Hayes peach in her mouth taking over. Fuck. Usually, this old photo is more than enough to get me to smile. Not today though. Instead, my insides feel like that peach looked about ten seconds after we took that photo, crushed and mushy thanks to Riley clamping down on it.

The worst part of this is, I know this feeling isn’t because I’m going to lose a bet. Yes, that part is going to suck. My brothers will make sure I do some stupid shit and I’ll never hear the end of it, but I can live with that. Sawyer wanting nothing to do with me? That’s harder to swallow.

For reasons I don’t understand, the prospect of having to “date” her—fake or otherwise—sounded like fun.

The soft buzz of my phone in my hand almost doesn’t register until I look down and see the little notification on the screen.

Sawyer

Better be one hell of a recommendation

Fuck yes…

There’s no hiding my smile as I unlock my phone and start tapping out my response.

“Something you want to share with the rest of us?” Gus asks, his annoyance loud and clear.

“Nope,” I reply, popping the p, not bothering to look up. Then I think better of it. I pause, twisting just enough to look him directly in the eye. “Only that I know the difference between a three and an eight.”

If looks could kill, I’d be dead where I sit. That taunt will never get old though, even if fate did take matters into its own hands and help Gus out by bringing Margeaux to Hickory Hills after he’d smudged her number, resulting in him not calling her for more than a year. Hell, even Margeaux makes fun of him for it.