Such a Pretty Face by Annabelle Costa
Chapter 24
When I get to Brody’s apartment a few days later, I am greeted by the absolute last person I want to see: Sean Nolan.
I haven’t seen him since I was in the car with him while he was driving drunk. I stare at Sean’s sloppy grin, and even though I can’t smell any alcohol, I cringe internally. I don’t like Sean. Part of me had been hoping I’d somehow never have to see him again. Although considering he’s Brody’s brother, that was unlikely.
“Emily!” he exclaims, clapping me on the shoulder. “Right on time! Come in! I’m cooking dinner for us.”
For us?
Brody wheels into the foyer, not looking much happier than I do. “Sean’s joining us for dinner,” he explains.
“And I’m cooking,” Sean adds unnecessarily. He winks at me then goes back to the kitchen to tend to the food. Which smells pretty good—like grilling steak.
Brody just shakes his head at me. “I’m sorry he’s here,” he says. “Mike had an emergency and couldn’t make it tonight, so I asked Sean if he could help me out. Then he insisted on coming for dinner.” He sighs. “It’s sort of hard to dissuade him when he gets an idea in his head. But he swore to me he’d behave. Whatever that’s worth.”
“It’s fine,” I say.
“I’ll make it up to you.” He looks into my eyes. “I promise.”
And my body tingles. I want to kiss Brody right now, like really kiss him, but I see Sean eyeing us in the kitchen and I can’t make myself do it. So we just sort of peck on the lips before heading to the living room to watch television.
Dinner turns out to be steak cooked medium-rare with a side of mashed potatoes and creamed spinach. Sean has basted the steak in butter, and the mashed potatoes are the super creamy kind. Even the spinach, which is a vegetable, doesn’t seem to be even remotely healthy. One thing I have to say for Sean—he knows his audience.
“Sorry, let me get that for you,” Sean says, as he leans over Brody’s plate to cut his steak into pieces for him. Brody nods his thanks, although looks mildly uncomfortable about the whole thing. Usually, he gets his food cut up before it’s served to him—I’ve never seen anyone cut it while it was right in front of him like he’s a toddler or something.
Sean has placed a bottle of red wine in the center of the table, and he pours some into his own glass while Brody gives him a dirty look. He tilts the bottle in my direction, “Emily?”
I nod. “Thanks.”
I definitely need some alcohol to get through the evening.
“Brody?” Sean asks, tilting the bottle in his brother’s direction.
Brody shakes his head. “I thought we agreed—no drinking tonight.”
“It’s one bottle of wine,” Sean points out. “Christ, lighten up a little, Bro.”
Brody looks like he’d have a lot more to say if I wasn’t there, but he holds back. Honestly, I almost wish he’d just say it. I’m not any more comfortable with Sean’s drinking than he is. I don’t know how Brody can even stand being around Sean, after what he did to him.
The steak turns out to be delicious. It practically melts in my mouth. I remember my father grilling up steaks when I was younger, and he always practically charred them to a crisp, but this one is perfect. And the potatoes taste like butter in the very best way. Yet the spinach is the best thing on the plate somehow. I’m trying my best to eat slowly and only finish half the plate of food, but it’s so good. I never let myself eat this way.
“You like it, huh?” Sean says, appraising the rapidly disappearing food on my plate. I’ve finished nearly everything.
I loosen my grip on my fork as my cheeks grow hot. Why the hell did I eat so quickly? In front of Sean, no less. This was absolutely the worst time to eat like a pig. I look at Sean’s plate and see that he’s still only halfway through his steak. And Brody has eaten practically nothing.
“I wasn’t being critical,” Sean adds, a grin widening on his face. “You know, they say the best compliment to the chef is a clean plate. I love a woman with a healthy appetite.”
“It’s pretty good,” I finally mumble.
Sean beams and pours himself another glass of wine, having drained his first one (which I suspect wasn’t actually his first one). “See? That makes me super happy, Emily.” He glances at Brody. “She’s so much better than the last one. Or should I say, the other one.” He grins wickedly. “What was Linda? A Vegan?”
“She was a pescatarian,” Brody says, although he doesn’t look at Sean when he answers.
Sean shakes his head. “What the fuck is a… a…”
“A pescatarian is somebody who eats fish but not other kinds of meat,” I say.
“Christ, what a psychopath,” Sean comments. For once, I sort of agree with him. “Also, she was, like, really old.”
Brody glares at Sean. “She was thirty-five. That’s not really old.”
“Yeah, it is if you’re only twenty-four,” Sean says. “She was robbing the cradle.”
Brody gives his brother a dirty look. “Can we talk about something else, please? Something besides my ex-girlfriend? Is this the best topic of conversation you can come up with?”
“Sure, we don’t have to talk about Linda.” Sean shrugs and turns his gaze in my direction. “How about you, Emily? Have you had a boyfriend before? Brody said you did, but I’m not so sure.”
Brody’s mouth falls open. I want to crawl under the table and just die. I can’t believe they had that kind of conversation about me.
“Well?” Sean prompts me. “Brody and I are both dying to know.”
“No, we’re not, you fucking asshole,” Brody snaps at his brother. He looks at me. “Emily, don’t answer that. Really. Sean is just being a jerk.”
I stare down at my plate, unable to bring myself to look up at either of them. I wish I had followed my instinct and ducked out when I realized Sean was joining us.
“Christ, Brody,” Sean says. “You’re in a shitty mood tonight.”
“I wasn’t in a shitty mood.”
Sean rolls his eyes. “Whatever, it’s all my fault, right?” He gets up out of his seat, shoving the chair back so hard that it nearly falls over backward. “I’m going to take a piss. I’ll let you two lovebirds have a moment to yourselves.”
Sean sprints out of the room, and I watch Brody let out a breath. He closes his blue eyes for a second, then opens them again. “I’m sorry, Emily,” he says. “That whole… I mean, we weren’t talking about you or anything. It wasn’t a big deal. I know you’ve had boyfriends before me. There was that guy who was texting you, right?”
Except Norm wasn’t actually my boyfriend. It was all a lie.
“Anyway,” he says, “I don’t need to know about your past relationships.” He grins crookedly. “The past is the past, right?”
I nod, grateful he let me off the hook.
“Hey.” He glances at the bathroom. “You should go. Like, now. Before he gets out.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.” Brody smiles again. “It’ll piss Sean off if you just take off. It’ll be hilarious. Also, on the way out, dump the rest of the bottle of wine in the sink. It’s the only one he brought. I would do it, but I don’t think I can lift it without spilling it.”
I laugh and feel the tension of the night release from my body. “Okay, I can do that.”
I get up and lean in to kiss Brody on the lips before I go. And this is the kiss I’ve been wanting to give him all night—deep and long. That kiss makes me forget everything that happened here tonight.
And I laugh to myself when I pour half a bottle of red wine down the drain of the kitchen sink and am out the door before Sean can discover what I did.