Loving the Nurse by Piper Sullivan
Antonio
“You two are disgusting. Think you can stop pawing each other for at least a few minutes?” I shook my head at the twosome that was supposed to be my guests for today’s video shoot.
Cal flashed a smile as he took his lips off my sister and shrugged. “You said this was for a romantic dinner, so we’re setting the scene.”
“The scene is about the food. All I need from you is some hand holding and loving smiles, not a porno re-enactment.”
Teddy snickered. “I thought you were happy for us.”
“I am, but that doesn’t mean I want to see you suck face right in front of me. Or feed each other. Or lick each other’s fingers. Have some restraint, yeah?” It was hard enough to watch my kid sister fall in love even though I knew it was going to happen eventually. I was happy it was a guy as good as Cal, but it was awkward as hell to see them all lovey-dovey together. “Now, do you think you two can act like adults and not horny teenagers for the next twenty minutes?”
“Twenty minutes,” Teddy shouted, her big brown eyes wide with surprise. “That’s a long video for you.”
“I need twenty minutes so I can edit it down, which means no more kissing and no more groping. Act like you’re in public and keep it PG. Okay?”
“Twenty whole minutes?” Cal whined but his eyes sparkled with mischief and I knew he was just screwing with me. “It’ll be hard, but I think we can manage. Right babe?”
“Sure we can.” Teddy flashed a wide smile that spelled trouble as she reached for the bottle of wine on the table. “We’ve got fancy wine so it must be a special occasion.”
“The winery is sponsoring this video and they sent a case.” The wine was decent, which was a good thing, because it made me feel like less of a sellout for recommending products before I tested them. The money was good and the exposure would help a lot, but that feeling lingered.
“Awesome, can we drink while you do your spiel?”
“As long as drinking doesn’t make either of you frisky.”
“I make no promises,” Teddy teased.
“Then I can’t promise you won’t get a raw meatball to the head.”
She gasped and narrowed her gaze. “You wouldn’t.”
I blinked and fixed my face into an innocent expression. “Food fights aren’t romantic?”
“Jerk,” she growled and pulled the cork on the bottle set on the table. “Now you have to set a new bottle.”
I let that slide, because it was important to get this video under way before I had to make more bread to get the perfect image of a freshly baked, steaming hot loaf.
With lingering threat of flying meatballs, I managed to get all the footage I needed in thirty minutes. “Thanks guys. That’s a wrap.”
“Oh thank good,” Teddy growled. “Now I can eat for real.”
Cal laughed. “No one forced you to take those little bird bites.”
Teddy glared at Cal in outrage. “You know his subscribers would rip me apart if I took a big ol’ honking bite of pasta!” My sister, who gave no damns what anyone thought of her, was overly sensitive regarding the beliefs of online commenters.
“That’s not true,” I added with a smile. “There are plenty who want to see you naked. Some have offered a lot of money to see you topless or eating certain foods.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “Really, and it’s disturbing.”
“Gross.” Teddy gave a shudder and reached for the gnocchi. “I’ve definitely earned the right to eat without a camera in my face. Have a seat, Chef.”
“You know, Teddy, ignoring the comments on my videos is an option.” I felt responsible since I was the one who asked her to appear in my videos, but Teddy was honest to a fault, personable, and for the most part, she was a huge hit with my subscribers. “Everyone is a critic online.”
She rolled her eyes and swallowed a mouthful of gnocchi with my homemade marinara. “Don’t you think I wish I could stop reading them?”
“Or,” Cal added, “you can stop focusing on the five negative comments and choose to be grossed out by the thousands of sexual comments. Those pervs come up with some creatives uses for food.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Ouch! What was that for?”
“I don’t want to hear the kinky shit you do to my sister while I eat. Or ever,” I added because I knew Cal would choose another time to bring it up just to piss me off.”
“Damn.” Cal snapped his finger and gave a pout that told me I was right about his intentions.
Thankfully, the food was so good that I managed to finish my plate before conversation started back up again. “Have you heard from Trishelle lately?”
I groaned at the mention of my ex-wife. “No, thank god. Rosie is better off without her, and she’s still embarrassed that I got full custody of her.” Finding her laid out on the bathroom floor from an overdose had gone a long way to convince the judge that I was a better parent, but Trishelle had never forgiven me for it.
“I read in your comments section that she’s filming a new reality show, so you should expect to hear from her sooner or later.”
“Later is just fine by me.” Her neglect had probably worsened Rosie’s asthma and the longer she stayed out of our lives, the better.
“I know it’s fine by you, Antonio, but what about Rosie? She’s the girliest little girl the world has ever seen, and honestly, she needs more female influence than me.” Teddy looked down at the green dress she’d worn for the date night video and sighed. “This isn’t me. I wear jeans all the time, and I’m constantly covered in dirt. She needs to see examples of all types of women.”
“You’re fine,” I insisted, in part because I didn’t want to talk about my love life, or lack thereof, again. “Not all women wear frilly dresses and makeup all the time.”
“I know that, dummy. But I was already a tomboy before Mom died, and being surrounded by males finished me off, but Rosie isn’t like me.”
“Finished you off? What’s that supposed to mean?” We all chipped in to help out after our mom died, doing the best we could to stay a family.
“It means that I had a lot of questions that Dad and Cenzo couldn’t answer. Which was better, pads or tampons? How do tampons even work? The difference between eyeliner and mascara. Padded bras or underwire? It was confusing as hell, and I was too embarrassed to talk to anyone other than Hannah about it. Eventually it was easier just to be one of the guys when it was possible.”
I blinked twice, surprised that her words hit me like the tip of a whip. “You never said a thing.”
“Because it wasn’t a big deal. To me. Rosie is a girly girl, and if that’s who she is, I don’t want her to stifle it just to fit in.” Teddy’s tone was soft and sympathetic, but I couldn’t help the anger that filled me at her insinuation.
“You think I’m depriving Rosie.”
“No. But think about what you want for Rosie in the future. You want her to have everything she wants, right?”
“Duh.”
Teddy nodded. “What if that’s a husband or wife and kids?”
“I would never deprive Rosie of that!”
“Not on purpose, no. But just because your ex-wife is a garbage person doesn’t mean you want Rosie to grow up thinking relationships are bad and should be avoided at all costs. Do you?
“No.” I wanted Rosie to have every little thing her heart desired, and I worked my ass off to make it possible.
“Then maybe do something about it. I’m not suggesting that you have to get into a relationship, get married or even get serious about a woman if that’s not what you want. But maybe get some female friends, actual friends that you don’t have sex with, so that she has more women in her life.”
“She has you and she has Hannah. Hannah is girly.”
Cal laughed. “Hannah wears dresses sure, but you do know she runs a DIY site, don’t you?”
“Yeah, she makes crafts and stuff.”
Teddy snorted a laugh. “The and stuff was a smoker last month, a tool carrier a few weeks ago, and this week she’s planning on turning an old saw blade into a knife.”
“Really? Cool. I had no idea.”
Teddy growled and Cal laughed. “You’re missing the point. Hannah is more like me in all ways but appearance. I said variety, Antonio.”
I nodded and poured another glass of wine, feeling better about the footage I shot with every sip. “You’ve given me some things to think about, Teddy.”
“I’m not criticizing you, Cal.”
“I know, it’s just something I hadn’t really considered.”
She smiled sympathetically. “Because you’re not a motherless little girl, that’s why I brought it up.”
“Thanks.” For the rest of the day, I thought about my sister’s words and wondered where in the hell I could find female friends who I didn’t want to sleep with and who wouldn’t get ideas about picket fences and wedding dresses if I asked them to hang out.
Instantly an image of a wavy haired redhead appeared. August wasn’t all that impressed by me.
I could work with that.
