Her smile dropped. “What do you mean finally have an erection again?”
Oh shit! Did I really just say that out loud? My brain was definitely malfunctioning. The look on Andi’s face told me she wasn’t simply going to let this go.
“I’d been having a few issues.” I didn’t elaborate. This conversation had reached a whole new level of intimacy between Andi and I that I was a whole lot uncomfortable with.
“What sort of issues?” she persisted.
I groaned. “The sort that affected my ability to work.”
Andi was quiet and just when I thought maybe she had dropped it, she spoke. “That’s why you retired.” I cast a nervous glance in her direction, a little surprised she knew I had retired. Her shifting emotions were enough to give me whiplash. She had gone from a bonafied freak out, to seductress, to joyful, back to freaking the fuck out all in the span of ten minutes.
“Yeah, I could have used medication or drugs, but that’s not who I am.” She was quiet, too quiet, too still. Was she worried there was something wrong with me? “Obviously everything is okay now.”
“Obviously,” she murmured with a furrowed brow.
“I mean, it seems okay from my end. Everything okay from your end?”
She blushed and shrugged. “No complaints here.” She smiled, but it was forced.
What did I miss? How did we have a mood plummet into ice queen territory in less than a minute? It’s not like she was the one whose body suddenly packed it in and turned limp. I would have pressed the issue except I was steering my car into the short driveway of my parents’ modest two story suburban home, complete with white picket fence and yapping poodle. As I slid from the driver’s seat, I noticed Andi was looking ill once again. She didn’t attempt to move, and I walked around to her side of the car. She even sat and waited for me to open her door. Or maybe she thought she could hole up here for dinner without anyone noticing. I grabbed the cake from the floor by her feet, hoping she would follow it where ever it went. It worked like a charm. She quickly scrambled from the front seat.
“Okay, time to chill. You already know my dad, and my mom is just as easy going. We aren’t dating, so there is no pressure. Hell, you could even belch at the table and it would be cool.” She cast me a disbelieving look. “They are going to love you, Andi, there isn’t anything not to love.” She stared at me for a moment, and I stared back while the words that had just spilled from my lips sank in. “Except the puking episode the morning after our unexpected wedding anniversary. And the fact that your furniture doesn’t match, your inability to keep a pet without killing it, and the overabundance of pillows on your bed, they’re ridiculous. And you like country music, which is unforgiveable,” I rambled. Andi’s shoulders seemed to relax, and she gave me a grateful smile as we walked up the porch. Before I could reach for the door, it swung open and I ran into a six foot wall of muscle.
“Fuck me!” I exclaimed, completely shocked.
“Hey, little brother. Miss me?” I looked into the eyes of my eldest brother, Daniel. He wasn’t supposed to be here, he hadn’t even called ahead to let me know he was going to be in town. “Well I’ll be damned. Mom said you were bringing a girl around and I told her she had to be having one of those senior moments when insanity spontaneously sets in. I didn’t think for one second my little brother had it in him to bring a real live girl home to meet the parents.” He turned his blue eyes and dimpled grin on Andi who looked like she was ready to faint. “You okay there, sweetheart? You look a little pale,” Daniel asked with a furrowed brow.
I grabbed Andi’s hand and dragged her forward. “This is Andi, Bradley’s cousin, and she’s not used to family crap, so be calm. And what the fuck are you doing here?”
Daniel grinned at me and stepped aside. “Helping our mom cook you and your girl pie. Come on in.”
“Decker, I missed you so much,” came Mom’s soft voice from behind Daniel. Her hair was thrown into a messy ponytail, her face free of makeup, but not free of flour which was smeared across one cheek. I reached over and wiped it away before she pulled me in for a hug.
“Mom, I was here like two weeks ago, and we spoke on the phone yesterday.”
Mom peeked around my arm and gave Andi a welcoming smile. “Mom, this Andi. Andi, this is my mom, Sarah.”
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Steele,” Andi replied politely, still looking a little pale and a whole lot nervous.
“Oh please, call me Sarah. While I love my husband to death, his mother is completely crazy. Whenever I hear someone say Mrs. Steele, I automatically head for the wine cabinet.”