The Friessens: Books 19 - 21

Chapter 3-2

He could hear music from the two-story gray house where cars were parked up and down the street. It was an older area of town, ultra conservative, and he wondered how the neighbors handled the craziness that often came from Kurt’s.

He pulled past the already packed driveway and took a spot in front of a modest bungalow as the sun slipped lower on the horizon, and then he slipped out of his pickup and grabbed the bag of snacks before the family that lived there could come out and tell him to move it.

“Hey, Jeremy!” he heard a couple of girls call out, standing with a few jocks in front of the house. He lifted his hand in a wave as he walked in through the open door and past the crowd of what appeared to be a hundred, easy, stuffed into the house. The living room was jammed, as were the hallway and the stairwell, as he made his way to the back of the house, where the kitchen was filled and the keg was being manned by Kurt himself.

“Jeremy, you made it,” Kurt said.

“Yeah,” he said and looked around. It sounded as if Kurt was well on his way. He took a plastic cup filled with the warm draft. “You seen Alex?” he asked, but Kurt was already talking to someone else.

He spotted Boone Hudson just out the back with a couple blondes, and it took him a second to stop himself from walking out there and getting in his face. He still couldn’t believe what the jerk had done to his sister Chelsea with that s*x tape. He still wanted to cause Boone a lot of misery, even though Chelsea’s fiancé, Ric, had made sure the harassment stopped.

“’Bout time you got here,” Alex said, ripping the bag of Miss Vickies from Jeremy’s hands and tossing it to Kurt before taking both bags of Doritos. “What took you so long?”

Alex was his height and build. His hair, though, was on the longish side and lighter than Jeremy’s. His face was the same oval shape as his sister’s, with a light spattering of freckles, and his eyes were glassy as he ripped open the bag of Doritos, spilling some on the floor.

“Stopped in to see my brother and at the store for your dinner,” Jeremy said. He took in Alex’s goofy grin as he shoved a handful of chips in his mouth. Yup, he definitely had no idea what he and Tiffy had done. He lifted the cup and took a swallow of the warm draft, wishing it were cold.

“Listen,” Alex said. “I’m going out with Sky tomorrow, movies, dinner, and her cousin is in town, so I kind of need you to step in and be her date. Show up so she’s not the third wheel.”

Jeremy took in his friend, not wanting to tag along either. Sky was a blond airhead, as far as he was concerned, and being around the two of them was painful at times, considering they spent more time making out than anything else.

He shook his head. “Yeah, no thanks. Not into punishing myself, and I have a policy of never doing blind dates.” He didn’t need to search that hard for a woman, and he was still smarting from the blow-off from Tiffy.

“Ah, come on,” Alex said. “Look, Sky’s been making all kinds of excuses and won’t go out unless her cousin comes, and those two always end up slipping off together, and I end up going home alone with a night of nothing more than holding hands. You owe me.” He shoved another handful of Doritos in his mouth as he was bumped by one of the jocks trying to get over to the keg. Jeremy’s beer spilled down his shirtfront.

“s**t…” He wiped his jeans and downed the rest of the draft before he spilled more on himself. “I owe you nothing, and seriously, I’m not interested in entertaining some chick all night who’s likely…”

“She’s hot,” Alex cut in. “Like, smokin’.” He gestured to imitate the size of her breasts. At any other time, that would’ve been all Jeremy needed, so why was he still considering saying no?

“Yeah, better not. Got to work,” he added, though he didn’t, really, other than to stop in, and then what? He took in the way his friend shook his head and shoved more Doritos in his mouth. He wondered how long ago Alex had started on the beer and whatever else. “Hey, I thought I saw your sister today…” he started. What was he doing? There was something about Alex’s mouth now, and he knew he was toying with danger.

Alex tilted his head back and devoured what Jeremy thought must have been crumbs left in the bag of Doritos. Then he crumpled the bag and tossed it over the head of some guy Jeremy had never seen before at the counter. Alex pulled the back of his hand over his mouth to wipe away the crumbs.

“Yeah, she’s been home about a week,” he said. He swept his hand in the air as if it was nothing. “You seriously can’t find time to show up at least for the movie or dinner, an hour? Come on. Sky is seriously not going to leave her at home alone, and she already said her cousin won’t tag along as a third wheel. I’ll owe you big time.” Alex was never going to leave it alone, and Jeremy finally shrugged.

“An hour.” He couldn’t believe he’d said it. “But no movie.”

Alex fisted his hands in the air. “Seriously, you’re killing me…”

Jeremy only shook his head, still stuck on Tiffy when he should’ve been heading over to the keg for another beer. “So where has your sister been? I mean, she up and moved away how long ago? She moving back for good?” Okay, what was wrong with him? He took in something in Alex’s expression as he paused and then pulled in a breath. Jeremy wasn’t sure what he was thinking as he shrugged.

“Family stuff,” he replied. “Listen, I don’t want to talk about my sister. She’s back, but now I have to give up my games room, because it’s not just her, and our cozy bungalow is becoming overcrowded.”

So she was attached, married, a boyfriend. Whatever, didn’t matter. Taken was taken, and he needed to move on and get her the hell out of his mind. It was only because she wouldn’t give him the time of day. That was the only reason he was acting like a s*x-starved puppy.

“Well, maybe I can come for more than an hour tomorrow,” he said. He’d give it a chance, and maybe this cousin of Sky’s would be all he needed to shift his attention from Tiffy and a night he’d never forget.

“Hey, great, what changed your mind?” Alex now wore a big wide goofy smile.

The fact that your sister is taken, and I need to find a way to redirect my interest. “To help you out, and Sky’s cousin better be all you say.”

“That’s great. Hey, listen, if you’re crashing tonight, too, you’re going to have to take the couch, because Tiffy and my nephew have the futon in my games room.”

Then Alex was grabbed from behind by a couple of rowdy friends, and beer was flowing, and Jeremy was still stuck on nephew.