AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Max’s eyes shot to his brother, only to see Reese’s avid look of alarm. The man’s eyes got huge as he backed his chair away and looked at Eileen.
“Never,” Reese said warily. “You are stunning, shaped like a goddess, and I tell you all the time to eat more because I worry about you. You’re perfect.”
“That’s how you flatter a girl…” Eileen said pointedly – and Reese let out his breath in a rush that made Max smile.
“You’re so full of it…” he told his brother, who kicked him under the table.
“What did she say after you basically told her she was fat to her face?”
“But I didn’t!”
“Thick means fat in girl-vocabulary.”
“There’s no such thing,” Max scoffed and Reese was waving his hand at his neck, trying to signal him to knock it off.
“That’s where you are dead wrong,” Eileen said openly and laughed. “I cannot believe how different you and your brother are – or maybe maturity has brought out the best in him. Yes, things are different, especially depending on our mood.”
“Like when you get your period?”
Reese choked and got up to get a paper towel since he nearly spit water on his plate. Eileen was giving him a flat, droll stare, and Max felt more confused than ever.
“I thought you dated girls before?”
“Maybe once or twice.”
“You’ve never actually dated, have you? You slept around, but that’s not dating or having a relationship – because if you had said that to any woman, she’d have knocked you into next week.”
“Am I wrong?” Max asked Reese, and you could have heard a pin drop in the second it took him to answer.
“Yes. Unequivocally wrong.”
“See?”
“Max,” Reese began sitting down. “Things are different when you want to have a relationship or date someone. If I ask Eileen how her day was and she says ‘fine.’ It either means it was fine – or if there is a tone, she needs to talk.”
“What?”
“If I ask my wife where she wants to go for dinner and she says ‘anywhere,’ – then we are going to her favorite restaurant.”
“This makes no sense…”
“If she says ‘Say that again?’… then I shut the heck up because I’m about to die a painful death,” Reese said, winking at his wife, who smiled at him, laughing.
“Then I need to change the way my brain thinks and learn another language… is that what you are saying?”
“Sort of?”
“You need to take what she said, think about each comment, each word, how her voice sounded, and look at things from her point of view. I can tell you that if you run into her again in town while you are here, you better be ready to put it all on the line because if you are really interested in this girl, you’ll only get one or two more tries.”
Max sighed heavily, realizing that his sister-in-law was right. Rolling over on the couch, he replayed the conversation in his mind and tried not to focus on what Elana looked like, how gorgeous she was, but rather on what she’d said to him.
She thought he’d implied she was fat, which was the exact opposite of his thoughts, so maybe he needed to explain himself.
He’d obviously hurt her feelings by picking on her when they were younger and because when he didn’t recognize her right away – she laughed. It wasn’t a funny ‘ha ha’ laugh. It was an ‘are you kidding me?’ laugh that sounded painful now that he thought about it.
She said she didn’t need a guy, because she hadn’t met him yet. And then came the avalanche of clues – and he’d been clueless.
“I’m not looking for a boy or rowdy teenager that can’t focus past his own pants. I’m searching for a man who knows how to treat a woman right. A partner, someone who is committed and sincere, someone who knows what a relationship is.”
