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She laughs. “He’s going out of his way to give you things that’ll make you happy. Tell me that’s not attractive. This house that he said you wanted. The company you worked for. Does he try to give you other things you want, too?”
I blow out a long breath. “Everything from my job, to clothes, to food I like, to books I like, to knowing what I like on my pizza because he stalked all my social media profiles. It’s extreme.”
“And you’re not sopping it up like a dry sponge? Not letting him treat you like a princess? Do you want to get kicked out of the sisterhood?”
I lower my voice, maybe because there might be surveillance. “Before I met my ex I used to write an anonymous sex fantasy blog. He’s even trying to deliver on all of that. Or… he was until we had a big fight and I finally fought back. Oh shit, sorry… you don’t want to hear that about your own brother.” My face flames.
She waves her hand. “If I don’t respect other peoples’ boundaries, I can’t exactly draw my own with those people, can I?”
I laugh nervously. “Still. He’s your brother.”
“Yeah, and every friend I’ve ever brought around him has developed an instant crush on him. I have had more than one friend hook up with him, too, and drive me nuts afterwards with talk of how good he is in bed, so I’ve had no choice but to become immune.”
She looks at me and smiles big. “Is that a little bit of jealousy I see on your face at the idea of your husband hooking up with my friends?”
“No, not at all,” I say, but I might not be being entirely honest. I can’t let my brain even ponder this notion for a minute, so I keep talking. “You do have a very good-looking family. But looks aren’t everything. Neither are sex skills.”
“No, not everything but they do count, don’t they?”
I’m about to protest when she waves her hand, “I know, and it’s not my business. But I wanted to share some insight and hope it’d help. If it doesn’t, I tried.”
“Something tells me you’re the type to keep on trying.”
“And that tells me either Derek warned you about me, you’re intuitive, or both.”
“What are you doing?” I ask.
She has my phone in her hand.
“Programming myself in your phone. I’m your favorite sister-in-law. Not Nay. Okay?”
I tip my head and smile. “Let’s go find something for lunch.”
I answer my ringing phone. “I’m busy, Grace.”
“I love her. Love her!”
“Huh?”
“Chloe, Derek. I love her.”
I scrub my itchy jaw with my fingernails. I should’ve shaved this morning.
“Derek?” Grace inquires.
“What?”
“I think marrying her was very smart. And I also think that if you play it smarter, you can win her over, too.”
“Oh yeah?” I mutter, sounding bored. But I’m not really bored. I’m actually interested in learning what my sister might suggest here, though I’m not about to feed her interference or she’ll run rampant with it.
“She’s having a lot of difficulty with some of your tactics.”
“No shit?” I volley sarcastically.
“Brother, you need to focus on showing her your good side. Keep doing what you’re doing in terms of showing her that her happiness matters to you, but ease up with the threats. Don’t do anymore of that if you can help it. Just do the other stuff. Show her what a life with you would be like if you didn’t feel like you had to make threats. You follow?”
“I follow,” I confirm.
