Page 19 of None Of Your Business

The fucker ignores me.

“I was at his house last Sunday,” he tells the table. “I let myself in with Maya and found a woman standing there, looking sleepy.”

Sleepy is generous. Rowan looked like she’d been resurrected against her will.

Sophie’s fork stops halfway to her mouth.

“A woman,” Mom repeats.

“Ro-an,” Maya offers helpfully, reaching for my toast.

“Rowan,” Josh confirms. “Redhead. Hudson found her sitting on a fire hydrant and brought her home.”

She had also been barefoot and was telling me how bendy she was.

“That is a wildly incomplete summary,” I say. “Nothing happened.”

Josh holds up his hands. “All I’m saying is that her clothes were inside out. Draw your own conclusions.”

“There are no conclusions to draw. I put her in the guestroom. I fell asleep and woke to her screaming.”

“She screamed?” Mom asks, amused. “Well done, son.”

I grimace. “Jesus, Mom.”

“What? I gave birth to three sons. Do you think you were all the Immaculate Conceptions?”

“Yes,” both Josh and I say.

Some things are universal between brothers. Denial of parental sexuality is one of them.

Dad, who has been quietly enjoying his eggs through all of this, finally looks up. “Sounds like a fun morning for everyone.”

Maya twists around to look at me. “Ro-an pretty.”

I ruffle her hair. “Yeah, I know, kid.”

Josh makes a sound into his coffee.

Fuck.

“Not one word, Josh. I swear to God.”

“When do we get to meet her?”

“You don’t.”

“Why not? You already brought her home.”

“She was drunk and stranded.”

“She slept in your bed.”

“Accidentally.”

“Bullshit. Besides, Maya likes her.”

I look down at my niece, who is nodding solemnly up at me.