Not Second Best by Christa Maurice Page B

You’re young.”
    “She treats me like a kid.”
    “Why?”
    “What do you mean why?”
    “She doesn’t treat me like a kid, and you and I are close to the same age.” Suzi stuck a French fry in her mouth. “Are you doing something that’s making her think you’re immature? Or are you perceiving that she is when she really isn’t?”
    “She doesn’t like me to go to her office.”
    “Brian mentioned she seemed annoyed that you were there. What does she say to you?”
    “ What are you doing here? I told you not to come to my office. ” Even repeating the words stung. “But it’s always good when I’m there. She’s always hot for me. Except last time.”
    “You’re having sex with her in her office?”
    “Trying.”
    “That might be the problem. She works there.”
    “But she wants it. And besides, I stopped us the one time.”
    “Do you think she might be embarrassed?”
    “I’m pretty sure she is.”
    “I don’t mean by you exactly. More like embarrassed because she’s a cougar. Chasing after a guy as young as you. It looks funny and maybe kind of pathetic.”
    “I’m chasing her.”
    Suzi shrugged. “We don’t know enough. We could toss around theories all afternoon and never get the right one. I could try to talk to her for you. I have a good excuse.”
    “Would you? You can plead my case so much better than me. That would be great.” Brett cut into his chicken. He didn’t want to consider the weirdness of sending Suzi to talk to Tessa about him. Whatever got the job done.
    * * * *
    Cassie sat down next to Tessa on the deck behind Brian and Suzi’s house. They were having a party to announce Suzi was pregnant even though almost everyone knew. “I thought BroRide was supposed to be a bunch of party animals,” she announced.
    “Why are you asking me?” Tessa asked. For a month now, she’d been trying to pretend she’d never heard of the band or their lead singer, but everyone kept asking her questions about them. Even the radio had turned against her. Every time she turned it on, it was playing one of their songs. She and Brett were probably the second most well-known secret in this circle after Suzi’s pregnancy.
    “Just making conversation. They’ve been working really hard in the studio. Brett has been a regular worker bee. Jason said they were fighting a lot at first, but the whole time I’ve been there with the girls, it’s been pretty quiet.”
    “Good.”
    “Andi loves Brett because he swings her around by her feet.” Cassie shuddered. “I keep thinking he’s going to smack her little head into something, but my mom said she thought the same thing when my dad used to swing me like that when I was a kid.”
    “What? Swing them around?” Connie sat down on Tessa’s other side. Great, now she had a sister-in-law and a sister ganging up on her. “Bear used to do that to my Conner when he was little. Scared the shit out of me.”
    “But kids love it.” Cassie’s stomach growled.
    “You hungry?” Connie asked.
    At least Brett wasn’t there. That would make the gathering unbearable. So far it was the usual suspects. Band, back office, family. They all overlapped, anyway.
    “Starved, but I’m holding out until Sandy gets going on the grill. I don’t want to eat too much junk.”
    “You’re not pregnant too, are you?”
    “No, but wouldn’t Jason love me to be. I swear, as soon as he heard Suzi was pregnant he started with ‘We should have another kid. Make it a nice even three.’”
    Connie snickered. “His math skills were never great.”
    “I need to cut back on the sweets, anyway.” Cassie eyed the food table across the yard. “Brett Cherney has this unadvertised talent for baking. You have not lived until you’ve seen him strut across my kitchen like Mick Jagger wearing my You’ll Eat What I Give You and Like It apron with a cookie sheet in his hands.”
    Bear and Maureen arrived. Maureen had a ceramic bowl in her hands that could only hold her