Page 17 of A Furry Thing Called Love (Friends of Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue #7)
Arlo
“You’ve been going to the beach, you fucker!” my sister exclaims as soon as the call connects.
“Morning to you, too, Sunshine.”
“Fuck off, do you know when the last time I went to the beach was?”
“Your honeymoon,” I reply at the same time her husband, and my boss, says, “Our honeymoon.”
My sister glares at both of us. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t.” I give her my best smile. “I’m your favorite brother.”
“You’re my only brother,” she gripes. “Should have eaten you in the womb.”
Jon snorts and rolls his eyes at our banter. “This is a business meeting, children.”
“Thank you so much for the reminder, husband,” Sunny says.
Jon sighs, but really, you’d think he’d be used to her by now. After all, he married all that.
“You knew what you were signing up for,” I remind him helpfully.
“Aside from taking you to the beach on a regular basis, how’s Jordan?”
I roll my eyes. “You’re not nearly as clever as you think, sister.”
Sunny smiles. “Don’t evade the question, brother.”
Sighing, knowing she won’t let up if I don’t give her something.
“He’s good. He's getting things ready for a vacation he’s taking next month, so we probably won’t see much of each other outside of Millie’s sessions.
He has classes to wrap up, as well as organizing someone to take care of his menagerie, that type of thing. ”
“Nice. Where's he going?”
“Boston, he has family out there.”
“Oooh fun. Must be nice to get a change of scenery. My husband should take me on vacation.” Sunny gives a pointed look to her camera, and I stifle a grin.
“Can we focus on work now?” Jon asks, ignoring my sister’s antics. “You accepted the newest job, but are you sure you're good? If you need more time…”
“I'm fine.” I try not to put any bite into my tone. “Cast is off, I've been mostly sleeping, and haven't had a dizzy spell in a few weeks, so I'm ready to come back full-time.”
“Okay.” Jon accepts my answer, and some of my tension eases.
I appreciate his concern, but after my most recent phone call with my parents, and my own hangups, being faced with someone else’s worry over me is just a bit too much right now.
“Sorry. I know you're worried about me. I appreciate that. I just got an earful yesterday about how I shouldn't push myself too much.”
Sunny rolls her eyes. “Ugh. I love Dad, but he is too much sometimes. Did you know he told me the same thing when I was over there the other day? Only with the added ‘the extra stress won't help you get pregnant’. Never mind we've told them a hundred times that we're not interested in children.”
“Oh, don't worry, I got the same questions. Only from Mom. Then Dad butted in and said Jon married the wrong twin if he wanted children.”
My sister groans and Jon laughs. “Well,” Sunny says, “I guess it's better than the toxic positive shit Mom always gives you.”
I hum in agreement. “Anyway, I'm good to work. I should have it done way before the deadline.”
“Since his lover is going to be busy,” Sunny teases.
“Shut up.” My cheeks heat.
“You two know these calls are recorded, right?” Jon deadpans.
“Explain the shit you get away with then,” Sunny shoots back.
Jon sighs. “The deadline isn't a hard one, Arlo, so don't stress too much. We can push it back if you need some more time to complete it.”
“Thanks, I know.”
Part of the reason I agreed to work for Jon's company—aside from my degree in web design and development, and the fact my sister is there—is because he understands when tasks take me longer to complete, or I need the day off due to an appointment, or something else is going on with my health.
“You know,” Sunny says, with a glint in her blue eyes that I’m not a fan of. “I’m surprised Jordan didn’t try to convince you to go on vacation with him. After everything you’ve said about him, it seems like the type of thing he’d do.”
I shift in my seat, clearing my throat. “Well, uhh, he did, actually.”
“Oh?” She tilts her head and then looks away from the camera, frowning as she, I’m assuming, studies her computer screen. “I don’t have a request for vacation time from you?”
“Because I didn’t put it in.”
She meets my eyes through the screen. “You’re not working on your vacation, Arlo!”
“I’m not going, Sunshine.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Uhh…because it’s Jordan’s vacation? And while I’m sure he’d love to have me, I don’t really need to ruin his time off by tagging along.”
She huffs. “I wish you were here so I can slap some sense into you.”
“I can’t hijack his vacation, Sunny! We’re just getting to a place in our friendship where it feels…lasting.”—no way in hell am I telling her about the kiss—“There’s no way I’m ruining things between us.”
“Arlo…dear sweet, younger brother of mine, you’re an idiot. You’ve been in love with this guy for years, and from what I’m hearing, he probably still has feelings for you, too. He invited you on his vacation, for fuck’s sake! That means something.”
Jon interjects. “Gotta agree with Sun here, Arlo. You said he has family back East?” I nod. “Right, so I’m going to assume he’ll be seeing them while he’s there?”
“Yeah…” I reply slowly.
“So if he’s inviting you along, it means you’re important to him, and he thinks of you as family, or damn near enough that he wants to introduce you to his.”
I shake my head. “I can’t…”
“Bullshit,” my sister says. “You won’t . Look, if you just want to be friends with him, fine, I’ll back off. But if you don’t…if you want more, if you can see a future with him, then give it a shot. What do you have to lose?”
I look down at my desk as my heart starts to race, and all the reasons why I shouldn’t start something with Jordan—more than we’ve already started, that is—run through my head.
“We’re friends. We tried to be together once, and maybe it’s on me for being a coward, but…things are good between us now, really good. I need a friend more than I need a boyfriend. I… Hell, maybe it’s me. First, I went and broke Jordan’s heart, and then everything with Will?—”
“Fuck Will!” they say in unison, making me look up and smile a little at them.
“Seriously, Arlo,” Jon says. “The guy was an asshole. He didn’t deserve you, and you are a thousand times better off without him.”
“Yep,” Sunny agrees. “I stood back and watched you slowly suffer in a relationship we all knew wasn’t for you, while you mourned the person you actually cared about. And now, well, you moved back to where he is, for fuck’s sake. What does that tell you?”
That Jordan will always be part of me, whether I admit it or not.
“Will wasn’t…that bad,” I defend my choices. They both scoff. “Yes, he wasn’t right for me, and the only compatible thing about us was that we’re both sides, but we’re all allowed to make stupid choices, okay? Need I remind you of how many ‘not right for you’ people you dated before Jon?
“Anyway, just…please stop harping on about him, okay? Yes, he wasn’t right for me, and our relationship lasted longer than it should have, but it’s over now.”
“Okay. I’m sorry. I’m just maybe a little protective of you, call it big sister privilege.”
I smile. “I know. And I appreciate the concern. I really do.”
I look between my sister and her husband. “You really think I should go?”
“Yes,” Sunny says, sounding serious for once. “If nothing happens except you getting some time away, well, that’s fine. But if there’s a chance this is the opening you dumbasses need…then you’d be a fool to pass it up.”
I take a slow, deep breath and let it out. “Okay, I’ll talk to Jordan, see if he’s even still interested in having me go along.”
“Yes!” Sunny cheers. “Let me know the dates ASAP, so I can put your vacation in.”
“Yeah,” I say carefully, “I will.”
“Well, good meeting,” Jon cuts in, probably sensing my mild distress. “Let me know if you need anything for your project, Arlo.”
“Will do. I’ll talk to you guys soon.”
We sign off, and it’s just me in my home office, wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into, and how the fuck my sister manages to make her bad ideas seem like good ones, even from over a thousand miles away.
She calls it a twin gift. I call it me being a sucker. Either way, I pick up my phone and text Jordan, because while it’s only been a few days since the offer to go with him, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t changed his mind.
I don’t know if I want him to have changed his mind or not…
Lying to yourself isn’t cute. For some reason, my inner voice sounds a lot like my sister…