Best Dating Rules, Tamie Dearen [literature books to read txt] 📗

the kitchen, flinching as something hit his head.

“Oops! Sorry, Spencer! That was meant for Claire,” yelled Olivia. Flour. They were fighting with flour.

“Are you crazy?” Spencer roared out. “Momma’s going to flip when she sees this mess.”

Claire giggled. “We’ll clean it up before she comes home from hot yoga.”

“Momma’s doing hot yoga?”

“Yeah. She’s decided she’s fat, and she’s planning to melt away her excess weight,” explained Hannah as she ducked behind the table.

“She’s not fat. And stop making any more mess—this flour will be impossible to clean up.” He went to the sink to wet a towel and wipe his head.

“You’re getting crabby,” said Grace as she entered the kitchen. “I think you need a woman.”

He pressed his lips together, refusing to take Grace’s bait.

“Really, Spencer. What’s wrong with you lately? Girl troubles?”

Ignoring her, he concentrated on wiping his shirt.

“Are you having problems with Becca?”

“Becca?” He was startled out of his silence. “Who said anything about Becca? Did Emily say something last night?”

“Ah ha! I knew it! I saw Becca’s been calling you. Does Emily know something about Becca?”

He frowned. “No. She doesn’t know... I mean, there isn’t anything to know about Becca except she’s a pain in the butt. But I don’t want you talking to Emily about me.”

“Hmmm… Maybe we could work out some sort of deal.” Grace crossed her arms, drumming her fingers on her elbow.

“No way. I’m not working a deal with you. It couldn’t possibly be fair.”

“Fine. That’s fine. If you don’t want to know what Emily and I talked about...”

“Why did God give me sisters? If I had brothers, I could just beat you up until you gave in. Four chances to get a brother, and what did I get? Four sisters. Four sneaky, conniving, manipulative sisters.”

“Come on, Spencer. You know you love me. I’m just asking for a little something in return for my knowledge.”

“Fine. What type of a deal?”

Grace’s face split in a triumphant grin.

“I don’t even think I need to make a deal now. Knowing you’re willing to consider this deal tells me what I need to know.”

“No, it doesn’t tell you anything.” He stepped forward to glower down at his petite sister, forcing her to crane her neck to look up at him. “Whatever you think you know, you’re wrong.”

“I know you care what I talk about to Emily.”

“What did you say to her? Are you the reason she— Never mind. Forget it.” He spun his back to her, using a rag to make angry swipes at the messy kitchen. It was suddenly quiet behind him. When he turned around, he found himself alone with a contrite-looking Grace sitting at the table.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what?” he asked, still frowning.

“I didn’t know Emily was different. I didn’t know you really liked her.”

“I don’t—”

“Good grief! Don’t try to deny it. I’m your sister—I can tell. But maybe you’re lying to yourself.”

“I... I’m not... She doesn’t like me. Not like that.” He slumped in a chair across from Grace.

“Spencer, I didn’t know.” She put her hand on his. “I... I may have said something I shouldn’t have.”

“What? What did you say?”

“I told her about you getting all those phone calls from Becca.”

He groaned. “Becca! I’m beginning to wish I’d never met her. Why would you tell Emily about that? How did you even know?”

“She called about eleven hundred times when you left your phone here Monday night. She’s got a serious crush on you, for sure. Did you break up with her or something?”

“No! We’ve never even been on a date.” He let his face fall into his hands. “I can’t believe you told Emily about her calling. She probably thinks I’ve been lying to her.”

“Well... I think she thinks you’re a player.”

“Why do you think that?”

“It’s kind of what she said.”

“So did you tell her it isn’t true? Did you tell her I’m not a player?”

“Well, no… I mean, I thought you were a player, too. Why are you getting mad? It’s true, isn’t it? You’ve never denied it before. You’re always with a different girl. You never seem to stay with one girl long enough for us to even meet her. It seems like you go from one girl to another or even more than one at the same time.”

He stared at her in disbelief. “Really? That’s what my own sister thinks about me? That’s what you told Emily?” His face dropped back into his hands. “Great. That’s just great.”

“So what are you saying? All these girls are okay with it? Or they’re all doing the same thing?”

His frustration reached a boiling point. “All these girls! What girls? Can you name one? Huh? Can you? No! You can’t, can you? Because I’ve never actually even dated one. Not! One! Single! Girl! There—are you happy? Now you know.”

Grace sat dumbfounded for a moment. “But... I’ve seen you with lots of girls. All the time. They were hanging all over you. They were practically drooling on you.”

“So? Did you ever see me with one girl? Did I ever tell you I had a girlfriend?”

“Are you saying you were only with all those girls physically? That none of them meant anything?”

“My god, Grace! Don’t you have any respect for me? I’d never do that. I wasn’t with any girl physically—I’ve never even kissed a girl before.”

“Oh,” she said. “Oh!” she repeated, grinning. “Now there’s something I never would have guessed. Why didn’t you deny it before now? We’ve teased you about it for years?”

“Oh yeah. That’s a great idea. I could go from being teased about having too many girlfriends to being tormented about not having any. And now I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Grace was quiet. “I’m sorry. I really am. I’m not mean, you know. I care about you—you’re my brother. I’m actually on your side. We... We won’t tease you.”

“I don’t care. Go ahead. It doesn’t matter any more.”

“So, uhmm... Do you like girls? I mean, it’s okay. I love you no matter what. If you—”

“No. I