“What?” Johnny’s eyes slid to me briefly before turning back to the road.
“Natalie just texted me that we’re trending on Twitter.”
Johnny rolled his eyes. “Figures.” Just as he finished speaking, a call came through the Bluetooth. “Hey Bex.”
“You guys have fun at the restaurant?” Laughter laced her voice.
“You could say that,” Johnny said. “I think I got fondled.”
Bex snorted. “I’m sure you liked it.”
“I only like being fondled by you.”
“Hey! Brother in the car!” I yelled, sticking my fingers in my ears.
I could hear their laughter even with my eardrums blocked.
“So I guess taking Heath would’ve been a good idea, huh?”
Johnny glanced at me and grinned. “Ah, baby, but we were fine. We totally handled it like the men we are. Right, Beau?”
“Right.” I was somewhat on Bex’s side for this one.
“We ran into April at the restaurant before we got recognized.”
“Really!” Bex said. “How is she?”
“Ask Beau,” Johnny said, a smirk on his face. I wanted to smack him. “I went to the restroom and that’s when all hell broke loose.”
Laughter echoed throughout the car. “You were violated in the bathroom?”
“No, after I came out,” Johnny said. “Don’t worry, no one saw my giant manhood, love.”
I groaned. “Again. Please. Brother. In. The. Car.”
“Beau,” Bex said. “How was April?”
Why did I have the feeling these two were up to something? “She’s fine. We didn’t talk much before Mr. Sex on Legs over here caused a ruckus.”
Bex sputtered. “Sex on legs? Did you just say that, Beau?”
I cringed, wrinkling my nose at Johnny as he laughed. “That’s what those girls were saying. Trust me, the nickname did not come from me.”
“Beau is jealous,” Johnny said. “He wants to be called Mr. Sex on Legs.”
“I absolutely do not.”
“Well you have your share of fans,” Johnny said. “I think that April is the president of your fan club.”
“I gotta go, Johnny. Jaden is crying. Be safe, you two.”
The line disconnected and Johnny and I fell back into silence. After a few minutes, his eyes slid over to me. “Beau, you know April is into you, right?”
“She doesn’t know me.”
He sighed. “Are you ever going to let anyone in?”
I shrugged. “It’s not worth it.”
“I used to think that, too,” Johnny said. “I don’t need to get into details on how Bex and I began.” He didn’t. We all knew—and heard—their no-strings-sex for three days when we’d played at the Outrigger near home. What we hadn’t expected was what happened after that. “You know I never thought I’d be that person, the one who settled down and got married. But I’m telling you, Beau, once you have the right person, it’s everything. Abso-fucking-lutely everything.” I thought back to their wedding. I’d officiated it, and it’d be the closest I ever came to committing myself to someone. No one deserved to be saddled with my issues.
“It’s not for me,” I argued. “You and Bex, you helped each other out of your pasts. No one can do that for me because my past is my present and my future. There’s no getting around who I am and what I always will be.”
Johnny’s brow furrowed. He glanced over at me for a second before adjusting his vision back to the road. “Beau, you aren’t a disease. No one is perfect. Not a single damn person. Everyone deserves someone to look at them like they are their whole world. The reason I’m telling you this is because I didn’t think I deserved it, either. I was wrong. You’re wrong, too.”
You’re cancer, spreading like wildfire. “Johnny, April is a beautiful woman. Most guys would cut off a nut to be with her. And that’s exactly why I need to stay the hell away from her. I can’t be the person she deserves. I’m not the person anyone deserves.”
“Do you see the way her eyes follow you everywhere you go?”
“I can see she thinks I’m a fucking charity case. She pities me, Johnny. She thinks of me like she does one of her foster kids.”
“I don’t know what made you think that. I see her staring at you the way a woman looks at a man she wants to get to know. I see her watching you, even when you aren’t paying attention. And I know the difference between a woman just wanting in your pants and one who is genuinely interested in you as a person. You know what I used to be like before Bex.”