Chapter 13:
One month later.Lunch time.The Brady Pub.
"I'm just saying I think the Jets have a real chance this year. I'm not trying to take anything away from the Bears." Brady laughed and took a swig of rootbeer, standing to leave.
"No way man," Shawn grinned, standing also. "The Bears were 13 and 3 last season and their division is going to suck this year. It'll be a cakewalk."
"Okay, okay.we'll see." Brady walked with his cousin towards Shawn's police cruiser. "I love when you take me out in this thing, man. It's awesome."
"What are you Brady? Fifteen?" Shawn chuckled as he pulled out of the parking lot, in the direction of Basic Black.
"You sound like Chloe. She's always teasing me about that." Brady couldn't help but smile. "I can't help it if I'm easily excitable."
"You're just like Belle. You know Belle's thinking about getting one of those oversized exercise bouncy balls. I think they're ridiculous looking, not to mention highly over priced."
"Oversized bouncy balls?"
"Oh, you know what I mean. Those huge balls women sit on and kind of bounce up and down. Honestly, I think Belle thinks she'll get some sort of sexual gratification from the damn thing."
"Oh Shawn, please. Do not mention sex and my sister's name in the same sentence."
"Whatever man."
"Chloe wants a Bowflex, one of those home gym things. I told her she could use my weights but she says she wants her own. Whatever. I just think she likes ordering stuff off of the TV."
"That's hilarious. Belle's the same way."
"Hey, think we could stop off at the supermarket?"
"Yeah sure. Why?"
"Well, I think I'm going to take off from work a little early today and bring Chloe some ice cream. She's been a little sick."
"Yeah sure. No problem man. So, uhh what's going on between you two anyway?"
"Who? Me and Chloe?"
"Yes, don't play dumb. You and Chloe."
"Nothing. Nothing's going on." Brady said a little too quickly for Shawn's taste. "And you've known that for three weeks, Shawn." It was true. Belle and Shawn were not convinced Brady and Chloe had suddenly fallen in love. And so three weeks ago, both had finally gotten Chloe and Brady to admit that their marriage was a farce. "Chloe and I are friends, plain and simple."
"I don't know if anything is simple when you two are involved."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Don't get all crabby, Brady." Shawn chuckled, loving the sight of Brady squirming. "I'm just saying lately you haven't been able to stop talking about Chloe. Chloe says this. Chloe says that. Chloe loves this. Chloe hates that. It just seems like you two have gotten really close. I think it's great."
"Well, Chloe and I [i]have[/i] gotten pretty close. I mean our plan is going off without a hitch. Things are going good. Basic Black is doing better than ever. Reports show we're zooming passed Titan in second semester earnings so far. Philip's acting like a gentleman, doing his best to get Chloe back."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, he sends flowers, calls her. That kind of thing. Chloe sends the flowers and gifts back of course, pretends it doesn't affect her. But he's persistent."
"And that doesn't bother you."
"No, it doesn't. Like I said, Chloe and I are friends-[i]just[/i] friends." He looked out of his window at the passing scenery. "I mean, even if I think Philip is a d&ck and doesn't deserve her, I just want her to be happy."
"See, it's that."
"What?"
"That look you get on your face whenever you talk about Chloe and Philip. You've got your sister inventing these wild stories, going on about you having fallen in love with Chloe. And I have to say, I usually just scoff but I'm beginning to wonder." Smiling, he watched Brady out of the corner of his eye.
"Well, stop wondering," Brady shot a look that would have anyone, who didn't know what a goof Brady was, running. "I mean I.care about Chloe. It's only natural. She's a great woman. But I [i]can't[/i] fall in love with her."
"You [i]can't[/i]. What does that mean?"
"It means she's still hung up on Philip."
"How can you tell?" Shawn couldn't help but laugh at his cousin.
"I don't know. She just gets this look on her face whenever he calls or sends something."
"What kind of look?"
"I dunno. A look, okay!?"
"So you think Chloe's still stuck on Philip huh?"
"I know so."
"So what if this afternoon, you get home with the ice cream and Chloe tells you she's madly in love with you and could care less about Phil and she wants to spend the rest of her life with and have like ten babies with you?" They both burst into a fit of laughter.
"I'd tell her she's out of her f&cking mind," Brady chuckled. "But see that's irrelevant, Shawn, because that is never going to happen."
************************
Brady walked through the door into the sticky, humid abyss that was Chloe's apartment. Well it had become 'their' apartment as they'd both been splitting all of the bills the past month. About three days ago, though, the air conditioner ceased to function. Brady joked that coming home from work was like walking into a sauna. Not finding it the least bit funny, Chloe delegated Brady to give the super a call but no sign of the super three days later. And so now, Chloe stood sweating heavily atop a wooden ladder. In cut off jean shorts and white tank top, her hair piled high atop her head, she peered into one of the air vents, a plastic spatula in her hand. "Chloe, what in G-d's name are you doing?" Brady looked up at her, shaking his head and setting the ice cream on the coffee table.
"I'm trying to fix the air conditioner," she murmured, not looking at him.
"The super said he would fix it."
"Three days ago, Brady."
"So? He's probably been busy."
"And what? I haven't?" She finally looked down at him, pointing the spatula to her chest.
"Dammit Chloe," he peeled off his light brown collar shirt revealing his white tank underneath. Yes, it was hotter than hell in here but Chloe had also managed to raise his temperature lately. Every time he looked at her now, random Barry White songs would begin playing in his head. "Come down and I'll call the super again."
"No, it's too late. I've already started." She inserted the spatula into one of the vents. "Ah-choo," she sneezed and sniffled. "I won't let him get the glory," she pulled a Kleenex from her pocket and roughly wiped her nose.
"Don't be silly. Come down." He shook the ladder slightly.
"Dammit Brady don't do that! I'll fall."
"That's kind of the plan," he chuckled, shaking the ladder again.
"Brady if I fall, I am going to kill you."
"Not if the drop doesn't kill you first." He laughed and wiped the sweat beginning to accumulate on his brow. "Can't we just call the super?"
"He's such a jerk. Nothing ever gets done with him. You called him three days ago and we haven't gotten so much as an 'I'm working on the problem' from him."
"Well, Diva, I'm pretty sure a spatula will do nothing for the air conditioner." He shook the ladder again.
"Stop that!"
"Come down here Chloe, please? You're sick and you're going to hurt yourself."
"I'll be fine. Ha-choo! Ugh." she shook her head and wiped her nose again.
"Look, truth is, I have a confession to make." He leaned against the ladder and looked up at her innocently.
"Yes," she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.
"Well, remember three days ago when the air conditioner broke and well, I had a lot of things on my mind. We'd gone to that dinner party the night before and the account at work was being wrapped up and Craig needed help with the clothes dryer and well, for some insane reason, we hadn't gone to pick up any groceries yet."
"Spit it out, Black."
"I didn't call the super like you asked."
"Brady! I asked you to do one thing! One!" It was then she felt herself lose her balance and begin to fall. Like magic, Brady's arms wrapped firmly around her middle holding her up against the ladder, keeping her from hitting the floor.
"I've gotcha."
"Ahhh..." she whined. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, partly from the scare of falling and partly because Brady's arms were wrapped tightly around her waist, his face mere inches from her own.
"You okay?" His eyes were full of concern, his brow furrowed with worry.
"Ahh." she looked down, wanting to avoid an awkward situation. "I think I twisted my knee," she lied.
"Well, let's get you settled over on the couch then." He swung her easily into his arms and walked in the direction of the couch when a buzzer in the kitchen went off. "What's that?"
"My cookies."
"Cookies hmm?"
"Yes," she settled her arms around his neck. "To the kitchen my man."
"Aye, aye cap'm."
"You'll have to let them cool, Brady," she pointed a finger at him as he settled her in one of the chairs at the kitchen table. He looked so cute pulling on a Mickey Mouse potholder.
"Smells great." He opened the oven and pulled out the tray of cookies. "Probably tastes great too."
"Brady."
"Okay, okay. I won't touch them...yet." He kneeled in front of her. "Let's just take a look at your knee." He gently wrapped both hands around her knee, squeezing slightly. She suddenly gasped. "You okay? Did I hurt you?"
"Uh huh," she lied again and nodded, wide-eyed.
"Sorry," he got up and pulled something out of one of the kitchen drawers and an ice pack from the freezer. "I promise I'll be gentle this time." He laid the ice pack on her knee and slowly began wrapping an Ace bandage around it.
She grinned. "You sure you weren't a boy scout?"
"Truthfully?" He gave her a playful grin. "I was for one year when I was like eight but I was dishonorably discharged for throwing water balloons at our leader."
"You rebel you," she joked.
"Hey, I was pretty cool back then okay? I was badass."
"Awww."
"What?" Brady asked her.
"It's nothing," she couldn't keep the goofy smile off her face.
"Stop looking at me like that."
"Why?" She giggled.
"Because I haven't had sex in over a month and I'm on a very short leash," he said seriously.
Her smile fell in an instant. "You haven't." she trailed off, genuinely surprised. "But that means that."
He looked down, concentrating on bandaging Chloe's knee. "You were my last."
"But.why?"
"Well, we're married so.I don't know. It just didn't feel right." He patted her knee. "There. All finished. Can I have a cookie now?"
"I guess that'd be okay," she smiled.
Grabbing a chocolate-chocolate chip cookie from the tray, he ripped off a piece and popped it in his mouth, loving the warm, fluffy taste of the freshly baked cookies. "Mmmm.these are incredible, Chloe."
"Yeah, I was testing out new cookies for the shop. Can I have a piece," she pouted.
"Ahh, a little piece I guess." He kneeled before her chair and brought the cookie up to her mouth, pulling it back before she could take it in her mouth.
"Brady."
"Okay, okay," he chuckled and brought the cookie up to her mouth, only to pull it back again.
"Brady!" She grabbed his hands and led the piece of cookie to her waiting mouth, taking it gently, her lips grazing lightly over his fingers. "Mmmmm.." She closed her eyes, obviously in chocolate chip cookie ecstasy.
Brady looked at her in awe. This was all just too much for him. Even sick with a nasty cold, she was just about the hottest thing he'd ever seen. "Oh G-d," he bit out.
"What," her eyes snapped open, visibly concerned.
"Um, I was just thinking: These are great and you know what would go great with this?" He gave her a small smile.
"What?"
"Ice cream."
"Yeah but we don't have any." She frowned.
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. I bought some today when I stopped off at the supermarket. Race you to the living room." He grabbed a spoon and headed for the door.
"Brady!" He turned as she simply pointed to her leg. "My knee." She smiled sweetly.
"I completely forgot." He swung her into his arms again and headed out of the kitchen. "Still hurt?"
"Not as much anymore but I don't want to put too much pressure on it," she smiled. Okay, so her knee was perfectly fine but she was cocooned in Brady's arms. He was carrying her around the house. Ahhhh. Chloe nearly swooned at the thought. She'd [i]had[/i] to do this. For weeks now she was trying to do anything to get Brady to notice her. She even pretended to just adore all of the things Philip had sent her, all the phone calls he made. But to no avail. Brady could care less. Chloe sighed in obvious despair.
"Does it hurt that bad," Brady asked her as he set her gently on the couch. He propped up her foot on the coffee table with a few couch cushions.
"More than you know Brady, more than you know." She suddenly sneezed. "Ugh, I feel awful."
"Aww.cookies n' cream ice cream cures all." He opened the tub of ice cream and cursed. "It's melted."
"Well, it's like 10, 000 degrees in here, it's no wonder," she chuckled.
"I was going to get around to it. I swear I was."
"Get around to what?"
"Calling the super." He reached for the phone.
Giving him a warm smile, she put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Let's eat first."
"Okay, anything you want, Chloe." He swallowed a spoonful of melted ice cream and began licking the spoon and some of the ice cream that had trickled down his hand.
Chloe sighed again. She wanted Brady.
One month later.Lunch time.The Brady Pub.
"I'm just saying I think the Jets have a real chance this year. I'm not trying to take anything away from the Bears." Brady laughed and took a swig of rootbeer, standing to leave.
"No way man," Shawn grinned, standing also. "The Bears were 13 and 3 last season and their division is going to suck this year. It'll be a cakewalk."
"Okay, okay.we'll see." Brady walked with his cousin towards Shawn's police cruiser. "I love when you take me out in this thing, man. It's awesome."
"What are you Brady? Fifteen?" Shawn chuckled as he pulled out of the parking lot, in the direction of Basic Black.
"You sound like Chloe. She's always teasing me about that." Brady couldn't help but smile. "I can't help it if I'm easily excitable."
"You're just like Belle. You know Belle's thinking about getting one of those oversized exercise bouncy balls. I think they're ridiculous looking, not to mention highly over priced."
"Oversized bouncy balls?"
"Oh, you know what I mean. Those huge balls women sit on and kind of bounce up and down. Honestly, I think Belle thinks she'll get some sort of sexual gratification from the damn thing."
"Oh Shawn, please. Do not mention sex and my sister's name in the same sentence."
"Whatever man."
"Chloe wants a Bowflex, one of those home gym things. I told her she could use my weights but she says she wants her own. Whatever. I just think she likes ordering stuff off of the TV."
"That's hilarious. Belle's the same way."
"Hey, think we could stop off at the supermarket?"
"Yeah sure. Why?"
"Well, I think I'm going to take off from work a little early today and bring Chloe some ice cream. She's been a little sick."
"Yeah sure. No problem man. So, uhh what's going on between you two anyway?"
"Who? Me and Chloe?"
"Yes, don't play dumb. You and Chloe."
"Nothing. Nothing's going on." Brady said a little too quickly for Shawn's taste. "And you've known that for three weeks, Shawn." It was true. Belle and Shawn were not convinced Brady and Chloe had suddenly fallen in love. And so three weeks ago, both had finally gotten Chloe and Brady to admit that their marriage was a farce. "Chloe and I are friends, plain and simple."
"I don't know if anything is simple when you two are involved."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Don't get all crabby, Brady." Shawn chuckled, loving the sight of Brady squirming. "I'm just saying lately you haven't been able to stop talking about Chloe. Chloe says this. Chloe says that. Chloe loves this. Chloe hates that. It just seems like you two have gotten really close. I think it's great."
"Well, Chloe and I [i]have[/i] gotten pretty close. I mean our plan is going off without a hitch. Things are going good. Basic Black is doing better than ever. Reports show we're zooming passed Titan in second semester earnings so far. Philip's acting like a gentleman, doing his best to get Chloe back."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, he sends flowers, calls her. That kind of thing. Chloe sends the flowers and gifts back of course, pretends it doesn't affect her. But he's persistent."
"And that doesn't bother you."
"No, it doesn't. Like I said, Chloe and I are friends-[i]just[/i] friends." He looked out of his window at the passing scenery. "I mean, even if I think Philip is a d&ck and doesn't deserve her, I just want her to be happy."
"See, it's that."
"What?"
"That look you get on your face whenever you talk about Chloe and Philip. You've got your sister inventing these wild stories, going on about you having fallen in love with Chloe. And I have to say, I usually just scoff but I'm beginning to wonder." Smiling, he watched Brady out of the corner of his eye.
"Well, stop wondering," Brady shot a look that would have anyone, who didn't know what a goof Brady was, running. "I mean I.care about Chloe. It's only natural. She's a great woman. But I [i]can't[/i] fall in love with her."
"You [i]can't[/i]. What does that mean?"
"It means she's still hung up on Philip."
"How can you tell?" Shawn couldn't help but laugh at his cousin.
"I don't know. She just gets this look on her face whenever he calls or sends something."
"What kind of look?"
"I dunno. A look, okay!?"
"So you think Chloe's still stuck on Philip huh?"
"I know so."
"So what if this afternoon, you get home with the ice cream and Chloe tells you she's madly in love with you and could care less about Phil and she wants to spend the rest of her life with and have like ten babies with you?" They both burst into a fit of laughter.
"I'd tell her she's out of her f&cking mind," Brady chuckled. "But see that's irrelevant, Shawn, because that is never going to happen."
************************
Brady walked through the door into the sticky, humid abyss that was Chloe's apartment. Well it had become 'their' apartment as they'd both been splitting all of the bills the past month. About three days ago, though, the air conditioner ceased to function. Brady joked that coming home from work was like walking into a sauna. Not finding it the least bit funny, Chloe delegated Brady to give the super a call but no sign of the super three days later. And so now, Chloe stood sweating heavily atop a wooden ladder. In cut off jean shorts and white tank top, her hair piled high atop her head, she peered into one of the air vents, a plastic spatula in her hand. "Chloe, what in G-d's name are you doing?" Brady looked up at her, shaking his head and setting the ice cream on the coffee table.
"I'm trying to fix the air conditioner," she murmured, not looking at him.
"The super said he would fix it."
"Three days ago, Brady."
"So? He's probably been busy."
"And what? I haven't?" She finally looked down at him, pointing the spatula to her chest.
"Dammit Chloe," he peeled off his light brown collar shirt revealing his white tank underneath. Yes, it was hotter than hell in here but Chloe had also managed to raise his temperature lately. Every time he looked at her now, random Barry White songs would begin playing in his head. "Come down and I'll call the super again."
"No, it's too late. I've already started." She inserted the spatula into one of the vents. "Ah-choo," she sneezed and sniffled. "I won't let him get the glory," she pulled a Kleenex from her pocket and roughly wiped her nose.
"Don't be silly. Come down." He shook the ladder slightly.
"Dammit Brady don't do that! I'll fall."
"That's kind of the plan," he chuckled, shaking the ladder again.
"Brady if I fall, I am going to kill you."
"Not if the drop doesn't kill you first." He laughed and wiped the sweat beginning to accumulate on his brow. "Can't we just call the super?"
"He's such a jerk. Nothing ever gets done with him. You called him three days ago and we haven't gotten so much as an 'I'm working on the problem' from him."
"Well, Diva, I'm pretty sure a spatula will do nothing for the air conditioner." He shook the ladder again.
"Stop that!"
"Come down here Chloe, please? You're sick and you're going to hurt yourself."
"I'll be fine. Ha-choo! Ugh." she shook her head and wiped her nose again.
"Look, truth is, I have a confession to make." He leaned against the ladder and looked up at her innocently.
"Yes," she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.
"Well, remember three days ago when the air conditioner broke and well, I had a lot of things on my mind. We'd gone to that dinner party the night before and the account at work was being wrapped up and Craig needed help with the clothes dryer and well, for some insane reason, we hadn't gone to pick up any groceries yet."
"Spit it out, Black."
"I didn't call the super like you asked."
"Brady! I asked you to do one thing! One!" It was then she felt herself lose her balance and begin to fall. Like magic, Brady's arms wrapped firmly around her middle holding her up against the ladder, keeping her from hitting the floor.
"I've gotcha."
"Ahhh..." she whined. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, partly from the scare of falling and partly because Brady's arms were wrapped tightly around her waist, his face mere inches from her own.
"You okay?" His eyes were full of concern, his brow furrowed with worry.
"Ahh." she looked down, wanting to avoid an awkward situation. "I think I twisted my knee," she lied.
"Well, let's get you settled over on the couch then." He swung her easily into his arms and walked in the direction of the couch when a buzzer in the kitchen went off. "What's that?"
"My cookies."
"Cookies hmm?"
"Yes," she settled her arms around his neck. "To the kitchen my man."
"Aye, aye cap'm."
"You'll have to let them cool, Brady," she pointed a finger at him as he settled her in one of the chairs at the kitchen table. He looked so cute pulling on a Mickey Mouse potholder.
"Smells great." He opened the oven and pulled out the tray of cookies. "Probably tastes great too."
"Brady."
"Okay, okay. I won't touch them...yet." He kneeled in front of her. "Let's just take a look at your knee." He gently wrapped both hands around her knee, squeezing slightly. She suddenly gasped. "You okay? Did I hurt you?"
"Uh huh," she lied again and nodded, wide-eyed.
"Sorry," he got up and pulled something out of one of the kitchen drawers and an ice pack from the freezer. "I promise I'll be gentle this time." He laid the ice pack on her knee and slowly began wrapping an Ace bandage around it.
She grinned. "You sure you weren't a boy scout?"
"Truthfully?" He gave her a playful grin. "I was for one year when I was like eight but I was dishonorably discharged for throwing water balloons at our leader."
"You rebel you," she joked.
"Hey, I was pretty cool back then okay? I was badass."
"Awww."
"What?" Brady asked her.
"It's nothing," she couldn't keep the goofy smile off her face.
"Stop looking at me like that."
"Why?" She giggled.
"Because I haven't had sex in over a month and I'm on a very short leash," he said seriously.
Her smile fell in an instant. "You haven't." she trailed off, genuinely surprised. "But that means that."
He looked down, concentrating on bandaging Chloe's knee. "You were my last."
"But.why?"
"Well, we're married so.I don't know. It just didn't feel right." He patted her knee. "There. All finished. Can I have a cookie now?"
"I guess that'd be okay," she smiled.
Grabbing a chocolate-chocolate chip cookie from the tray, he ripped off a piece and popped it in his mouth, loving the warm, fluffy taste of the freshly baked cookies. "Mmmm.these are incredible, Chloe."
"Yeah, I was testing out new cookies for the shop. Can I have a piece," she pouted.
"Ahh, a little piece I guess." He kneeled before her chair and brought the cookie up to her mouth, pulling it back before she could take it in her mouth.
"Brady."
"Okay, okay," he chuckled and brought the cookie up to her mouth, only to pull it back again.
"Brady!" She grabbed his hands and led the piece of cookie to her waiting mouth, taking it gently, her lips grazing lightly over his fingers. "Mmmmm.." She closed her eyes, obviously in chocolate chip cookie ecstasy.
Brady looked at her in awe. This was all just too much for him. Even sick with a nasty cold, she was just about the hottest thing he'd ever seen. "Oh G-d," he bit out.
"What," her eyes snapped open, visibly concerned.
"Um, I was just thinking: These are great and you know what would go great with this?" He gave her a small smile.
"What?"
"Ice cream."
"Yeah but we don't have any." She frowned.
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. I bought some today when I stopped off at the supermarket. Race you to the living room." He grabbed a spoon and headed for the door.
"Brady!" He turned as she simply pointed to her leg. "My knee." She smiled sweetly.
"I completely forgot." He swung her into his arms again and headed out of the kitchen. "Still hurt?"
"Not as much anymore but I don't want to put too much pressure on it," she smiled. Okay, so her knee was perfectly fine but she was cocooned in Brady's arms. He was carrying her around the house. Ahhhh. Chloe nearly swooned at the thought. She'd [i]had[/i] to do this. For weeks now she was trying to do anything to get Brady to notice her. She even pretended to just adore all of the things Philip had sent her, all the phone calls he made. But to no avail. Brady could care less. Chloe sighed in obvious despair.
"Does it hurt that bad," Brady asked her as he set her gently on the couch. He propped up her foot on the coffee table with a few couch cushions.
"More than you know Brady, more than you know." She suddenly sneezed. "Ugh, I feel awful."
"Aww.cookies n' cream ice cream cures all." He opened the tub of ice cream and cursed. "It's melted."
"Well, it's like 10, 000 degrees in here, it's no wonder," she chuckled.
"I was going to get around to it. I swear I was."
"Get around to what?"
"Calling the super." He reached for the phone.
Giving him a warm smile, she put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Let's eat first."
"Okay, anything you want, Chloe." He swallowed a spoonful of melted ice cream and began licking the spoon and some of the ice cream that had trickled down his hand.
Chloe sighed again. She wanted Brady.