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Liar
FOUR WEEKS LATER...
Liar had just lined up his shot and pulled the cue back when the front door to the clubhouse flew open dousing the room in bright sunlight from the setting sun. When in the middle of a game, he was practically one with his cue, and he took the shot but the sudden burst of light along with Beast shouting, “Honey, I’m home,” caused him to hit the ball just slightly off his mark. The shot went wide.
Roll roared with laughter. “Oh yeah. Havin’ your cousin around is gonna be great, Liar.”
Liar shot Roll a scathing look but thanked God he didn’t wager more than fifty bucks on this game of pool. Turning away from the table, it pleased him to see his cousin coming into the clubhouse with a big-ass duffle in each hand. It would be good to have family close even if he and Beast were just cousins.
“About time you got into town, you crazy asshole. You got more shit to bring in?” Liar asked moving toward Beast.
Beast dropped his duffel bags and clapped Liar on the back. “Nothin’ that needs to come in right this second. Soon’s I get these to my room, I gotta get my bike off my truck.”
An hour later, Liar, Roll, and Rage had helped Beast bring in the last of his boxes from his truck. It was a Wednesday night, and most of the other brothers were home with their women or out carousing. Roll and Rage started their own game of pool and Beast and Liar were sitting at the bar with a bottle of Crown Royal between them.
“We should wait ‘til Thanksgiving. It ain’t that far off,” Beast said.
Liar shook his head. “No way. She’s ornery, always has been, but I got a feelin’ she’s even more ornery these days. We need the element of surprise. No way she’s gonna lie to our faces, especially if we’re both standin’ on her doorstep.”
Beast threw back what was left in his glass, setting the glass on the bar with a thud. “You’re right. Let’s go Friday though. Seen enough of the road today to last me a while.”
“She’s got that standing lunch date with those hat ladies every Friday. Need to do it tomorrow.”
“Christ almighty. Were you this bossy before you left Mississippi?”
***
IT WAS OVERCAST WHEN Liar and Beast trudged up the sidewalk outside Gran’s condo. He was just happy the rain had held off so far. Beast knocked on the door.
Gran opened the door, and her eyes narrowed. Then, she put her hands on her hips. “What are you two boys doin’ here?”
Right off the bat, Liar noticed Gran had lost a substantial amount of weight. That was not a good sign. Gran didn’t cut corners when it came to her cooking, and his Dad joked that just looking at her biscuits and gravy added a pound to his waistline.
Liar stooped over to hug her. “We wanted to check on you. Heard you’re sick and knew you’d tell us not to worry even though we’re gonna worry regardless.”
“I don’t need you boys tryin’ to take care of me, no matter how sick I am.”
Beast moved into hug her. “Gran, you can tell—”
His cousin was interrupted by Liar’s father, who had come out of the nearby bathroom. “You heard her. She doesn’t want your help, and frankly, it’s not the way she wants you to remember her either.”
Liar was shocked as hell to see his old man standing inside Gran’s tiny condominium. His father’s carrot orange hair was standing on end, and Liar suspected the situation might be worse than he thought.
“What are you doin’ here?”
His father’s arms were crossed on his broad chest. “I’m here to take care of your Grandmere. Your Uncle Delmas will be down in a few weeks. We’re switchin’ off. I’ve taken FMLA from the casino, but I’m gonna try to split it, so neither me nor Delmas are spread too thin with work or our Momma.”
Beast nodded, but said, “You know, Liar and I—”
“Liar? What kind of fool name is that?” Gran interrupted.
“It’s my road name, Gran. But Beast and I can both help, so neither Dad nor Uncle Delmas are spread too thin.”
Gran’s eyes narrowed on him and his cousin. “You two will not go by ‘road names’ in my home. I appreciate you havin’ an extended family with your clubs, but you’re Jim and David here. Understand me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” both men mumbled.
Liar’s father put his hands on his hips. “Son, don’t get too hip on the idea of helpin’ your Grandmere. She acts like just me bein’ here for her is puttin’ her under duress as it is.”
“Not under duress, boy. More, you bein’ under foot. Only got one bedroom.”
“Not stayin’ overnight with you Momma. We don’t need to hash that out more in front of the boys. Jim. You need to give your old man a hug. Goes for you too, David.”
Jim clapped his father on the back while shaking his hand, then he moved to his Gran to lean over and hug her small frame again. When he stepped away, he saw Beast and his father shaking hands.
“Speakin’ of not stayin’ with me,” Gran started while spearing both grandsons with a look, “I hope to high heaven the two of you don’t think you’re stayin’ in either of my recliners tonight.”
Beast chuckled. “No, ma’am. We wouldn’t dare impose that way, and you know it. This was just a day visit, and we’re headed back tonight. Didn’t expect to run into Uncle Charlie when we showed up.”
“You can say that again,” Liar added.
Gran nodded. “Well, glad to hear that, though I don’t like the idea of you boys spending that much time on the road in one day, but the upside to this is we can all go to Yoder’s.”
“Momma, are you sure you can keep that down?”
“Charles Adrian Huntley, I don’t start treatments until after Thanksgiving. You better believe I’m gonna eat the best food I can get my hands on before I have to go through chemo again. I haven’t forgotten how awful that business was the last time.”
Liar’s dad opened his mouth, but Liar spoke first. “Yoder’s sounds great, Gran, but you’re not drivin’, so Davy and I will follow you and Dad.”
Gran speared him with a look and went to her bedroom, but she did it talking. “I don’t know when you went and got so bossy, Jim, but I’ll remind you that I am your elder.”
Liar’s dad chuckled. Gran pointed a finger at Liar. “You two are damn lucky we had a late breakfast. Otherwise, Yoder’s would be off the table. But this way, we’ll hit it after the lunch rush and before even the earliest of the early-birds show up. Let’s get a move on.”
***
BEING AROUND HIS GRAN had a way of making him yearn for the past, but two hours after they had returned from Yoder’s Liar found himself wishing for a slice of the early seventies. It was inevitable because Gran insisted on watching the Game Show Network the remainder of the afternoon. Nearly four episodes of The Match Game and Liar had to wonder if any of the politically-correct delicate flowers had ever bothered to watch an episode. If they had, their ears might combust with the innuendo and sometimes overt crassness of the program. It was great, and Betty White back then was likely twice as funny as she was now. His Gran had fallen asleep about five minutes ago. As he listened to the over-slick sounding announcer prattle on about sponsors and providers of wardrobes, his father caught his eye and tilted his head toward the front of the small condo.
He stood from the tiny love-seat and followed his father and Beast. His father quietly opened the front door, and all three of them stepped out into the breezeway.
“She puts up a good front,” his father started in a very low voice.
“That’s why I wouldn’t settle for callin’ her on the phone,” Liar put in.
His father’s lips were tightly set for a beat. “She ain’t gonna tell you this, hell, she doesn’t even want to tell your Uncle Delmas this. It’s back, but it’s more aggressive this time around. By the time she told me, she’d already had her second appointment with the oncologist.”
“More aggressive? How can you know—”
His father cut Beast off. “I appreciate you boys offerin’ to help me and Delmas. But, cuttin’ to the chase, her days are numbered. Two months, maybe three they said.”
“But what about chemo?” Beast asked.
His dad shook his head. “That’ll be a wait and see thing. She had a hard time with chemo toward the end of the last go ‘round. They’re tryin’ to be optimistic, but what I understood from reading in between the lines is they don’t expect it to respond to the chemo.”
All three men were silent. A sound from the mouth of the breezeway caught their attention, and an older man with a sack of groceries ambled past them. When the man shut the door to his unit, his dad spoke. “What I’m gettin’ at is that I’m here ‘til the eighth. Your Uncle Delmas will be here through January second. Your help is appreciated. I’m glad to know me and my brother raised men who step up for family, but your Gran does not want you boys to see her that way.”
“Not boys,” Beast muttered.
“Know that. I called you men, but to your Grandmere, the two of you are her boys. Bottom line, a parent doesn’t want their children to see this stage of their life, how do you think your Gran feels about you two witnessing it?”
This subject was making Liar very uncomfortable, to say the least. “We just want to help, Dad.”
His father’s beefy hand clamped down on Liar’s shoulder. “It’s noted and appreciated, son. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about her condition myself, but once I found out, I hauled ass down here, and she may have cancer eatin’ up her insides, her ears are still damn-near bionic.”
As though just mentioning Gran’s ears activated them, they heard her voice approaching the door. “Where are you boys at? You best not be talkin’ about me behind my back.”
It was rare Liar’s father pasted a fake smile on his face, but when Gran opened the door that was the very type of smile he used to greet her. “We wouldn’t dream of doin’ such a thing, Momma. I was tryin’ to talk these boys into gettin’ a hotel room instead of ridin’ four hours back to Jacksonville. Got about as good a chance of them listenin’ to me as I do you listening to me. Guess the apples don’t—”
“Don’t talk to me about apples, Charles. Are you boys leavin’ now?”
Liar glanced at Beast with the tiniest of head shakes. Beast grinned. “You ain’t gettin’ rid of us that easy, Gran. But, we ain’t watchin’ any more old game shows. At least turn on somethin’ from the last twenty years. Betty White’s startin’ to turn me on with her dirty mind and that’s not right.”
Andrea
I was officially sated. That was a word that tended to bug me when I read it, but hell if I could deny that was the very definition of me right then and there. I was coming down, and Liar had pushed the door to the bathroom closed enough for a modicum of privacy. The satisfied smile on my face was one I had never felt before because even my best self-induced efforts didn’t result in anything like what Liar elicited from my body. We were opening up to each other this evening, but it didn’t mean I wanted him to know just how good he was with my body. At least, not just yet anyway. Nevertheless, I kept my ears tuned to the bathroom noises while I enjoyed the dwindling tingles through my body.
The sounds from the bathroom sounded like Liar was making his way toward the exit, so I curled to my side facing the bathroom door. He sauntered out, and his naked form was still perfection, but instead of my hands itching to touch him I found my tongue ready to trace every delineated muscle on display. His knee in the bed brought me out of my naughty thoughts.
“Andi, swear to all that’s holy, if you do not stop lookin’ at me like that...”
“If I don’t then what?” I asked as he settled on his back next to me.
He looked at me. “We may both die from too much sex.”
I threw my head back and laughed at the ceiling loud and hard. Suddenly I was no longer looking at the ceiling but the hard planes of Liar’s chest because he had pulled me over him. “Ain’t that damn funny, woman.”
On a clipped chuckle, I said, “Oh yeah it was. There’s no such thing and frankly no damn way for us to die from too much sex. At least not at our age. I mean what are you, twenty-eight?”
His lips quirked for a moment, and then his expression went serious. “No, babe. Thirty-one, what are you, twenty-four?”
I dipped my chin at him while giving him my big eyes. “Thanks, but no, sir. I’m thirty. Be thirty-one in February.”
A mischievous glint hit his eyes. “A woman who’s the same age as me. Haven’t gone there yet.”
My lips pursed before I said, “Not yet, I’m not, and don’t you forget it, Jim.”
It struck me in the back of my mind that we had been spending time together for just over a month now, and we had just exchanged our actual ages. It was weird and cool at the same time. Weird because I was surprised neither one of us had volunteered that information, but cool because clearly there was no need to talk about our age because there were better things to discuss. I remembered he had been out of town yesterday.
“How did your trip go? You have to help Beast with something to do with his move?”
A wan smile played at his lips. “No. Beast and I went to visit our Gran.”
“Oh. Well, why didn’t you stay longer? I mean you went down there and came back this morning, that seems rather quick.”
After a humorless chuckle, Liar said, “Even quicker than that, actually. He and I left in the morning yesterday, got back here just before midnight last night.”
I reared back. “You’re kidding me.”
His eyes softened. “She isn’t well.”
“All the more reason—”
Liar lifted a finger to my lips and squeezed me with the arm around my waist. “My dad was there to help her. She don’t want me and Beast to see her get sicker. Besides, her condo isn’t big enough for three Huntley men and her putzin’ around in it.”
I chuckled quietly at the visual. “I can only imagine.”
“Anyway, my Uncle Delmas, that’s Beast’s dad, is comin’ down in early December. They’re switchin’ back and forth, but don’t want a lot of help from me or Beast.”
“I’m sorry. There’s nothing worse than feeling helpless when you know there has to be something you can do.”
“You’re right,” Liar said, and then he rolled me onto my back. “We need to talk about something else. Or better yet, we can shut the fuck up and make out instead.”
I grinned, and Liar wasted no time in lowering his head to kiss me. A make-out session after being so well-satisfied seemed indulgent because it was clear Liar wasn’t taking it any further than kissing and touching. Crazy as it might have sounded, it was one of the sweetest things a man had done for me in a long-ass time.
Sounds from the bar-area of the common room were coming through the walls. I didn’t know if it was ten minutes or twenty minutes later. What I did know was that Liar’s talented lips shifted from mine to my neck. It was nice, but not near as fantastic as both of us kissing each other.
He pulled away from me grinning. “You cool hangin’ in the common room wearin’ your scrubs? Or you just want to get goin’?”
I didn’t mind hanging out in my scrubs. I mean they were comfy, and I was able to express myself without any thought to whether my clothing was fitted or coordinated or any of that bullshit that I didn’t have time for. Okay, it wasn’t bullshit to other women, but my energy was better spent on other things. The problem was, I had put in a full day which meant I felt grimy. Most of the time it was just a feeling and not an actual case of me being grimy. I should’ve just said yeah or nodded reflexively, but my lengthy reluctance was misinterpreted.
“We can’t hang back here all night, Andi.”
“I don’t want to do that, Liar. I’m cool in my scrubs, but I want to shower.”
A confused look passed over Liar’s face.
“I know, it doesn’t make sense. Why get clean and then put on the same damn clothes I was wearing before I showered? I don’t understand myself sometimes. Just go with it, okay?”
His confused expression quickly morphed into a huge grin. I expected a verbal retort, but he launched himself out of the bed, and it was like instant eye candy. His body type was everything I could have asked for in a man. It was athletic without being in my face about it.
Before I could contemplate his body any further, he said, “One shower comin’ up. Let’s go, babe.”
How had I forgotten about that in just a day apart from him? Right, wrong, or otherwise, Liar had it ingrained in his mind that the two of us had to shower together. I didn’t fight it anymore.
Five minutes later, it was startling when the hefty bar of soap hit the small tub with a resounding thunk. That sound made both of us burst out in laughter even though we were torso to torso, and the feeling of Liar’s lips smiling against my lips was the best feeling I had ever had. For the moment, anyway.
Liar pulled away from me. “All right, you can argue with me all you want about us not being able to die from too much sex, but I wanna see you beat Roll’s ass at a game of pool. So, hurry up. I’ll see you in my room.”
I gave his slick back-side a dirty look because while Liar had been giving me plenty of pool-shooting instructions, I wasn’t so sure I was remotely ready to take on a heavyweight like Roll. With Liar’s directive in mind, I got busy with conditioning my hair. This wasn’t my first time using Liar’s shower, and I had made certain to drop an extra bottle of conditioner by just so my hair wouldn’t suffer. God knew that first time I used his shampoo only I nearly lost what felt like half my hair when I got my hands on a decent brush. Talk about lessons learned the hard way!
When I was done, I padded out to his bedroom with a towel wrapped around my torso; I shot Liar a look. “First of all, I appreciate you thinking I’m ready to take on Roll. I’ve certainly come a long way in billiards under your tutelage, but in no way am I even remotely ready to take on that big man.”
Liar was sitting on his bed tying a motorcycle boot, but when he stood up to face me, I saw his jeans were not done up. I didn’t know why that struck me as sexy, but it did. Oh, who was I kidding? Every little thing about this man was sexy to me.
“Eyes up here, babe,” he chuckled. “I don’t know if it’s good or bad that I can’t share it with my brothers that you have a problem lookin’ me in the eye instead of at my crotch.”
I gave him a sassy smile. “On that note, I assure you, it’ll be the last time I make that mistake.”
He responded with a quick eyebrow arch and a grin. “You’re ready to take on Roll, babe. Your skills ain’t the same as his, but at the same time, he sometimes underestimates his opponents. He’ll get cocky playin’ against you. One way or the other.”
His last statement almost made no sense to me, but then it clicked, and it did not make me happy. “Are you being sexist and saying that he’ll be busy looking at my tits or something like that?”
Liar looked only slightly abashed at me sussing him out. “You could say that. But babe, you need to tap into your more competitive side. You got a way to distract your opponent, use it.”
I shook my head at him as I moved past him to pick up my scrubs from the floor. “We’ll see, Jim, but if I were you, I wouldn’t put any money on this game you’re tryin’ to set up.”
“No can do, babe.”
I was nearly to the bathroom door again but looked at him over my shoulder. “What’re you talking about?”
“Roll only plays if there’s money on the line.”
“Then I guess you cut our shower short for nothin’.”
***
“WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?” Liar asked in a low voice in my ear.
Staring at my cell phone on the bar, I heaved a sigh. I turned my head to look Liar in the eye. “Shayla and Paula want me to join them a week early. Get me fully into the swing of things.”
“Why do you look so upset about it?”
I twisted my lips to the side for a moment. “For one thing, I don’t have my appointment book on me. I’m pretty sure I only have one early appointment tomorrow, but it doesn’t mean I feel like spending my Saturday afternoon at the poker room.”
“You mean evening, don’t you, babe?”
I shook my head. “No, they’re working during a mid-day tournament tomorrow.”
“Shit,” Liar muttered.
“What?”
He pinned me with a stern gaze. “Tell them no.”
I gave him a sideways glance. “Why would I do that? I’ll be working with them soon enough.”
Liar’s hand wrapped lightly around my neck. “’Cause, I got somethin’ on for tomorrow afternoon, and I can’t watch out for you. Don’t tell me you forgot about us watchin’ out for you?”
My head tilted at him. “In broad daylight. Seriously, if Gil’s there, I’m out, and there’s no way I’d miss him watching me or following me during the day time.”
“Don’t care. I’ll get someone else to watch out for you tomorrow.”
“Liar—”
“No arguments, Andi,” he snapped. His tone softened when he added, “Besides, it’s time to shoot some pool.”
