Page 74 of Fallen Creed

“What?”

“Do you ever stop thinking about food?”

“Yes, I have other things on my mind.”

“Like Taylor?” she asked, watching for his reaction.

She liked when Jason smiled, but she didn’t like that Taylor was the reason for it.

“Yeah, I guess.” His voice sounded shy, but his grin widened.

“Are you in love with her?”

“I really don’t know. I’ve never been in love before, so I’m not sure what it’s supposed to feel like?”

“Is it because she’s a bit of a slut?”

“What?”

The Jeep actually jerked with his reaction, and Brodie braced against the dashboard.

“Who said that?” He wanted to know as he straightened out the steering wheel and stayed in his lane.

“Taylor. She said she was a bit of a slut.”

“She was joking around.”

“But you like having sex with her, right?”

“Geez, Brodie! That’s kind of personal.” The smile slid off his face. “I don’t think this is something we should discuss”

“The sex you’re having with Taylor, or sex in general?”

“Either. Both.” The subject tongue-tied him.

“But how will I learn about all this stuff if no one will talk to me about it? Romance novels are full of the female perspective. Maybe it would be good to get the male perspective.”

“Well, the male perspective is, guys don’t talk about it.”

She stared out the side window and allowed a smile. She’d learned two things from their exchange. First one: he didn’t know if he was in love with Taylor. The second: they were definitely having sex.

Was it jealousy she was feeling?

Brodie didn’t understand how she felt about Jason. He’d said on more than one occasion that she and Ryder and Hannah and the dogs were his family. She certainly didn’t think of him as a brother. She glanced over at him and realized she’d probably only succeeded in making him think of Taylor.

She stayed quiet. He needed to concentrate on driving. The traffic continued to clog both lanes of the interstate. It hadn’t let up for the last several hours. They were pointed west now, but thick gray clouds blocked out the sun. This could be part of the storm front.

She wasn’t good at conversation. She’d just proven that. Too blunt. No filter. Was it wrong to be straightforward? As her mind tried to wind up another subject, Jason startled her, breaking the silence.

“You can ask me anything, Brodie. Maybe just not about sex.”

“And you can ask me anything, too,” she said. “If you want.”

“Let’s start with simpler stuff. Like, what’s your favorite color?”

“That’s easy. Yellow.”

“Yellow? You never wear yellow.”