Her lips pressed together, nodding slightly.
“What’s that face for?”
“I didn’t make a face.”
“We’ve gone over this. You definitely made a face.”
Biting her lower lip, she shrugged. “I thought about asking something, but I'm not sure if it’s too personal.”
“My tongue was just inside your pussy. Doesn’t get much more personal than that.”
Brooke laughed, stiff expression softening. “That’s who you were reading to? Your mom?”
“Yep. That’s mom.” She nodded slowly, and I laughed again. “What do you want to know?”
“I didn’t—”
“We can’t keep playing this game forever.” My smile stayed. “Just say what’s on your mind. I’ll tell you to shut up if you go too far.”
“Well, that’s not nice.”
“Brooke—”
“What’s the matter with her?”
“Lupus, to make a long story short,” I said. “She started getting sick when I was thirteen, and she started having neurological problems when I was eighteen, then she went into care when I was twenty-one.”
Brooke’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. She’s okay. Some days are rough, but for the most part, she’s good. She can’t see well anymore, and she has a hard time focusing, so Wednesdays, I read to her.”
A soft smile touched the edges of her lips. “That’s definitely not what I expected from mister full sleeves.”
I laughed. “Well, I didn’t expect the librarian to judge a book by its cover.”
“That’s a stupid saying, you know.” She craned up onto an elbow, propping her face in her hand. “Covers tell us a lot about a book. If I pick up a clinch cover, I know I’m getting a happily ever after.”
“Fair enough. But I didn’t expect a girl reeking of Chanel number nine to kick ass in spades.” She laughed, and my smile widened. “Have you been to jail or something?”
Her brows furrowed. “What makes you think I’ve been to jail?”
“That’s where people learn to play. Jail or rehab.”
“And where’d you learn?”
“My dad.”
“Same here, actually.”
“He learn in jail?”
“He did.” A faint, almost uncomfortable laugh. “Yours?”
“Yup,” I said. “See? Vicariously or not, everyone learns from jail or rehab.”
She laughed again, and I joined in.
For a moment, I focused on that sound. Her laugh. As pathetic as it may have sounded, it was one of the cutest sounds I’d ever heard. Her moans were a close second, but her laugh was almost intoxicating.