Passionate Exchange

Chapter Forty-Five

We get back just after seven after getting food from a drive-thru on the way back. Archer was grumpy the rest of the ride because they gave him too many pickles on his burger. I couldn't stop laughing at his face as he ate it. He looked like someone had just told him pizza was going extinct.

He said he doesn't like the taste of pickles by themselves but with something else he can tolerate them. Not today though, today there were too many to disguise despite how much ketchup he put on it.

I ended up giving him some of my fries when he wolfed his down in the first five minutes and was complaining he was still hungry. According to him, it wasn't worth giving the place any more money by ordering something else when they can't get the burger to pickle ratio correct. It took me a whole ten minutes to stop laughing. Of course, he didn't find it very funny.

I'm sitting on the sofa with Sophie now. Archer went out to see Jordan after getting a call from him. I think he took my advice and decided to talk to someone about what happened. Penny charges down from her room and into the living room, her fluffy socks sliding against the wood flooring.

"I need you to come with me," Penny demands, sounding like a principal talking to a student.

I prop my head upon my hand. "Why?"

She grabs me by my arm, dragging me forward. "Brody just messaged me saying he needs to talk to us."

I stop protesting, instead, following her upstairs. We collapse onto her bed and stare at her phone waiting for his name to appear on the screen.

"What do you think he's going to say?"

"Probably an update on how everything's going with his dad." I shrug my shoulders.

She crosses her legs. "It better be, I've been waiting to hear about it for the past week."

I giggle and she does too. It's almost the end of fall break so he should be coming back tomorrow. We haven't heard from him since he left but we just assumed he was busy catching up on things with his dad. I bet they have a lot to talk about seeing as they haven't seen each other in years.

Penny's phone starts vibrating against the bed. She darts her hand forward to answer it, putting it on speaker so we can both hear him.

"Hey, guys." His voice echoes through the phone.

I don't get a chance to say anything before Penny blurts out, "why have you kept us waiting for an entire week? Do you know how worried we've been?" I stifle a laugh at her accusing tone. She definitely doesn't like being kept in the dark.

"Sorry, mom," he teases. "I've been too busy to even pick up my phone. I don't know when this changed but his new wife has him doing some sort of activity every day. The only time they relax is when they're sleeping."

Relief washes over me when I don't hear a hint of jealousy in his voice. "So, it's going good?"

"Surprisingly, it is." He answers.

"That's great news." We sing in unison.

He tells us everything there is to know about his dad's new family. His dad's new wife, Ellie, is a bitch. Hey, these aren't my words! The first three words that came out of his mouth is "she's a bitch." Of course, leave it to Brody to exaggerate. It turns out he calls her this because she makes him do chores. His excuse was "I'm the guest here so why do I have to wash the dishes every night." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that.

"So, it's going well with your dad too?" I ask impatiently.

"As well as it could be going. I spent the first day updating him on everything he's missed. He did try to hug me when I got there which was awkward because you know how uncomfortable I get when people I haven't seen in a while hug me."