During the welcome home bash we had, I’d fought tooth and nail to have it anywhere else, but Zayne’s newest house was under renovation, Jax’s is too far out of town, and Manning and Cal’s house doesn’t have the kind of security needed for us to get together. Zayne promised he’d keep things regulated, but spent more time buried between random women’s legs that night than helping me stop the plus-ones from roaming upstairs and nearly trying to break into my room.
Brushing off the irritation over how that played out, I focus on the woman currently on the other side of the wood door. She’s been here two days now, and we’ve had barely any interaction. I told her where to sleep, where to leave her dirty laundry—which she insisted on cleaning herself after asking where the laundry room was—and to help herself to any food in the kitchen. Beyond that, we’ve stuck to our own spaces.
“…love you too. Bye.” I knock and prop a hip against the doorjamb, crossing my arms on my chest as I watch her set the phone down on the mattress. She’s made the bed almost as perfectly as the woman I hire to clean the house, and she’s kept the room spotless like it usually is despite telling Yasmin, my housekeeper, she didn’t need to clean it.
Rylee gives me an awkward smile. “Hi.”
“Hi, yourself.”
“Before you say anything about that being some kind of lover who could offer me a place to stay,” she begins, making me cringe at the doubt she immediately thinks I have, “it was my best friend Moffie.”
“Moffie?” Can’t say I’ve heard that one before and California supplies some unique names with celebrities trying to outdo one another with the outrageous bullshit they slap on their offspring’s birth certificates.
A nod. “We’ve known each other since we were little, but she lives across the country in New York.”
New York. Huh. I never detected an accent from her, not eastern or western. Not like I do on Cal and Manning who are both from downstate near the Big Apple. “Is that where you’re from then? I rather like the east coast. Too cold in the winter though, yeah?”
She shrugs, playing with the throw blanket resting on her lap. “You get used to it, but I don’t miss the brutal winters. We were more central, so we got a lot more snow and ice than other places.”
I gesture behind me. “Well, I was coming up to say you can get some food anytime you want. I know that’s important.”
She blinks, a small smile forming at the corners of her lips. “Food is important?”
I chuckle at myself. “Food and eating are generally important, but people with your circumstances shouldn’t break habit because I’ve made you feel uncomfortable. I read about it.”
I’m surprised when that almost-smile curls downward. “You haven’t made me uncomfortable. If anything, that’s what I’m doing to you. You’ve still offered me somewhere to sleep, and I appreciate it more than you could know. More than I’ve let you know.”
All I manage to do is tip my chin before glancing down the hallway. I’ve never taken well to serious conversations. After a few minutes, I clear my throat and scratch the side of my neck with one of my fingers. “Yes. Well then…” I step back. “Chase and I will be in the den if you need us. Get something to eat if you’d like.”
I don’t wait for her reply before I walk away, hands digging through my pockets to pull out a hard lolly and pop it out of its wrapper. When I find Chase waiting for me, I drop down next to him and accept the controller he offers me.
Without looking in my direction, he quietly asks, “Want to talk about it?”
And all I say is, “No.”
I’m not sure what time it is when I hear the creak of floorboards from footsteps that are too light to be my brother’s come from behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I notice Rylee creeping down the stairs in an oversized sweatshirt that goes half-way down her sweatpants-clad thighs and hides the soft curves that I’ve noticed one too many times in the short time she’s stayed here.
She startles when she sees the flicker of the TV screen light up the otherwise dark room with me sitting in front of it. “I didn’t know you were up.”
One of her hands grips the staircase railing like she’s contemplating going back up, but she remains still.
“Couldn’t sleep so I figured I’d watch something. This infomercial suddenly makes me want to buy an air fryer.”
Slowly, her eyes trail to the screen. “I’ve always wanted one of those.”
I pat the couch. “Come have a watch.”
Her hesitation doesn’t surprise me, so I shrug and turn back to the commercial like it doesn’t bother me. In reality, her presence makes me hyperaware of everything. Chase snorted when Rylee walked downstairs yesterday after I went to her room and saw me smooth my hair down like it mattered what she thought of its naturally unruly waves. I elbowed him, he elbowed me back, but didn’t say a word.
“You don’t have to join me,” I relent casually. “Just thought you might not be able to sleep either. What better way to exhaust yourself than watching people try to sell you mundane things you don’t need?”
“I don’t know. It sounds like that woman is close to selling you on the Ninja air fryer.”
She’s got me there. “Don’t tell anyone or I’ll deny it, but I ordered a Snuggie once because of these commercials. It’s in my closet.”
Rylee stops at the end of the couch, closer than I expected her to get. “Did you really? Not even I have
