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That hurt. I didn’t know what bothered me more—what she said or that she was talking to him about it. Or maybe it bothered me because it was true. I didn’t so much avoid my sister as my family as a whole. I could do a better job of relating to everyone, but it pissed me off that he was interfering when he didn’t even know me. He’d been living in this house less than twenty-four hours.
“I’m always here if she needs me, and she knows that.”
“Really? When was the last time you initiated hanging out with her, helped her with her homework?”
I didn’t have an answer. And that made me feel like crap. The past year, I’d retreated into my own world a lot. I had been a shitty sister. There was no denying it. I just didn’t appreciate a stranger waltzing into my life and calling me out on it.
For the first time, I really looked Caleb in the eyes. “I don’t know who you think you are, but my relationship with my sister is none of your business.”
He took the last sip of his coffee before placing the mug in the dishwasher. “Very well then.” He nodded. “Cheers. Good talk.”
Then the critical bastard left the room.CHAPTER TWO* * *TEAGANThe nerve of him.
Classes hadn’t started yet, so I had nothing better to do with the rest of my morning than stew over judgmental Caleb. He didn’t know me or anything about the issues I had with my family.
Then guilt over what he’d said started to set in.
Damn you, Caleb, for getting in my head.
Eventually I went with Maura to the store, but when my friend Kai came over early that afternoon, she could see I was still upset over something.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Kai lived a few doors down. She was a year older than me and commuted to Suffolk University.
“You know how I told you we were getting an exchange student to live with us?”
“Yeah. The guy from China—”
“No. That’s Bo Cheng. I wish he were the one living with us. He had to move out because he’s allergic to Catlin Jenner.”
“Oh, bummer. Okay…so…what’s the problem?”
“The university sent someone else, an infuriating guy named Caleb Yates from England.”
I proceeded to tell her the story of meeting Caleb in the men’s room.
She laughed her ass off. “Holy crap.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, literally.”
“Okay, so what’s the big deal? Life played a little joke on you. Get over it.”
“I can totally get over the way we met. Truly. That’s not my problem. My problem is that he took it upon himself to accost me in the kitchen this morning.”
She wriggled her brows. “Sounds exciting.”
“Nothing exciting about it. Sorry. He started asking me why I avoid Shelley. Can you believe that? I mean, really? You’re living in my house for a matter of seconds, and you’re questioning my relationship with my sister? Like…who are you?”
She deepened her stare. “You do avoid Shelley.”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “Et tu, Kai? That’s not what this is about.”
“Alright, alright. I understand that’s not the point here. The point is what you do or how you behave is not any of his business. What did you tell him?”
“I told him just that—that it was none of his business.”
“What did he say?”
“He walked away.”
She nodded. “And that bugged you even more.”
“Well, yes, because isn’t walking away about the worst thing you can do when you’re in the middle of an argument with someone?”
“Actually, it’s probably the smartest thing to do sometimes.”
Blowing out a frustrated breath, I hugged one of my throw pillows. I needed her to be a friend and agree with me today, even if I wasn’t in the right. Part of me knew I was overreacting. But I couldn’t help how I felt.
I sighed. “I don’t know why I’m letting him get under my skin like this. I really don’t.”
“What does this guy look like?”
I pulled on my ponytail. Do I tell her?
My words came out fast. “He’s infuriatingly handsome and smells really good. It’s annoying.”
“A-ha! You know you’ve used the word infuriating twice to describe him.” She laughed. “Anyway, I knew there had to be something fueling this reaction. He’s good-looking on top of everything, and that’s making this even weirder for you.”
“My reaction would be the same regardless.”
“No, it wouldn’t. You wouldn’t care so much if he didn’t have some other kind of effect on you—the effect you’re always trying to avoid when it comes to guys.”
“Don’t go there, okay? We’re talking about him, not me.”
“Alright, well, you know what you do? Send him something in writing, like an email. Nip this in the bud. Tell him that while you appreciate his concern, you don’t appreciate him sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong when it comes to your personal matters.”
