“I can see that. Who are you texting?”
Her cheeks flush, and my curiosity roars in, distracting me from that shitty phone call.
“Um,” she stammers, batting at the brown flyaway hair on her cheek. “It’s just someone I’ve been seeing.”
“Janey, you have to give me more than that. Who is he? Is he cute? Where’d you meet?” She’s such a sweet woman, but I’ve never seen her with a man. Judging by the flush on her cheeks, she’s into him.
“We met online. We’ve been talking for a while, and we’re going on a date.” Her voice rises at the end, a mix of giddiness and nerves.
“That’s good, right?”
“Right. It is, yes.”
I close the door, then cross the room, dropping into a chair across from her. “You don’t sound so sure.”
“I don’t have a lot of experience,” she whispers, a blush staining her cheeks.
“That’s not a bad thing, Janey. In fact, a lot of men prefer innocent women.”
“Oh, I’m not innocent. I’ve...well, you know.”
I do know, and that has nothing to do with her innocence. It’s not about being a virgin but the way she seems to walk in the world. Always hoping for the best from people.
“Gotcha. But you don’t have a lot of dating experience? Are you worried about that part?”
She nods, dropping her hands in her lap. “I just never know what to talk about.”
“Talk about the same things you do when you’re texting. Just remember, you’re amazing, and he’s damn lucky to have your company.”
“Amazing. I’ll try,” she murmurs, a shy smile curving her lips. “How are you? What brings you here?”
I needed to talk, but I don’t want to anymore. I want to sit with my friend and be excited about her date. I don’t want to think about Tyler, or the D.A. or jail. I just want to look at pictures of handsome men and gossip about dating.
“Just wanted to catch up, that’s all. So...got any pictures?” I ask with a wink.
36
DECLAN
“M y fucking computer keeps shutting down.” I hide my smile, which is really fucking hard to do, and turn to Colt. “Shit, man. That’s frustrating. I’ll get my guys on it.” I type out a quick bit of nonsense, then tap the mouse. “There. Done.”
He’s studying me, dissecting me. He’s not dumb, and he can’t be sure I’m fucking with him, but he’s wondering. “We still haven’t talked about what I did”
“No, we haven’t.”
He sits on the window ledge and crosses his arms, studying me over my monitors. “I didn’t mean to fuck up that bad. That’s not me. I don’t even understand why I went through with it other than you were so pathetic that I knew you were never going to get anywhere with Cara if you didn’t have some help.”
There’s that word again. Pathetic. It’s not the first time one of my brothers has used it to describe me, but today it seems to dig a little deeper. Now that I’m batting so far out of my league with Cara, it grates on me. I usually just shut my mouth and don’t say a damn thing about how much it bothers me. As much as I hate to admit it, he’s not totally wrong. Stammering and stuttering, unable to speak to the woman I have been crushing on for years. But today, I can’t let it go.
“What gives you the right to fuck with my life like that? Do you really have so little respect for me?”
He stands, dropping his arms. “Brother, no. That’s not it. I swear. You’re just...not really a ladies man. It just felt shitty watching you two dance around each other. I love you both, and you both seemed to want the same thing. It seemed like a good idea to help you guys along.”
“I could do without your kind of help. You stuck your nose in where it didn’t belong, and shit went sideways. What if we couldn’t have made it out of that storm?” My hands are shaking.” She could have died out there on that road. No fucking way I could have lived with that. Could you?” Just the idea of being stuck in a snowstorm watching Cara fade away makes me nauseous. It was way too close, and it’s not okay.
“No, man. I couldn’t,” he says tightly.
“Right. Then stay the fuck out of my love life.” He goes to open his mouth, and I glare at him. “I’m serious. You were so far out of line, it’s not fucking funny. Stay out of it. I’m a grown man, and whatever happens between Cara and me is none of your business.”
