“Nope,” Kai responds, almost sounding proud of himself.
“Really?” Daisy shoots back, and I can’t help but feel like I’m missing part of this conversation. She narrows her eyes at him, almost like she’s reading his face for a lie she knows is there.
“Really,” Kai counters, a smile that screams he’s won this conversation, and I love his confidence and the way he indulges his friends’ ribbing.
“Good,” Daisy says, pulling me away from Kai. Linking arms with me, she leads me out to the back deck. “So, tell me…” she starts as we sit down in two rocking chairs, taking in the view.
And I think I’m going to be great friends with Daisy.
“Soooo,” Miles says as he drops into the chair beside me.
I laugh, shaking my head as I take a sip of beer. “Yes, little brother, can I help you?”
He snorts out a laugh. “So, you’ve really not had any ‘friends’ over?” he asks, air quoting the friends part.
I wave my beer around the backyard. “I have friends over now.”
Miles rolls his eyes as he kicks my leg with his barefoot. “You know what I mean, smart ass.”
“Do I?” I ask, even though I know exactly what he’s asking.
“Yeah, you do,” he says, swallowing a mouthful of beer. “Your tourist pick-ups, some random chick you meet on the beach. You really haven’t had anyone over?”
“Nope,” I tell him, shaking my head as my gaze wanders to where Quinn is sitting with Sage and Daisy. They’re laughing and chatting like old friends, and it makes me smile to see how easily she’s fitting in here.
“What about Lisa?” Miles now asks.
I huff out a laugh, pulling my phone from my pocket. Without answering him, I open the message app, scrolling to my conversation with her before handing my phone over. I watch as he reads the exchange from earlier this evening.
* * *
Lisa: Hey, you wanna hook up tonight? Need to blow off some steam.
Me: Sorry, no can do tonight. Having a BBQ though, if you want to come and just hang out?
Lisa: No worries and thanks, but I’ll pass. Have to work anyway.
* * *
Miles hands my phone back to me, a confused look on his face that makes me laugh. “What?”
“You actually turned down a booty call with Lisa?” he asks, as though he doesn’t believe the text messages he just read.
“I actually did,” I confirm.
“So like, is this a permanent thing or a just-for-tonight thing?”
I blow out a breath as I sink into my chair, my gaze back on Quinn. “I don’t know. I guess it’s a for-now thing.”
I can feel Miles watching me, probably trying to make sense of what I’ve just said. Even though we no longer live together, we did for ages. And Miles knew that Lisa often dropped by after work when she felt like scratching an itch.
It’s not like we were or are a couple. We’re friends. With benefits. A mutually agreed upon arrangement that both of us willingly participate in. I don’t want to date Lisa, and I know she doesn’t want to date me. We just fuck—that’s it.
Or apparently not if my latest reply to her is anything to go by.
“This is because of Quinn, isn’t it?” he eventually says. When I don’t respond to his question, my brother nudges my leg again and says, “Kai?”
I sink even lower in my chair, my head resting against the back, my beer resting on my thigh. “I don’t know,” I eventually say. “Maybe, yeah.” Miles doesn’t say anything, and when I turn to him, he’s watching me, an easy smile on his face. “What?”
