Page 11 of Flawless

“The age is a factor, sure, but it’s more than that.”

She knocked her fist against her head. “Hello, the girl travels the world, earns a boatload of money, is fierce as hell. She’s already lived more life than most people your age, so what’s the problem?”

She had a point. Rylee wasn’t an immature, spoiled princess who’d lived a sheltered life and was looking for someone to take care of her. But damn, I was developing a serious hero-complex where this girl was concerned. I didn’t want anything or anyone to hurt her.

“We live in different states. And like you said, she travels all over the world. It’s not like we could be together, even if we wanted to.”

“Do you want to?”

“I just met her.”

“Way to avoid the question.” She flashed her phone at me, showing me the picture Rylee had posted of us. “That looks like two people who want to… explore the possibilities.” When I didn’t respond, she said, “I haven’t seen you smile like that in a long time. I miss that.”

I studied the photo. I couldn’t deny it. I did look happy with Rylee.

“It’s complicated, sis. I like her, and I think she feels the same way. But that doesn’t mean it’s worth pursuing.”

“What’s the alternative?” she demanded, her mouth pinched tight. “To go back to a lifeless house⁠—”

“Hey.” My sister and Austin had recently spent the night at my house and she chastised me, claiming the house was nice, but felt empty and soulless, whatever that meant. It provided shelter, and that was good enough for me.

“An ex-girlfriend who harasses you⁠—”

“You know I don’t give a shit about Kelly anymore.”

“A job that owns you.”

“My job…” Is my life. And even I knew that was a problem. There had to be more to life than work, even when that work was as gratifying as mine. “Is…”

“All you’ve got? I know.”

The truth always stung, and no one dished it out better than my sister.

“That’s not all I’ve got. I’ve got friends. We go hunting, fishing, bar hopping now and then. I workout, date, travel.” On the surface, it sounded like a full life, so why did it feel so empty?

She sighed. “I know you want to settle down and get married, Cam. You’ve always been a ‘family first’ guy,” she said, making air quotes around the words. “All of your friends are married and have kids. You can’t tell me you don’t want that. Something is missing in your life; anyone can see that. And that’s it.”

“Yeah, well if that’s true, I shouldn’t be wasting time with someone like Rylee. I should find a nice girl, in my own zip code who wants the same things I do.”

“Yeah, how’s that been working out for you?”

“Things with Kelly were getting serious, before she screwed everything up by hooking up with Smyth.”

“You can’t tell me that you actually would have considered marrying a woman like that. She cheated on you, and if you tell me the signs weren’t there⁠—”

I silenced her with one look because her late husband had apparently been cheating on her for years, before he died, and she’d missed the obvious signs.

“Fair enough,” she said, as though she could read my mind. “It’s not always easy to tell. But⁠—”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“What do you want?”

“Right now? I want to go grab something to eat, get a workout in while I listen to Rylee’s radio interviews, then meet her at Jimmy’s later for a beer. Is that okay with you, Warden?”

“Why do you want to invest so much time in Rylee if you’re sure it can’t go anywhere?”

God help me, she was relentless.