Page 150 of Sorrow & Strangers

I roll my eyes. “I’m more open to it than you, unless you’ve fucked some random female since you fell?”

“That’s none of your business,” Rafe says, giving me a reproachful look.

“This is the first time you’ve left the house since you fell, so . . .”

“I have four brothers who all tried setups and blind dates. I like to keep this shit private.”

“Have you ever dated?” I ask, quirking a brow.

“What part of private do you not understand?”

I glare at him. “The part where you’ve just spent the last thirty minutes giving me shit about my personal life.”

Rafe narrows his eyes, and I meet his glare. “No. It’s not something that interested me,” he finally says.

Past tense?

“And now?” I ask.

He shrugs. “I don’t know. I’ve never felt drawn enough to anyone to pursue it.”

“You’ve never had a crush?”

Rafe thinks for a moment. “No.”

“Huh.”

“Is it really that odd?”

“All of your brothers are just so . . . sexually charged,” I say with a shrug.

Rafe grimaces. “Never say that to me again. Please.”

“It’s true.”

Rafe shakes his head as if trying to rid himself of the thought. “Things are different now, so who knows what’ll happen.”

I smile at the small glimmer of hope in his voice.

“Want to force Alice out of bed to make us breakfast?” I ask, knowing we are both at our limits when it comes to talking about matters of the heart.

“Absolutely,” Rafe replies, grinning wickedly.

We creep upstairs, and I jump on top of Alice while Rafe clangs a couple of pots together.

Alice screeches, trying to hide from me and from the noise. Yanking the covers from her, I smother her in kisses and tickle her.

Alice squirms. “I hate you both,” she grumbles.

I keep kissing all over her face until Alice shoves me off with a snarl and sits up. She glares at us both, her hair sticking up at all angles.

“Rafe, tell Alice what we did this morning,” I say, grabbing her pillow and tossing it at him.

“Why do you make it sound like we got a good grade and we want her to put it on the fridge?” he asks, batting the pillow back with the pot.

“You two break another pillow, and I will sic Steve on you,” Alice says grumpily.

I glare at him. “Shut up. It’s a big deal, Rafe.”