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How can I tell her the real problem riling me up here? If we tell Harper, Jackie’s out of a place to live. She can move in with me, but he won’t ever speak to her again, and I don’t want that for her. And if I get traded, she’s got nowhere to go—unless she comes with me, and I don’t see that happening.
“For now, yeah.” I turn my back to her, opening a package of fettuccine as I struggle to contain the toxic mess in my head. “Can we just keep it status quo until the season ends?”
Christ, when did everything get so fucking complicated? For a micro moment, I want my old life in LA back.
A heavy pause fills the kitchen. Then her soft voice drifts from behind me. “Speaking of siblings ... when can I meet your sister?”
I’m about to drop the pasta into the boiling pot when my hand freezes. I nearly scald myself as the air in the kitchen turns to ice.
Chapter 37
Rough Seas
Jackie
Colby’s entire frame stiffens, and the chill he puts off seeps into my bones, making me want to grab a blanket to wrap around myself. Though he looks everywhere but directly at me, I don’t miss the tight set of his mouth.
I straighten from my slumped posture. “D-did I say something wrong?”
“We should eat,” he says curtly. “You’re probably starving after the workout I just put you through.” Turning away, he pulls out plates and silverware and slides them across the countertop toward me.
“Colby?” I murmur, but he ignores me. My body goes a little numb from the rubberband effect. “W-what’s wrong with wanting to meet your sister? She’s important to you, so I …”
He shakes his head. Utterly befuddled, I pick up the plates and utensils. “Are we eating here or on the couch?”
“I don’t care. Wherever you want.” His voice is disturbingly flat.
I move slowly, arranging our place settings in a fog of confusion. Not an hour ago, he was kissing me like I was his next breath and pulling off my clothes. He couldn’t get close enough. After we climaxed, he held me close and whispered sweet words about how beautiful I am and how good being with me makes him feel. Now? It’s as if someone left a window open in the middle of a January night.
In contrast to mine, his movements are choppy, as if he’s fueled by a case of energy drinks. The man before me has morphed into Agitator Colby, and he looks ready to hit the ice and take a run at someone. He pours a glass of red wine and hands it over without looking at me. What’s his deal? Maybe it’s because I mentioned siblings, and that’s brought up a sore subject. Colby’s pushed to tell my brother about us, and I’ve been the holdout. I thought he’d be happy I’ve come around to his way of thinking.
As for wanting to meet his sister, his reaction leaves me baffled. Like his reaction to my suggestion that we finally tell my brother.
If we’re going to share a meal, I’m not doing it half-naked. Feeling a little too exposed, I return to his bedroom and pull on my jeans in the light that spills in from the hallway. I yank off his tee and retrieve the sheer, strappy bra that matches my undies and is so small it barely covers my nipples.
As I fasten it behind my back, the agitator appears in the doorway. “What are you doing?” he demands.
“Getting dressed?” I search the floor for my sweater and come up empty-handed. Oh. Because he took it off me in the entryway when I first got here.
I march in that direction, brushing past him. His mouth drops open as I pass. “You’re not leaving, are you?”
“Hadn’t planned to, but now I’m wondering. Do you want me to leave?” Spinning in place, I prop my fists on my hips, and his eyes skate over me and stop at the flimsy bra I bought just for him.
His Adam’s apple bobs in his muscular neck as he swallows. “No.”
A thought strikes like a puck hitting the glass at high velocity. I’ve read this—him—all wrong. He’s not looking at me with stardust in his eyes. He’s a chameleon, and he’s been telling me what I want to hear because he enjoys having a steady bed partner. No muss, no fuss. Introducing lovers and families makes things messy. Too much entanglement. That’s why he did a one-eighty on telling Donovan and why he doesn’t want me to meet his sister.
Once more, I’m being used, but this time I see it. And honestly? The sex exchange has been satisfying for me too. More than. But I want a lot more than sex out of this relationship. I’m not a casual girl, and I make no apologies because I don’t need any.
Jackie Harper deserves better.
“Jackie,” he says quietly, “I was hoping we could spend the whole evening together.”
“You mean you were hoping to fuck me another time or two, right?” I grind out.
His eyes meet mine and go wide. “What? No!” he barks. Then his expression turns sheepish, and it’s annoyingly adorable. “Well, I had kind of planned on that, but we don’t have to. I just want you here. I like having my first mate around.”
Ignoring the charming words from his chameleon’s tongue, I snap, “I was under the impression we were more than fuck buddies, Colby, but I guess I was wrong.”
