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We hang up without another word, and I stuff my phone into my pocket, forcing myself to ignore the missed text that just popped up from Skye. I’ll reply to her as soon as I can. Unfortunately, right now, I still have business to attend to.
With a sigh, I turn around and head straight back toward the apartment I only just got away from.
18
Skye
My brother’s bedroom light is shut off when I park out front, which is unusual for him. Normally he’d be glued to the computer in there. He must be watching TV or cooking dinner instead. That or he’s out somewhere, which would be even stranger. Like, alert the media, it might be the end of the world, weird. Other than casinos, Ian’s never been much for the social scene. He’s too shy for all that.
I park out front and jog up the steps to his floor. Just before I reach his landing, however, I pause, hearing my brother’s voice loud above me, as if he’s standing in the hallway.
“Oh, I know exactly what you’re saying.”
Ian? I hesitate. He sounds angry. I don’t want to walk in on something. What if he’s got a girl over? But wouldn’t he have told me if he was trying to date someone? I think it’s been two years now since he went on a single date, but you never know.
That or it could be one of his guy friends, the couple he plays video games with but almost never sees in person. I silently debate if I could climb back down the staircase without him hearing.
I
’m about to turn and leave when a deep, masculine voice answers my brother. “Then you know how serious this situation is.”
My mouth falls open. No way. I can’t be hearing this right. I’m hallucinating. I’m just so mad about him for standing me up, and frustrated at how much I missed him after such a short time, that I’m imagining Stone’s voice in my brother’s apartment building.
I can’t leave without finding out for sure. Poised on my tiptoes, I creep up the next couple of steps, toward the landing. In another step or two, my head will peak over the balcony in the hall. They’ll be able to see me if they look over. I hold my breath.
“Obviously, I do. But do you realize? Because you don’t seem to know who I am or what you’re actually dealing in.” My brother’s voice has shifted from pure anger to a hint of cocky arrogance. And dealing in? What the hell is going on?
“Don’t worry about me. You’ve got enough shit to worry about.” That’s definitely Stone. It can’t be anyone else. Even the sound of his voice makes my traitor heart beat faster, my limbs tremble with the memory of everything we did less than twenty-four hours ago, every way I let him claim my body and swallow my heart whole.
I can’t stand it anymore. I sneak up another step. Sure enough, Stone stands in the hallway, glaring through the open door at my brother. Ian leans on the frame just inside his apartment, his arms crossed and a sarcastic smirk on his face. Before I can duck back down the steps, or leave to process exactly what I’m hearing and seeing, Ian’s gaze flashes to me.
He shakes his head, just slightly, a subtle side-to-side, but I know my brother well enough to understand what he means. Now’s not the time to step in, Skye. Back off.
Too bad Stone notices the motion too. I can’t make myself turn away, not fast enough. It feels like I’m watching the scene in slow motion. Stone pivots on the spot and his eyes scan the apartment hall, until they finally come to rest on me. For a second, all three of us freeze, no one quite knowing what to make of the situation.
You stood me up so you could come threaten my brother? I want to shout. Because that’s clearly what he’s been doing. Ian wouldn’t be posed there all defensive and asinine if Stone hadn’t started in on him about something. I wonder if this is about that letter that came to my place. If Stone has come to talk to him about whatever trouble Ian’s gotten himself in.
And then something hits me and sends my heart plummeting to my stomach.
Did Stone sleep with me for this?
I don’t want to talk about this in front of Ian. I don’t want to deal with any of this—not my brother, not the man I’ve already fallen all over myself for, and certainly not the drama they’re both embroiled in.
Stone and Ian both open their mouths at once, but I’m not sticking around to listen to their excuses. Before they can speak, I whirl on my heels and thunder down the stairs, moving as fast as I can toward my car.
Stone is right behind me.
“Skye!” he shouts. I walk faster, pumping my legs harder. I don’t want to hear what he has to say. I don’t even want to look at him. “Stop walking, goddammit, and just listen!”
I break into a run, grabbing at my car door like it’s a life raft. As I slam into the front seat, he catches up to me enough to grab the edge of the door. He clenches his hand tight around it when I try to wrench it shut. “Move your fucking hand, Stone.”
“Just let me explain, Skye.”
“Explain what?” I practically spit because I can hardly catch my breath as my brain pieces together what I just saw. It doesn’t take much time and suddenly, Stone’s interest in me makes sense. So much sense, in fact, that I feel like the breath is being snatched from my lungs.
“I get it,” I wheeze. “Sketchy guy runs up a gambling debt, enterprising guy working for the casino in question decides to seduce his chubby sister to get in good with him. I wasn’t born yesterday.”
“That’s not what’s happening here, Skye.” Brows arching together, he carves his hands through his messy blonde hair and lets out an animalistic growl. “Please. Please, just let me explain.”
