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Alec snorts as he laughs,throwing his head back and guffawing. It doesn't surprise me. I expected this kind of reaction from him. Still, I roll my eyes and smack him lightly in the chest.
“Shut up,” I chastise playfully. “It was a cute attempt, if a little insane.”
He chuckles some more. “Come on. Don't tell me you're falling for that crap.”
I shrug my shoulders, because part of me is. At least he's making an attempt. It would be worse if he wasn't trying at all. If he was completely indifferent and just took the out I gave him. But he's not. He may not be making the smartest choices, but he's trying.
“I don't know,” I mumble.
Alec sighs heavily as he gets ready to deliver what I know will be a lecture. “Ken, he doesn't deserve you. He lied to you for months and snuck around with his ex, doing God knows what.”
As he reaches out and goes to grab my hand, I quickly pull it away in surprise. “What are you doing?”
He smiles and looks down at his lap, then back up at me. “Do you remember in fifth grade when I used to follow you around like a lost puppy?”
“Yeah. Everyone swore you had a massive crush on me.”
“That's because I did,” he confesses. “How could I not? You were gorgeous and funny and made me want to spend all my time paying attention to you and only you. I was hooked.”
It's sweet. It is. But it's coming from the wrong person. Everything that he's saying he felt about me is exactly how I feel about Easton. And even though I know Alec would be the right choice—the better choice with the shit Easton has been pulling lately—I can't find it in me to make it.
“I thought I got over you when you moved away, but after running into you here and getting close again, I realize that my feelings for you have only grown since then.”
I can't help but look at him like he's crazy. “Do you know what else is only going to grow? My belly. With a baby. That isn't yours.”
He snickers like it's not something he hasn't already figured out. “It's not a deal breaker for me.”
Ugh. The last thing I wanted to do today was deal with one of the people who I've considered a good friend lately trying to take things to another level. Why is it that when a woman is single, it's automatically assumed that she isn't choosing to be? I didn't leave Easton to be with someone else. I left him because I needed to put myself first.
“Alec, I—”
“You don't need to give me an answer right now,” he cuts me off. “Just consider it.”
I'm about to tell him that I don't need to consider it. That it's not going to happen. But then he gets up and grabs the Xbox controllers and hands me one, completely changing the subject, and I feel like I'm actually being let off the hook for once.
So I let it happen.
I'M SITTING IN MY dorm, studying for finals that are only a little over a month away, when there's a knock at the door. My shoulders sag as I wonder what Easton has up his sleeve this time.
A vacation he planned.
A house on the wrong side of town he bought.
But as I open the door, I'm faced with my little brother. He leans his six-foot-four frame against the wall opposite of my room, radiating the same confidence he always has. Our parents claim he took all of it for himself in the womb, because his twin sister has absolutely none of it. She's the girl you'll find hiding in the library at a party, reading a book.
“Ryker,” I say in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
He puts his arms out for a hug, and I go willingly. “I wanted to see my big sis and tour the campus. See what the big deal about these digs are that you gave up Ivy League.”
“You couldn't have called first?”
“And miss the chance to surprise my favorite sister?”
The corner of my mouth raises. “I'm telling Quinn you said that.”
His jaw drops but I can still see a hint of a smile hiding there. “Traitor.”
Girls in the hallway of my dorm start to whisper to each other as they check out my brother. It's not surprising. According to all my friends back home, he's got eyes to die for and a body that puts Zeus to shame.
