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“I’m not helping you get naked,” I screeched out once we were alone. Not like I’d never seen a naked man before, but … but …
The smirk on his face made me want to dislocate his other arm.
“Don’t pretend you haven’t pictured me naked already, Sydney.”
My eyes flared. Ugh, he was totally baiting me. I liked him more when he was grumpy and sad and in his own head.
I threw up both hands. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
“Do you hate me?” His eyes teetered back to the door.
“I don’t hate you,” I said, crossing my arms across my chest.
“So, help me then. Do you think I want that cleat chaser getting me down to my boxers?” His eyes met mine before sliding back to the door, as though Denise would pop from behind it without knocking. “I swear, if she sees what I have going on down there, I’ll be filing another restraining order, and I already have three out there.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, you poor baby, with all your psycho stalkers.”
He chuckled. “You’d understand if some crazy dude broke into your house.”
I double-blinked. “Adudebroke into your house?”
He frowned. “No. A girl. But if it were you, it’d be a dude. You know what? Just help me. Please.” There was a little whine in his tone, which was so unlike him.
He pouted. Full-on pouted, lip pushed out, reminding me of a little kid. Which wasn’t too hard to picture. I was sure Austin had been a cute kid. Even in his twenties, he still had that boyish look, as though he’d never age.
“Fine,” I huffed. “Let’s get this over with.”
I stepped into him, erasing the space between us. My heart fluttered a little—fornoreason. In all the years Alec and Brandy had been together, I’d only seen Austin a few times, but still, my heart never pitter-pattered for him.
So, just shut up, I told my stupid, stupid heart.
It’d been a weird day, and that was all. Just a weird, awkward, shitty day with a really cute, almost brother-in-law, kind of, sort of. If that was what we would’ve been. Not really, but who cared?
As I bent down, my fingers made it to the zipper of his jacket. Without meeting his eyes, I slid the zipper down, holding my breath. I had to suppress a groan when I smelled him—a light pine scent of his aftershave and the scent of one hundred percent alpha male.
I’d be lying if I said that Austin was not attractive. Year after year, he was always included in the hot athlete polls. It was just odd and weird to think of him in any way other than Brandy’s brother.
The sleeve of his jacket had been torn in the scuffle with James earlier. I pressed my finger through the hole, and when I met his eyes, they were blazing fire. Green fire.
I swallowed. Hard.
“I … I’m going to help you slip this off. Okay?”
He nodded lightly.
Slipping his right arm through the jacket was easy, but getting the jacket over his left shoulder and off was a whole different story. He winced and groaned as I extracted the jacket off of him, placing it on the empty chair I’d vacated.
And now … the shirt.
My eyes slid up to his, and he laughed at whatever face I was throwing him.
“What’s the matter, Sydney?”
“Nothing.” Truth be told, my pits were sweating. From just being this close to him, the mass of him, the strength of him.
“Haven’t seen a shirtless man before?”
Ugh, that freaking amused look again.The nerve!
