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Once we reached the car, Ethan began loading the trunk with our groceries. “I’m only messing around. You know that, don’t you?”
“Of course,” I said, leaving him to pack while I opened the driver’s door. “That’s what you do best.”
* * *
Ethan and I didn’t speak again until we arrived back at the apartment.
“I thought you were retired now,” I said as Flynn ended his conference call.
“I’m still an advisor on the project, so I have to take the occasional call. Plus, I’ll be bored shitless if I don’t do anything.”
“Maybe you could work at the supermarket? I hear it’s a great place to meet women.”
Ethan detoured down the hall. “I’m going to get ready.”
“Yeah, me too.” Flynn grimaced at the mountain of shopping bags. “You okay with all of this?”
“I’ll be fine.” I shooed him away. “Go.”
Half an hour later, they both walked into the living room, freshly washed and dressed impeccably under their Lakers jerseys.
“So, what are your plans tonight?” Flynn asked me as he gathered up his keys and wallet.
“Hang out here, I guess. Once I’ve cooked up some meals to take to the cabin, I’ll probably watch the game while setting up some more online dating profiles.”
Ethan’s head snapped up as Flynn groaned.
“You don’t need to resort to that shit,” my brother said. “Surely you can meet someone the old-fashioned way.”
“Where? I don’t go out, and I have no friends.”
Flynn’s eyebrows drew together. “You have friends…”
“IhadVance’s friends.” All of mine had drifted away after my parents died, then it was easier to be with strangers.
“Well, maybe you should join some clubs or something.”
“Or perhaps Adam Harlow could introduce me to a couple of his friends?” I asked, half-jokingly.
Flynn snorted. “No way am I sending you into that world.”
“Then I guess this will have to do,” I said, holding up my phone.
My brother pressed his lips together, knowing he’d never get through to me. “Just make sure either Ethan or I check them out before you go on any dates. There are some whack jobs out there.”
“I’m not a little girl anymore. I don’t need you two protecting me.”
Ethan rested his hip on the kitchen counter. “Daise, you’re five-foot-nothing.”
I scowled. “I took self-defense.”
Without warning, Ethan grabbed my arm and pulled up my sleeve, revealing the bruise Vance had inflicted on my wrist the night before. “You clearly forgot that last night.”
I yanked my arm away. “You’re such a jerk.”
“We’re just trying to keep you safe,” Flynn said, still staring at my wrist.
“And I keep telling you I can look after myself.”
