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“Charlie!” My nephew, Casey, ran to me with his gangly teenage body and long swinging arms. But instead of hugging me the way he would have three years ago, he stopped in front of me instead.
“Look what I learned.” He threw a punch and assumed a fighting pose, his face twisted in a serious expression.
“That’s great, buddy.” I smiled and tried to inject enthusiasm into my voice even though the guilt was eating at me. Guilt at what I’d just done and because of Casey. He’d been begging me to enroll him in karate classes, but we couldn’t afford it with my parents’ medical bills. So I guess he’d started learning on his own.
He never mentioned it, but I hated that I couldn’t get him even the most basic fun things his friends had.
“Is that Charlie?” my mom called out, poking her head out of the kitchen.
“Yeah, Mom,” I answered as I gave her a wave.
She frowned. “Where have you been? I thought you said you would come back around midnight.”
“Yeah, but work kept us too late, and I didn’t want to disturb you, so I decided to crash at Ivanna’s.” The lie slipped out easily—I’d practiced before I came home—but I still coughed to cover up my discomfort.
“Oh.” I couldn’t tell if my mom believed me or not, but she continued, “Well, next time, just come straight home. I know Saturday isn’t your night to watch your dad, but I might need help.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I ruffled Casey’s hair once and walked toward the kitchen. “Are you cooking something?”
“Vegan chicken. Dad said the one I made him tasted too vegan-y and not enough like chicken, so I’m trying again.” She rolled her eyes and brushed her grey hair behind her ears. “I’ve told him many times that there was simply no way to make it taste more like chicken, but he insisted I try.
My dad couldn’t eat meat anymore after his numerous heart problems, so Mom has been making him meat substitutes.
“I’ll help you,” I said. “Maybe we need to mush up the tofu more and add more seasoning.” I went to the sink to wash my hands and got ready for work.
“So, how was your sleepover?” my mom asked, and I was grateful that I was turned away when I answered.
“Same old,” I replied. My mom would have an apoplexy if she knew I had a one-night stand with a man. And she would die if she knew Zane was in Colorado too.
But if she ever found out I slept with the man who made my sister’s life a living hell…
I would be as good as dead to her.
God, what was wrong with me? How could I have done that?
You didn’t know,I told myself, trying to ease some of the guilt which was making it hard to breathe.You didn’t know who he was before you slept with him.
I still hadn’t figured out if Zane knew who I was before I slept with him. Before we slept together. I looked different than when I last saw him. I’d been a young teen then, and I’d grown up a lot in the last few years.
But then again, he could have known. Sleeping with his ex’s sister might have just been the thing that sadistic bastard enjoyed.
Oh well. I guess I would never know. Because I never planned on evereverseeing him again.
2
ZANE
“Well, if it isn’t what the damn cat dragged in,” a Texan drawl filled with humor reached my ears the minute I opened my door and was instantly hit with the disgustingly busy decor.
The condo I was renting was a three-story open loft with ceiling-to-floor windows and an open floor plan. I didn’t change the dark interiors or walls and pretty much bought all the furniture that came with the house. It was a bit ornate for my taste, but I couldn’t be assed to change it.
Meech was shirtless on the couch with a sandwich in one hand and a shit-eating grin split across his lips.
It took everything in me not to punch him in the face.
This was all his fucking fault.
“I thought I wouldn’t see you for the whole of today after you took that cutie upstairs last night,” he continued. “I mean, I know you’re typically a one-and-done man, but I thought, with a woman like her, you would have tried for seconds at least.”
