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“Don’t,” I said, hearing the defeat in my voice because, well, at this point, I knew better than to try to tell Layna not to flirt with a guy she found attractive.
“Hey, he’s not a biker. I’m allowed to play,” Layna said as Amos walked toward the fridge to grab a water, seemingly unaware of the girls eye-fucking him. “Unless I’m suddenly allowed to play with Sully, Sutton, or Callow…”
“Absolutely-fucking-not,” I said, memory flashing back to bikini-clad Slip-N-Slides.
“I think I suddenly need help with my stance,” Layna decided as she took the gun and ammunition from me, then rushed off to torture poor Amos, leaving me alone with my sister.
She moved closer, resting both arms on the counter, looking at me hard and long.
“So… who is she?”
“Who is who?” I asked.
“The girl.”
“There’s no girl.”
“Oh, come on,” Kit said, rolling her eyes. “I remember the first time you had a crush on a girl. You had that same lightness of foot and sudden karaoke abilities.”
“I’m not seeing anyone,” I said. And it was obviously the truth.
“Your new tenant,” she honed in. “Is it a woman?”
“It’s a woman and her children,” I said, hoping that would shut her up.
“Of course it is!” she said, big smile spreading.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all,” she said, trying to press her smile into a firm line.
“No, now you’re gonna have to explain that.”
“It’s just a running bet the girls all have,” Kit said, shrugging.
“What bet, Kit?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.
“That you’d end up with a single mom,” she said, like it made perfect sense.
“Why?”
“You’re just great with kids. We know you want them.”
“I haven’t dated single moms,” I reminded her.
“No, you haven’t seriously dated any single moms,” she said, and it was clear that the girls in Navesink Bank had kept her up to date on the news around here even when she was off traveling the world with her best friend Ariah.
“I…”
“It’s not like it’s a bad thing, Seth,” she said, shaking her head at me. “I think more single moms deserve to find good, solid guys who would appreciate all they have to offer. Too many shitty guys and bad step-dads out there. It’s gotta be hard.”
“I’m not dating my tenant,” I insisted. “I’m just giving her and her kids a place to live. Judging by the way she was crying over the glorified shoebox, they really need it.”
“Aw,” Kit said, lips pursing sadly. “How old are the kids?”
“Seven, four-and-a-half, and five months.”
“Oh, geez. Yeah, I guess maybe the last thing on her mind would be dating,” she relented. “You better be giving her a deal on that place.”
“I am,” I agreed.
“Good. Mom and the aunts will be happy to hear that. I didn’t even know you’d put up a listing,” she said, and my gaze immediately went to the board. I tried to look away quickly, but Kit was watching me too closely.
Turning, she saw the flier, then turned back to me. “Wait… she’s a customer too?” she asked, excited for even more information.
“Yes.”
“Hmm,” she said.
“Stop,” I demanded, reaching into her bag that she’d put on the counter to grab her wallet.
“I’m not doing anything.”
“Your gears are turning. Stop. She’s just a tenant and customer. That’s it.”
“Okay,” Kit agreed, but I knew her too well to take that at face value.
This shit would be going through the girls club endlessly for the next few weeks.
All I could do was pray one of the other cousins suddenly had a woman in his life, taking some of the heat off of me. And the woman who was not in my life.
She was in my work.
And in my backyard.
But not my life.
Even if I was ridiculously attracted to her.
I rang Kit up, and was passing her a gun when a trio of guys came in, cocky and loud, making my sister just barely resist rolling her eyes as they came up beside her. They were either oblivious or didn’t give a fuck that doing so seemed predatory.
“Hey,” one of them greeted her, even though she hadn’t turned to look at them.
“We can show you how to use that,” another one said when she didn’t respond to the first one.
This time, a little smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
I had a feeling Layna and Kit were going to be putting money on who could hit the target the most, then cleaning out these guys.
Layna was a good shot.
But Kit?
Fuck, Kit had inherited the sharpshooting gene from our father.
I got it too, but Kit could outshoot the fuck out of me.
“Well, I’ll see you in there then,” she said in a honey-sweet voice that was all a ruse because she only talked like that to guys she was fucking with.
About two hours later, the girls were rushing out, all smiles, Layna actually fanning herself with cash.
