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“He’s young and stupid and thinking with his…” I glance down.“Well, you know.”
She laughs.“I guess I could say I hear the same about you.”
I cringe.Yeah, it’s a side of me everyone knows, and you know what, she doesn’t know me well and isn’t looking to hook up, so maybe I can shelve that side while we tour the city with my brother and his friend.Maybe I can simply be myself around her.I feel my shoulders relaxing as that idea settles into my brain.
“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”
She lifts her phone and pulls up social media.“Should I not believe everything I see either?”
I snatch her phone away.“No.How about we just hang out and you can make up your own mind.”
Her smile is sweet, and soft, and it curls around me in the oddest way.“I like…that.”
I angle my head and eye her.Something in the way she worded that reminds me of Lisa, and I’m about to ask her if they know one another when my phone pings.I grab it from the table and flip it.
“I’m surprised he’s up.”
“Dane?”
My stomach tightens and I sit up a little straighter as I read the message.“Mother fucker.”
“Uh oh.”
“Uh oh is right.I need to go.”I stand and reach for our empty plates.“I should never have left him.”
“I’m sorry, Cheddar.It was all my fault.”I turn back to see her and take in the paleness of her face.
“Hey, no.None of this is your fault.”Jesus, she’s really fucking upset and I hate everything about the guilt swimming in her big blue eyes.I touch her chin lightly and lift her face to mine.“Everything is okay, Leeza.I promise.”
That soft easy smile, even though it’s forced, nearly takes the air from my lungs.Okay, wait, maybe hanging out with her is wrong.I’m sort of trying to build a relationship with Lisa, and I don’t want to string two women along.“If you want me to take you home—”
“No, I think I’d like to take you up on your offer.”I swallow and her face tightens at my reaction.“If you’ve changed—”
“No, not at all.We just…have to pick my brother up from Nate’s sister’s place.”
Her eyes go wide.“He did not?”
“Oh yeah.Little fucker did.”
“After you warned him not to mess with her?”
I eye her as something niggles in my brain, something that questions her sobriety last night.“You remember that?”’
She twists the hem of my T-shirt between her fingers like she’s said something she shouldn’t have.“Yeah, parts.”
“Do you want to shower here and wear something of mine, or do you want me to take you back to your place?”I have no idea why she’s paling again.It’s a simple question.
“Here,” she says fast, like the idea of me taking her to her place is out of the question.Maybe she has house rules about guys or something.
“Go on up, then.Grab some clean clothes out of the dresser.I stay here enough that I keep a lot of things here and you’ll find a spare toothbrush in the bottom of the bathroom cabinet.”
She nods and I stare after her, liking what I’m looking at as she disappears upstairs, but I don’t have time for admiration, not when my brother might have made a big fucking mistake.
I hurry to load the dishwasher, turn it on and dash upstairs.I go to my bedroom, grab some clothes from my drawer and when I turn to go into Ryan’s room to dress, I find Leeza standing in the doorway dressed in nothing but a big fluffy towel, that has me tenting my sweats.I let my hands fall, using my clean clothes to cover myself.
“I…uh…I was just getting my clothes,” I explain.She stands in the doorway, like her legs aren’t quite working.Maybe she’s too afraid to come in when I’m in there, now that she’s sober.“I’ll just get out of your way.”I take a step toward her.
“It’s your room.You can change here.”
