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“I thought we could go shopping,” Skye tells her. “Gideon usually spends part of his Saturdays at the Cat. Maybe we could make dinner—”
“Between you two.”
Skye stares at Chloe silently and then looks at me.
“You’re both acting weird. What happened?”
“What do you mean? How are we acting weird?” Skye asks her.
“You tell me I’m weird all the time, Chlo,” I remind her. “Does that mean I’m being normal now?”
Chloe shifts her gaze to me and studies me for a moment. Finally, with a slow nod, she says, “Yeah. It kind of does.”
“So, is that like a double negative?” I’m rambling bullshit now just to get the moment over with. I don’t want Skye to be embarrassed about sleeping with me.
Chloe looks back at Skye.
“Jesus, Skye.” Her groan is a mix of anger and disappointment. “You had to sleep with my little brother?”
How in the hell did she figure that out? We’ve been careful. I haven’t touched Skye, not once have I played with her hair. No sneaking a goodnight kiss last night.
“Chloe.” Skye sighs and wrings her hands like she’s nervous.
“Ohmygod.” Chloe closes her eyes. “I ask you to put him up for a few weeks. And you turn it into a fling. Gideon’s not like that. He doesn’t—”
“I’m sorry, Chloe, but Gideon’s a grown man. He can make his own decisions.”
“And he made the decision to start something with you?” Chloe shrieks. She doesn’t even look my way. Not once. All of her energy is focused on being angry with Skye.
“Gideon—”
“Gideon’s gonna get hurt—”
Enough.
I stand and carry my mug to the sink. I’d like to throw it. But I won’t do that to Skye. No need to leave more of a mess for her to clean up.
“Gideon is right here.” My cool voice hides my anger, but Skye recognizes it. I see it in how she looks at me. “And very capable of speaking for himself.”
“Stay out of this—"
“Stay out of this?” I get in my sister’s face. “Stay out of this? Chloe, this is my life you’re talking about.”
“But you don’t know how Skye is—”
“What does that mean?” Skye yelps. “God, Chloe, you make me sound like a cougar. Like I’m gonna chew him up and spit him out.”
Chloe throws her arms up helplessly. “I get it when it’s someone else, Skye. Flings are great. But not when it’s my brother. What if he ends up having feelings—”
“Guess what?” I drop my hands on Chloe’s shoulders and spin her to face me. “I kissed her first. I came on to her. I took her to bed. I’ve taken a lot of women to bed, Chloe Reece.”
Chloe stares at me with a frown. I’m not sure if she doesn’t want to believe me, like she’s that invested in Skye being the bad guy, or if she’s just having a hard time seeing me as a real person and not her little brother.
“Skye and I have had fun,” I continue. “She’s great in bed. We’re both adults. No harm, no foul.” I shrug.
My heart is pounding in my ribs so hard I feel like I’m having a heart attack. Years of bottled rage burn their way up my throat. It’s not really Chloe I’m angry with. It’s my dad. But in her own way, Chloe has pushed me down into who she needs me to be instead of respecting me as a grown man.
Afraid I’ll say something I can’t take back, I drop my hands and walk out.
“Gideon?” Skye calls as I pull the door closed behind me. I don’t know where I’m going. I have the key card to get back into the building, but I don’t have my car keys.
The elevator’s empty. Lobby of the building is empty. I hit the sidewalk and head south.
I’m frustrated things had to end this way. Not even that Chloe found out, but just that I had hoped Skye and I could ease away from each other. Not break things like this. I can’t imagine being with her now, not after my sister argued for my virtue, for my fragile emotional state right there in front of me.
It’s too early to find a bar, but I’ve got nothing better to do than drink all day.
