Ali’s big, blue eyes are cast downward. If she were my girl, we’d have to eat out every night, or maybe I’d just have to try my hand in the kitchen. But that would be a small price to pay for such a fine woman.
But she is NOT your girl. She’s Hank Carter’s daughter and Jake’s sister.
I know what I did was wrong, and I’m no coward. If I could, I’d confess everything to Hank this very night, and go back to sleeping in my shop like I had been for months before Jake insisted I come back to the farm. That’s what I deserve.
No—I deserve worse.
I’m pretty sure Jake already knows on account of him acting strangely. He doesn’t seem to care too much, probably because he and Ali really aren’t that close, but it’s still wrong.
“You don’t alllll have to pretend like this tastes good,” Ali finally says, staring at her plate. “I wanna throw it out too.”
Hank dons an unconvincing astonished face. “It tastes just fine.”
“Oh, drop the act,” Norma Jean says. “This meal was doomed the moment Ali mixed up the baking soda with baking powder.”
“Well, aren’t they the same thing?” Hank returns.
“It’s the little things and how they add up that’ll ruin a meal.”
Ali’s brow furrows. “Gee, thanks, Mom.” She gets up from her seat, grabbing her dish. “I’m gonna clean up.”
?
Ali Kat
I get lost in thought, my mind traveling back thirteen years to when things were simpler. Ironically, back then, I’d still be at this sink thinking about the same boy I am now, but there wouldn’t have been the memory of sex, just as there wouldn’t have been Prim’s girlhood crush on him. I don’t understand how things have gotten complicated.
My body shudders as I remember how he led me from the shop into his office, closing the door behind us. He issued a warning, and it scared me just as much as it excited me. Never have I ever felt like a man was so in control of me. It gave me a rush I won’t soon forget.
I was happy to obey him, and if it was rough sex he wanted, I would have complied. But I wasn’t prepared for was the disrespect.
I should be glad for it. Before our coupling, I wasn’t sure what I felt for him. It was something more than lust, but how much more scared me. It’s clear to me now that I would have given him anything.
“Can we talk?” a low voice says, and I turn to see Jake.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
He exhales a long breath, and I can tell there’s something big on his mind. Knowing Jake and his personality, he’s probably worried that at some point, I’ll poison the family with my cooking, or at least that’s what I tell myself because I’m absolutely terrified that it has something to do with Garrett and me.
He looks around, anxious, not at all like his normal self.
“A guy should never go for his friend’s little sister,” he begins.
Shit—he knows.
I turn my back to Jake, busying myself with the dishes. “It’s not that big a deal. I mean, if they’re adults, what does it matter?”
“Oh, it’s a gross overstep in the bro-code.”
So, my brother’s down with slang. That’s new.
“Well, I’m sure that whatever offense you think took place, it was done without any intent of harm,” I say, and brace for impact, knowing how judgmental and condescending he gets.
But Jake’s not paying attention to me. He’s looking down at his phone, a worried look on his face.
“Dammit!”
“What’s wrong?”
