The words I remember being thrown around were “psychological torture” and “sociopath”.
“I can’t believe there’s someone out there with a bigger attitude than you.”
I narrowed my eyes and slowly swiveled my head in Raylan’s direction as he lifted his glass of iced tea to his lips and took a drink. From this close, I could see those flecks of silver flashing in his blue eyes, and I knew he was trying to push my buttons on purpose to get a rise out of me. He was enjoying it.
“Wonders never cease,” I gritted out through clenched teeth. The smile I wore undoubtedly looked feral. The grip I had on my fork was so tight it was a wonder I didn’t bend it in half as I stabbed at my lasagna with the same force I wanted to use to stick it in Raylan’s thigh.
Speaking of his thigh... I jumped in my seat when Raylan’s leg suddenly pressed against mine. The wine I just took a sip of went down the wrong way, causing me to choke and sputter.
“Honey, you okay?” Dad asked, eyeing me with concern that I quickly waved off.
“Fine,” I croaked, nearly choking again when Raylan’s hand came to rest on my back. He patted it like he was trying to help, but just that smallest touch was enough to set my entire body ablaze. It was pathetic, really, and I needed my little infatuation to come to an end so I could move the hell on with my life.
As discreetly as possible, I shifted my chair over a little farther, trying to reclaim some of the space between us that he had encroached on without me noticing.
“Oh!” At her sudden and unexpected burst of exuberance, I looked across the table to Rae and could see the wheels spinning in her head as she desperately tried to latch onto something to change the subject and keep the peace. “How’s Mitch?”
I coughed, nearly choking on my wine again. I put the glass down and pushed it out of the way before I accidentally drowned myself at my parents’ dinner table. Out of all the topics she could have switched to, that had to have been one of the worst choices.Mainly because I hadn’t told anyone in my family I’d been seeing Mitch in the first place, let alone that I’d already ended it.
“Mitch?” Mom sat up straighter, her expression bright and hopeful. Now that one of her kids was happily married and settled down, she desperately wanted the same thing for me. “Who’s Mitch?”
Rae’s eyes widened for a second. That was all the time it took for the two of us to hold a silent conversation.
Oh shit. You didn’t tell them about Mitch?
I pursed my lips as the skin around my eyes tightened.Nope. But it looks like the cat’s out of the bag now.
“Ooh,” my grandmother cooed. “Do you have yourself a new boyfriend?”
I could have sworn I felt Raylan tense up beside me, but did my best to ignore it. Whatever his reaction, it didn’t matter to me. I didn’t care what he thought. At least that was what I kept telling myself.
“You mean Mitch Olsen?” Zach asked around the bite he’d just taken before I could get a word in edgewise. His brows slammed together as he placed his fork down on his plate. I knew the face he was making. That was his overprotective big brother face. “Isn’t he a little old for you?”
That question hit a little too close for comfort. “He’s thirty,” I shot back defensively.
“Yeah. Too damn old.”
I was just about to rip my big brother a new one when Raylan chimed in. “Wait, you mean that loser from the bar a few months back? The one you exchanged numbers with?”
I whipped my head around to face Raylan. “He’s not a loser,” I snapped sharply. That was the truth. Mitch wasn’t a loser, it just hadn’t worked out between us. But it wasn’t a need to defend Mitch that drove me so much as my desire to argue with Raylan every chance I got. It was a tit-for-tat thing between us. A weird,twisted push and pull. If he liked to push my buttons, I liked to push his right back and just as hard.
“I’ll have you know, he’s an incredibly sweet guy.”
“And cute too,” Rae added, waggling her eyebrows.
I had to hand it to her. At least she wastryingto help. She was failing miserably, but it was the thought that counted.
“He isn’t that cute,” Zach muttered childishly.
Rae rolled her eyes and smacked his arm with the back of her hand. “Don’t be so sensitive.”
This conversation had really gotten away from me. “I agree, Rae. Heiscute,” I shot my brother a petulant smirk. “But no,” I hurried to add before my mom and grandma could get their hopes up any higher than they probably already were. “He isn’t my boyfriend. Well, not anymore. We were seeing each other for a while, but... it didn’t work out.”
Because of the asshole sitting beside me.
Zach sat back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling in that annoying big brother way. “Yeah, well, I still think he was too damn old for you.”
“Hello, hypocrite! Have you forgotten that your wife is only a year older than me?” I raised my brows at his audacity.
