“What? Oh, nothing. Beck just hates when I don’t lock up, and I’m always forgetting. If it’s not that, it’s leaving my curling iron or stove on, or all my windows open when it’s about to rain, or forgetting to close the gate. Just me and my obliviousness, apparently.” I gripped the doorknob and turned my head toward him. “Prepare yourself.”
“For wh—”
He didn’t get the words out before I opened the door, and a blur of black and gray dashed toward us. Ash froze as I squatted to give my dog all kinds of love. She was one of the best things to fall into my lap since arriving in this town, and I was so grateful for her company. It didn’t matter if I was gone for five minutes or five hours, she responded the same way—like my walking through the door was the best minute of her life.
Ash sidestepped Chuckanut, nose crinkling as he did so, and settled himself across the room, as far away as he could get while still in my line of vision. With his arms folded over his chest, he leaned back against the counter, ankles crossed and eyebrow raised. “So let me get this straight. Beck knows how you take your coffee and the exact minute you’ll be there in the mornings, has a key to your place, lets himself in at any time for any reason, even when you’re not here, so he can fix whatever you need taken care of, cooks you breakfast, lunch, and dinner, has an attitude with any other male in your life, and gets upset when you’re not being safe. Have I got that about right?”
“Um…” When he laid it all out like that, it did sound a little over the top. “It’s notalwaysbreakfast, lunch, and dinner…”
“Hate to tell you this, sis, but you’re in a relationship. You’re just not having sex.”
“What?” I huffed out a laugh and stood, Chuckanut following on my heels. “No. We’re not. We’re in afriendshipwithout the sex. Didn’t you do things like that for Mandy before you guys hooked up?”
He raised his brows and looked at me like I was an idiot. “I don’t understand how you can be so fucking smart and so fucking dumb at the same time.”
I scowled and elbowed him in the gut as I passed. “Don’t be a jerk, or I’ll let Chuckanut sleep next to you tonight.”
“I’m not trying to be a jerk. I’m trying to get you to open your eyes. And to answer your question, yes, I did things like that for Mandy before we hooked up.”
“Great, so you—”
“And then we hooked up,” he interrupted, enunciating each word far too loudly for the small kitchen.
I shook my head. “Well, that’s you. That’s not us.”
“That might not be you, but I’d bet good money it’s him.”
“Hey, I have an idea,” I said with overexaggerated enthusiasm. “How about instead of microanalyzingmylife, you figure out your own shit? I don’t even know what you’re doing here.”
“I’m visiting my sister. Thought that was pretty obvious.”
“You’re acting like a troll.”
“Well, excuse the fuck out of me. I just ended my six-year relationship, so I’m sorry I’m not all sunshine and rainbows.”
I blew out a sigh and braced myself against the counter next to him, bumping my shoulder into his. “You don’t have to be all sunshine and rainbows, but I’m just not sure what sleeping on my couch is doing for you.”
“Well, I wassupposedto have some desperately needed sister time.”
“Nice try, but considering you’ve spent your ‘desperately needed’ sister time scrolling Mandy’s social media on a burner account just so you can see if she’s as miserable as you, I’m not buying it.”
“She’s not, by the way.”
“You don’t have to be, either, you know. You already paid for that trip to Jamaica you guys were supposed to go on, so my question is, why aren’t you taking advantage of it?”
“It’s an all-inclusive vacation for two.”
“Double the drinks and dessert. I don’t see the problem.”
“It’s going to suck ass. Everyone’s going to look at me with sad eyes.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “Ormaybethey’ll comp you a room upgrade and a nice massage because you look so pitiful. And you do, you know. You look incredibly pitiful.”
He huffed out a laugh and shook his head. “Speaking of pitiful…does she need something?” Ash pointed to Chuckanut, who sat in front of her bowl, shifting her gaze from her very empty food dish to me and back again.
“Nice try,” I said to her with a laugh, “but I already fed you this morning.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, she bounded off into the living room, probably to go toy hunting since her ploy hadn’t worked.
