11
Iwas right. The afternoon was completely awkward.
And we were both to blame.
It didn't start out too badly. When Sierra and I entered my parents' house, Brody wasn't there yet. J.J., however, was. And he pounced on me immediately.
"Cam!" He grabbed me in a bear hug and picked me up off my feet. "How's my favorite little sister?"
"I'm your only little sister," I squeezed out, smacking his shoulder repeatedly. "Can't. Breathe. You. Jackass."
J.J. gave me one more hard squeeze, which forced a deep grunt out of me, then dropped me on my feet. He stared down at me, a slight frown on his face. "You look...different."
"Gee, thanks. That makes me feel special," I snarked. "And you saw me seven days ago! I can't have changed that much."
J.J. tugged on my ponytail and danced out my reach when I tried to smack him again. "I meant it in a good way, sis. You look kinda pretty."
My eyebrows rose. "Kinda?"
He grinned at me. "I can't tell my sister she's pretty. It's weird."
I rolled my eyes and elbowed him in the gut as I walked past him toward the kitchen. "It's only weird if you ask her if she comes here often right after you tell her she's pretty."
Sierra snickered behind me and J.J. glared at her.
"Hey there, J," she said.
There was a pitcher of tea and a set of glasses on the dining room table, so I filled up a glass and lifted it to my mouth.
"Sierra," he replied. Then a wicked grin crossed his face. "Hey, you're single now, aren't you? What do you think of my friend, Brody?"
I inhaled sharply...and promptly choked on my tea. My eyes watered as I coughed. And coughed. And coughed.
Finally, J.J. came over to me and pounded his hand between my shoulder blades. "You okay, Cam? Jesus, what happened?"
I was still too busy trying to exhale sweet tea to answer, so Sierra stepped up. "Thanks so much for the offer to fix me up, J.J., but I'm pretty sure Brody isn't interested in me. And I'm not really interested in him."
J.J. opened his mouth as though he wanted to argue, but Sierra shook her head at him and disappeared into the kitchen. He looked at me. "Did I just stick my foot in my mouth?"
I took my first decent breath since I choked on my drink and patted him on the arm. "Only every time you speak, darlin'."
He scowled at me and followed Sierra into the kitchen. I laughed to myself and took a cautious sip of my tea. It wasn't often my brother left himself wide open for a verbal jab like that. I wanted to savor it.
The doorbell rang and I was grateful I'd already swallowed the liquid in my mouth because I definitely would have choked again. Without looking out the window, I knew it was Brody. Well, it had to be because no one else was supposed to come to lunch today.
I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. Calm. Cool. Collected. No embarrassing myself.
When I opened the front door, Brody stood with his hands tucked in the pockets of his shorts and grinned at me.
"Hey, there."
Must be strong. No drooling. No fawning. And absolutely, positivelyno swooning. I was a McClane. I was made of sterner stuff than that.
I answered as I stepped back to let him in. "Hey. No Jacks today?"
"Her mom called this morning and asked to keep her one more night since it's summer. Jacks said she wanted to stay, so I agreed," he answered with a shake of his head.
"Well, tell her we missed her," I replied. "And that I still expect her to come help me next week."
