My eyes widen in panic as he continues. “You and Claire must know one another better than you’re letting on, too, because there’s no way you’d engage in anything physical unless you’d already formed an emotional connection with her.”
I let out a relieved exhale when he gets at least one part wrong, though he’s still better at this than I expected him to be.
“Yeah, okay, I admit there’s more to the story, but it doesn’t matter. You heard her—she’s not looking for anything serious, and I’m not supposed to be wasting this much time and energy barking up the wrong tree.”
“What makes her the wrong tree, though? Is it because she’s afraid of getting into an actual relationship so soon after her divorce, because that doesn’t seem unreasonable, and I’m sure you could wear her down after a while. Or is it because you don’t want to admit that you’ve fallen for someone outside your normal wheelhouse?”
“Can’t it be both?”
Landry leans back and regards me carefully. “That’swhat’s eating you up, isn’t it? You feel bad because you wouldn’t have given in to temptation if she’d have been more like you. You thought this would be a throwaway try, a silly mistake you could forget about, because Claire isn’t the type of woman you’ve been banking on marrying. She’s already been divorced, and she doesn’t follow your strict code of conduct, so you saw her as damaged goods. And now you feel guilty because you nearly used her in a way you didn’t even think you were capable.”
I frown at him after he hits the nail on the head this time. “Who are you?”
He shoots me a smug grin. “I’m an honorary LaFleur now, remember?”
I growl in frustration and rest my head in my hands. “Life was so much easier when you were the emotionally unavailable one.”
“Hey, that was almost douchey. Maybe I do like you better uncorrupted.”
“And I miss the days when you didn’t use words unless you were yelling at someone, back before you developed a sense of humor,” I retort, trying to stifle a smile.
“Come on, man, you know you love the new me. I mean, not as much as you love Claire, especially since she does that thing you like—” I shove him harder this time, and he guffaws loudly when he almost falls off the porch steps. “Fine, I’m done. For now, anyway,” he says, settling down. “Should I send your girl out?”
“No,” I say reluctantly. “Least I can do is man up and go to her to apologize.” He pats me on the back encouragingly as we both rise to our feet.
Daisy and Claire are at the kitchen sink when we return, and I clear my throat to get their attention. “Ladies, I’m really sorry about the way I acted tonight,” I say after a while. “I was rude to both of you, and I shouldn’t have walked out like that. Most of all, I’m sorry for being dishonest.”
My sister turns back to the sink. “Apology accepted … strange man of loose morals. But you’re still getting a piece of my mind later.”
I struggle to keep a straight face as I stare at Claire, and I’m relieved to see her biting back a smile of her own. “Can we talk?” I ask quietly.
“Think that’s code for something dirty?” Daisy whispers loudly as Landry comes up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist, and Juniper ambles her way closer.
“We should give them some privacy, just in case,” he mumbles near her ear, and I cringe when she giggles and spins in his arms to face him. He kisses her for a second before he lifts her up to wrap her legs around his waist again. “We’re going to bed,” he calls out, and Juniper takes her cue to report to her kennel. “Good luck working all your shit out.”
“He means that figuratively, by the way. That was not an invitation for you to fornicate in our spare bedroom,” Daisy says from over his shoulder when they round the corner, and Claire stifles a laugh, drawing my attention back to her.
I heave out a loud sigh. “I’m tempted to ask Coach Reed if he’s willing to rent out Landry’s old bedroom.”
She opens her mouth to speak, then thinks better of it and shakes her head. We’re interrupted by a loud squeal from down the hall, and Claire can’t keep herself from laughing when I scrunch up my nose in disgust. Even Juniper whines from her kennel.
“So … you’re notreallya virgin, are you?” she asks after a while. “That’s just something you’ve been telling your sister, right?”
I roll my lips in and lift my shoulders.
“Right?” she repeats, her voice cracking.
“To be fair, I didn’t think I’d still be holding on to that title at my age, especially not longer than my baby sister, but here we are,” I admit.
“How is that even possible?”
“It wasn’t by accident, if that’s what you’re asking,” I say dryly.
She furrows her brow. “Because you’ve been waiting for the right person?”
I shrug again. “Yes, but also the right time, preferably my wedding night.”
“And you nearly let me ruin everything. Shit, Rowan, maybe I already have!” She adds another curse under her breath and looks away.
