I can’t help but laugh. I laugh so hard that there are tears in my eyes and my stomach cramps.
“Jesus, little one. Warn a guy next time,” he rasps and places the bottle on the coffee table.
“I’m sorry,” I say with a gasp, still trying to catch my breath. “I couldn’t help myself.”
Before he can pull himself together enough to answer, the door swings open, making me jump as Cole strolls in with Harley and Logan hot on his heels.
My brother pauses as he spots me but quickly recovers, sitting between Noah and me on the sofa while the other two sit on the armchairs to the left of us.
“What’s going on in here?” he asks, and I barely hold back my eye roll.
Jeez, can a guy and a girl not be friends without someone jumping to conclusions? This is a thing I’ve been dealing with for years, only not from my brother. Whenever someone sees me having lunch or coffee with one of the guys, they automatically think that there’s something going on between us, which is just wrong.
“We’re just hanging out, wanna watch with us?” I ask, nodding towards the TV where there’s a movie queued up to start playing, we just got sidetracked playing ‘Never Have I Ever’ before we started watching.
“Me, me, me,” Harley says, lifting his arm in the air as though he’s asking for permission.
We all pointedly ignore him.
Cole’s eyes narrow and his gaze flits between me and Noah. “What, exactly, were you two doing watching movies together in the first place?” he asks, his tone full of suspicion that isverywrongly placed and very unlike him. He never usually has an issue with my hanging with one of the guys, so I have no idea what’s gotten into him, it's not like we have anything to hide.
Well, kind of, I guess.
Wearehiding something from him.
Just not what he thinks.
It’s Noah’s time to roll his eyes and he replies easily, “Dude, we were just watching a movie. Chill it, would you? Can yousee anything even remotely inappropriate going on? I’ve been friends with your sister for as long as I’ve been friends with you.”
At his words, Cole immediately deflates, and I send a silent thank you to Noah before focusing my attention on my brother.
“Where’s Lana? Doesn’t she like…livehere now?” I ask, laughter clear in my tone and he grunts at me, his expression twisting.
“You wouldn’t think so, considering how much time she spends out of the cottage whenever I’m here.”
I gasp dramatically. “Trouble in paradise, big brother?”
He throws his head back and closes his eyes, his jaw clenching with clear irritation.
“She drives me fucking crazy.”
Harley snorts. “You’re the reason she’s living with us, bro. This is all on you.”
My brother’s eyes pop open and he gives Harley a heated look that makes me cringe away from him. “I never said I didn’t like it.”
Oh yay, just what I want to be talking about.
Logan, who hasn’t said a word the entire time he’s been here glowers at Cole. “Why don’t you just talk to her? You’ve been moping around here for two days while she does everything that she can to avoid you. You guys are sleeping in the same bed, it’s not as though you never see her.”
Cole throws his hands in the air, claiming defeat. “Fine. Fine. I guess if I can’t get her to talk to me while she’s here, I’ll just have to track her down.”
I have zero idea what the hell is going on between them at this point, and I really don’t want to know the details, but it must be bad ifLoganis the one trying to talk some sense into him.
He’s usually the one who sits back and watches, not getting involved.
I have no doubt Noah has talked himself hoarse trying to get Cole to open up about whatever it is that’s happening while Harley sits and laughs inappropriately at whatever the situation is.
“Are we gonna watch the movie, or what?” Logan asks, clearly bored of the conversation that’s happening around him.
