“Kayla,” Christopher snapped, making us both stand a little taller. “Will you check on Dad for a second? He was trying to install a microwave on his own. Stop him.”
“Ugh.” She rolled her eyes. “Fine. But Gilly, why are you here?”
“Mrs. Anderson lives here.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “I’m visiting her.”
“No way!” She grinned. “Okay, I’ll come say hi after I save my dad from himself. He’s a wonderful idiot most of the time.”
She waved and practically bounced inside her house, leaving me with my inappropriate thoughts of her shirtless brother. His stare was intense again, making me a little breathless because I had no idea what was going to come out of his mouth.
An apology? An insult? An invitation to his bed? If I had to pick, I wasn’t sure which one I would’ve preferred.
He put his hands on his trim hips and pressed his lips together as he scanned my outfit again, this time, his gaze heating. “I feel like we should…talk.”
“Talk?” I repeated, not even caring that I let the word fluctuate, bordering on flirting. I hated how this guy made me feel, yet…here I was.
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, which only made every muscle of the front of his body move with the movement, and I sucked in a sharp breath. He was the last guy I was with, and while it never bothered me before, it did now.
Why did I wait so long?
“I’m not sure we do.” I closed my eyes, hoping that not seeing him would help the lust overtaking my rational thoughts. “I should—”
“Gilly, get your ass back here. We have a bet going on about yournot-a-dimesituation,” Fritz said, leaning over the gate with a curious expression on his face. “Uh, did I interrupt something?”
“No.No.” I took three steps back, like standing ten feet from Christopher would give everything I was feeling away. “This is…” I froze, unsure what to say. They all knew who this guy was. They heard me complain about him the last two weeks. But a part of me was petty, and a grin stretched across my face. “My buddy teacher.”
“No shit.” Fritz laughed, hard. “Grace, get over here. Looks like your neighbor might be Gilly’sbuddy teacher.”
“Shut up!” Grace joined Fritz at the gate, and her eyes widened. “That’s the guy?”
I scoffed and went back to my friends. “He’s not worth introducing.”
“I disagree. I’m Christopher Callahan.” He followed me toward the gate and held out a hand to Fritz. “I know she probably hasn’t used the termbuddy teacherin any good instances, hm?”
“Not a single one, dude.” Fritz shook his hand. “I’m her brother, but I gotta say, the not-a-dime challenge was hilarious. Really challenged her, which was fun. She got all worked up over it.”
“Is that so?” Christopher’s gaze warmed as it landed on my face before shaking Grace’s hand. “You must be Mrs. Anderson. My sister, Kayla, loves you.”
“Oh, what a small world! You gotta meet my husband. Brock, come be social.”
“No,” he grunted from the grill, and I had never loved my friend’s husband more.
I snorted and put my hands on my hips this time and tried to look tough. “Well, this has been…fun, but we’re hanging out, and you should go help your family move in.”
“He can have a beer, Gil. Chill out. Seriously, he deserves one. He teaches kids. Little humans. Just hearing you talk about it makes me tired.” Fritz opened the gate and ushered him in. “If you have time, you can join us.”
“I think I will.”
“Fritz, you’re my brother. Side with me, damn it.” I almost stomped my foot at how weird the situation was becoming—my enemy was in the backyard with my friends…shirtless and being goofy?
What the hell was happening?
“Yeah, no shit, Gil. But the fact he got you, the most high-maintenance person I know, to stop your funds for a week is incredible.”
“Fritz,” I yelled, using a tone I rarely used. Everyone stilled, and my brother finally got the fucking message. I glared at my idiot brother as Christopher’s sister appeared at the gate.
“Dad needs help, Chris. He swore he didn’t need to read the directions, but you know how that goes. Oh, hi, Mrs. Anderson.” Kayla smiled again, and her eyes got wide when they landed on Brock. I understood the feeling. Brock was as intimidating as he was handsome, and it flustered me the first couple of times too.
“Rain check on the beer.” He nodded to Fritz and jutted his chin to me. “Walk me out, hm?”
