Three years since that kiss.
It felt like yesterday.
This happened every time he showed, both of us bracing, bothof us fighting it.
Fighting the need to jump each other like crazed fuckbunnies and have at it until we couldn’t breathe.
He broke the stillness first by tossing the envelope on thelounge at my bare feet.
I put my wineglass aside, the bookmark in my book, and setit on the couch, pushed up and retrieved the envelope.
“She needs to dump him,” he said.
I pressed the metal tabs back and pulled out the pictures.
On viewing the top one, my face scrunched.
“Ew!You could have warned me,” Isaid, shoving the photos back in, now having seen more of Michael, not tomention his side piece, than I’d ever wanted to see.
“We made sure she didn’t have any questions.”
“You did that all right,” I muttered.
“You need to date.”
My stillness came back at his words.That was, it did aftermy head snapped back to look at him.
“Why aren’t you dating?”he asked, his words gruff, forced.
I could hear the emotion.I could even feel it.
And it ticked me off.
“Oh, are we chatting now?”I asked back.“Are we buds?Youshow with the means to save my sister a lot of heartache.”I waved the envelopein the air then tossed it to the side.“We share about our lives, then youvanish for a couple of months.Where are my manners?Would you like a glass ofwine?”
“Stop it,” he grunted.
I was lamenting sitting on the lounge section, because evenif it was comfy, it was a pain in the behind to get out of gracefully.
Even so, I was so mad, I scrambled out, took my feet and putmy hands on my hips, ignoring how Darius’s beautiful brown eyes watching me dothat made me feel, and asked, “Areyoudating?”
He dropped his head but lifted a hand, palm out my way, andsaid to his boots, “Fucked up.Apologize.Not my business.”
“It’s not?”I demanded.“How’s the couch look, Darius?It’snice, isn’t it?Liam is into plants.He makes me let him water them.I have tofollow him around—”
He lifted his head and dropped his hand.
“Stop it,” he bit off.
I didn’t stop it.
“And he begs me to take him to the nursery so we can buymore, which I can afford, seeing as my baby daddy gives me three times morethan I make in a —”
I didn’t finish that time, because one second, he was fourfeet away.
And the next, he was towering over me and right in my face.
“Don’t ever fuckin’ call me that.”
