I bark out a laugh. “I couldn’t help when the Spidey senses would start tingling.”
“The only thing tingling was your body when I punched you. Now, quick deflecting.”
I sigh, knowing there’s no getting around this conversation. If it doesn’t happen now, it’ll happen next time I see him or the time after that. No one knows me the way Collin does, and there’s no hiding the fact something is bothering me. Or when someone is bothering. That includes pesky feelings I’ve tried to keep out of my relationship with Oaklee but now can’t deny.
“Why are you bothering me?” I ask.
“Because you’re troubled. I can tell. I lived with your ass for eighteen years, and quiet means you’re thinking. And the way you keep looking over at Oaklee tells me you’re thinking about her. The dopey smile you’re trying to hide speaks volumes too. It’s not the drop-your-panties grin you normally wear, which means this is serious.”
“I’m staring at her because she’s beautiful.”
“And because you’ve found someone you actually want more out of life with.” His pointed look and the fact he’s one-hundred-percent right pisses me off.
Exhaling slowly, I decide to level with him. “We’re not looking for the same thing.”
He leans both elbows on the bar. “What do you mean?”
I shrug and take a sip of my water. “She’s just wanting fun after a particularly disappointing relationship. That’s it.”
“She told you that?”
“In so many words, yes,” I reply quietly.
“When?”
I give him a confused look. “When what?”
“When did she tell you that?”
“A few weeks ago. Why?”
“What if that’s changed?”
My heart starts to beat a little faster. “It hasn’t.”
“And you know this how?”
He’s really starting to piss me off now. “What could have changed in such a short amount of time?” I ask.
Collin shakes his head and sighs. “You really are dumb. Keep up with me here, will ya? If your feelings have changed, don’t you think there’s a possibility hers has too?”
I open my mouth and shake my head in resignation. “I really don’t think so.”
“I do,” he proclaims, reaching over and popping a piece of popcorn into his mouth.
“Why do you say that?” I ask, hope starting to bud in my chest, like a bloom after the first spring rain.
“Because she hasn’t stopped looking over here either,” he informs me, tapping his hand on the wood and standing up.
The front entrance door opens, and, like the rest of the bar, we both look over. Camden and his friends are here and heading this way, so the conversation I’m having with Collin abruptly ends.
Camden, Quinn, and Robby sit down at the bar and order drinks. “How you doing?” my younger brother asks from the seat beside me.
“Fine. You?”
He shrugs. “Not bad. Getting new neighbors,” he informs me.
“Yeah? That couple who argued all the time moving out?”
