Stevie’s eyes lit up with amusement. Damn, the girl was so fucking cute. Especially when she had her long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, her bangs sweeping across her forehead. Her little bow-shaped lips and those big brown eyes … God, he loved looking at her.
“What’s the plan for tonight?” his mother asked, opening the cabinet beneath the stove to get whatever pan she needed to make a meal.
“We don’t know yet,” he told her. “We thought we might just hang out here.”
Behind his mother’s back, Stone quirked an eyebrow at Stevie. He knew what hewantedto do.
“Well, I’ll make somethin’ simple. That way, you can have some now and more later if you’re up late. Dad took Reilly and Tate to a birthday party at the skatin’ rink. Won’t be home until after nine. How about soft tacos? They can heat ‘em up when they get home.”
“Perfect.” Stone honestly didn’t care. The only thing he was hungry for was Stevie. “And while you do that, we’ll—”
“Goddamn you, Nico Daugherty! You aresuchan asshole!”
Stone looked at his mother as Chelsea’s high-pitched scream echoed through the house, followed by her stomping down the stairs.
Deborah shook her head. “I don’t know what’s goin’ on with those two. Chels left for school pissed off at him. Came home in the same state.”
Stevie was staring toward the front of the house. A second later, the front screen door slammed. Chelsea continued to shout obscenities, but now she’d taken it outside.
Stone walked around to Stevie. He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the temple. “Give me a minute.”
He could feel her staring after him as he headed for the back door, choosing to walk around the house so he could keep an eye on Chelsea without interrupting. His sister was capable of fighting her own battles—she’d told him as much—but according to what his father told him and his brothers, their job was to keep an eye on her. According to Owen Jameson, that was what big brothers were for.
So that was what he would do.
“I fuckin’ hate you, you stupid bastard!” Chelsea shouted at Nico, the guy she’d been dating for the past few years.
That was the term Chelsea used, anyway. Stone wasn’t sure it could really be called dating. Those two broke up more times than Chelsea changed clothes in a week. And that girl thought she needed a different outfit for every damn thing—sleeping, breakfast, school, homework. He swore she changed at least five times a day.
And socks. Jesus. His sister paired her socks to match her freaking clothes, and if they didn’t, she flipped her shit. Hell, Stone was content to wear the same socks until the damn things stood up on their own. Or he had right up until he met Stevie. These days he was paying a little more attention to detail. But as God was his witness, he would never match his socks to his fucking shirt, thank you very much.
“It’s not what you think,” Nico told her, holding his hands up in front of him.
Nico Daugherty. High school senior, star tight end for the Coyote Ridge Roughriders. One of two Coyote Ridge natives scouted by colleges in the past few years—the other being Beau Bennett, a quarterback whose plays had become standard in the coach’s playbook. Unlike Beau, who’d shattered his arm in a car crash and ended his possible career in the NFL, Nico was still trying to determine whether he wanted to go to UT or LSU on a full ride. That was the rumor, anyway. Stone didn’t understand what the hold-up was, but according to Chelsea, he was “being an idiot” because no one passed up the opportunity to go to the NFL one day.
Then again, Chelsea was pissed at Nico because he was entertaining colleges that she wasn’t going to. Among other things.
Chelsea threw something at him. “You can take back that stupid bracelet.”
Nico huffed. “Come on, Chels. Don’t do this.”
“Fuck you.”
She threw something else. “And there’s that stupid pin you gave me.”
A second later, a small (probably stupid, too) teddy bear went flying across the yard next.
Obviously, Nico had donesomethingwrong if she was giving back everything he’d given her. Too bad, honestly. Stone liked Nico. He didn’t know the guy well, but he knew a hell of a lot about him. Not only because Nico was dating Chelsea but also because Stevie was Nico’s sister’s best friend. What he hadn’t picked up on from Chelsea, he’d learned from Stevie.
As he stared at Chelsea, Nico made no effort to pick anything up off the ground.
“And your stupid jacket!” Chelsea squealed, making dramatic movements as she threw it on the ground, where it joined everything else.
Nico sighed.
Stone laughed. Thankfully, he was out of sight and earshot. Otherwise, his sister would’ve turned her wrath on him, and Stone had far better things to do than get a dressing down from his sister. He’d had more than his fair share, so he was content to let her focus her outrage on someone else.
With that said, he found it amusing as fuck that Nico wasn’t placating her with bullshit. It would’ve only added fuel to the fire, and based on Chelsea’s animated hand gestures, the flames were already hot enough.
