Carl freezes, hands in the middle of piling papers. The shock on his face is comical. “Come again?”
That’s exactly what I want to do.
I keep the dirty joke to myself.
“Griffith. I’m planning on dating the shit out of him.”
Carl’s mouth bobs a few times, and then he sputters out a handful of random words until he lands on, “But you hate him!”
Bracing an elbow on his desk, I prop my chin on my fist, look my brother in the eye, and give him the simple truth. “Not anymore.”
Carl narrows his eyes as he studies me. “You’re not messing with me? Or with him?”
“I mean, I do still like messing with him. But now it’s flirty. And I want to rip his clothes off.”
“No. Nope. Not another word.”
He waves a hand in my face, then shudders, and I bite back a grin. Carl reclines in his chair, frowning, his focus on the ceiling, as if he’s mulling things over.
I give him the time he needs to adjust. Hell, I needed some time to acknowledge that my feelings had morphed from agitation to affection. Reaching down, I scratch Shrimp’s ears while I wait.
Carl sits upright abruptly. “All right. I’m okay with this.”
“Wasn’t asking for your permission, but cool.”
Carl grins at me. “Griffith has a business here. A life here. He’s not about to leave anytime soon.”
“And if I fall for him, then I’ll be staying too.” I say out loud what he isn’t as I roll my eyes. “I already told you I’m not leaving.”
“And now you’re definitely not.”
“What if Griffith shoots me down?” Though I highly doubt he will after the bathtub. But I can’t help poking my brother.
Carl scowls. “He’d be an idiot to. You’re amazing.”
“Aww. You’re so sweet,” I tease.
“He’ll say yes to you—or else.”
A snort sneaks out before I can stop it. “I’d love to hear you tell him that.”
“Fine.” Carl pulls out his cell phone. “I will.”
And I watch with open-mouthed delight as my brother rings up his best friend and puts the call on speaker.
“Hey. What’s up?” Griffith’s voice is a lovely rumble, even through the phone.
Tingles run up and down my spine in response to his casual words.
“What’s up is that Clem likes you.” My brother doesn’t even bother with ahello, getting straight into protective mode. “And she’s going to ask you out. And you’re going to say yes because don’t even think of telling me you can find better.” Carl sounds like a principal lecturing a misbehaving student.
There’s a pause.
Then, “She’s staying?”
“Yes. And when she asks you out, you’re going to say …”
“Yeah, Griffy,” I call out even though his wolf ears could probably pick up my voice easily, “do you like me? Check yes or no.”
