Page 26 of Dandelions and Smoke

“So,” he echoes. “I’ll have my mechanic pick up your car and check it out. It could be something as simple as the alternator or battery. Sometimes old batteries can fail to work when it starts to get cold out.”

“See,” I toss back, pushing him. “I told you! Even my car thinks it’s too cold around here.”

My hand lingers on his arm, and he glances down at it, then back at me, before I slowly pull it away.

“Thank you,” I say softly, chewing on my bottom lip. “That’s nice of you. Let me know what it costs, and I’ll pay you back.”

“I told you I’ll take care of it,” he answers without rushing, voice even.

“I can’t let you do that,” I argue.

“That’s too bad.” He shrugs, dismissing me as he looks at the house and back at me.

My mouth gapes open, and I scoff. “What?”

“If this is the only way I can take care of you,” his voice drops low, unguarded, “then that’s what I’m going to do.”

I purse my lips to hide the tremble underneath. Let me take care of you. The same words he said to me like a plea all those months ago. Words I thought he only meant in that moment rush back, wrapping around me.

“So what does that make us now?” I look down at my hands, searching for the answer but coming up short. “Friends?”

It feels weak. Friends? It’s like a pathetic salve thrown over a gushing wound. It’s never going to hold.

His gaze wavers. “If that’s what you want.”

“Is that what you want?” I ask, looking into his eyes, not sure what I’m hoping he’ll say.

“What I want?” he laughs, shaking his head, amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes. “At the moment, I want your brother to stop shooting daggers with his eyes at me.”

“What?” Confusion furrows my brow. Of all the things he could say, that wasn’t what I expected.

As Chief unbuckles his seat belt and hops out of the truck, my gaze shifts to Blake standing on the porch. Sure enough, his pointed gaze follows Chief as he walks around the front of the vehicle, opening my passenger door and offering me his hand to help me out.

“Hey there, Blake.” Chief tilts his head in his direction.

“Chief,” Blake practically growls.

Thankfully, Chief doesn’t acknowledge or engage with the caveman currently hoping for a pissing match on my porch. Instead, he gives my hand a gentle squeeze and gets back into his truck, driving away.

Leaving me to deal with my brother alone.

I should have known this was coming.

SIX

RORY

“Seriously?” I grumble, glaring at Blake as I walk up the stairs. “What was that?”

“He’s too old for you,” he grinds out, still staring in the direction Chief’s truck disappeared in before following me into the house.

My hands land promptly on my hips as I swing around, my head jerking to the side like I heard him wrong. “Excuse me?”

“You’re my little sister, Half-Pint, and Chief is older than me. No way in my world does he get to see you as anything more than a friend. And that’s in group settings.”

I bark out a laugh at how absolutely overprotective and obnoxious he’s being. If it weren’t entirely barbaric, I’d be finding his behavior sweet. He’s a great brother, honestly, but since we didn’t grow up together, he didn’t get to ease into the whole sister-dating-people thing. There were no boys on the playground trying to hold my hand for him to push down, or a first date for him to greet and threaten at the door. This is the first time he’s experiencing this with me, so while it’s an overreaction, I appreciate that he cares.

But does that mean I won’t take this opportunity to make him wish he had never stuck his nose in my business?