I watch Lily approach me. Her gaze rakes me in a slow once-over, landing on my crotch. I don’t even think she realizes that she’s doing it. Which actually makes me smile. She stops a foot from me, hesitating.
Screw that. I hook my fingers in the band of her leggings and pull her to my chest. She knocks straight into me, a gasp escaping her lips, and she sets her palms flat on my abs. I kiss her nose, and she blushes. “Lo,” she whispers, her heart beating quickly against me. Mine matches her speed, and I kiss her cheek. She breathes deeply, need flickering in her eyes but also something else…
She looks away from me, focusing on Connor and Rose who have a good five feet between them.
Rose has her arms crossed. “I hate your smile.”
“You love my smile. That’s why it annoys you, darling.”
“Your backwards logic wouldn’t make it past the first round of the Quiz Bowl Tournament.”
He takes a step closer to her. “My logic is what won my team the Quiz Bowl Tournament. Four years. In a row.”
She glares. “I hope your cat scratches your face tonight,” she deadpans. Rose even mimics the claws with her hand.
He grins like she gave him the best compliment.
My eyes fall back to Lily. “Lil?”
“Did you talk to Ryke about dating?” she asks, dodging my teasing like I’m not even kissing her. Usually she’d at least smile back.
“Yeah…he says that he’s not with your sister.” We’ve all speculated that something’s going on between him and Daisy ever since she moved into his apartment complex. He hasn’t dated one single girl since then. He even rejects girls when they try to flirt or offer their number. It’s weird.
“Maybe he has a secret girlfriend that’s not Daisy,” Lily offers a theory. He’s with Daisy almost every day. Connor doesn’t even think that’s possible.
“I don’t know…”
Lily anxiously rubs her arm, and her leg rises towards my hip, more out of impulse, a bad one. I can tell the difference by now.
“You okay, Lil?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she breathes. She drops her leg, catching herself.
“You’d tell me if I was pushing you too far?”
She nods quickly. “I’m okay, really. A little…” She leans close and whispers, “aroused.” Then she blushes again, but she ends up smiling nervously.
My lips rise. “I had no idea,” I say. “We’ll have to do something about that later.” I kiss the corner of her lips, and her body curves into mine. My hand lowers to her back, sliding underneath the band of her—
“Loren,” Rose snaps, completely ruining this.
I internally sigh and put some space between us. “Yeah?”
“How about you not grope my sister when I’m in the room?”
The irritation just storms right back inside of me. “How about you not verbally f**k your husband when I’m in the room, thanks?” I flash a smile.
Rose looks at me like I’m crazy. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
Connor leans against the kitchen counter with a growing smile, popping a grape in his mouth. Yeah, even when he eats, his lips pull upward in a rich grin.
“I hate your smile,” I mimic her in a high voice. “Your backwards logic wouldn’t…whatever.” I can’t even mimic her right. I wave her off and head towards the door. I need to get my brother and Daisy anyway. The food is all cooked.
As I open the door, I hear Rose’s voice in the background. “I was not flirting with you, Richard.”
I can pretty much feel his grin overtake his whole face.
“Hey,” I call, stepping into the garage and shutting the door behind me. “Dinner is…” My face falls, morphing into a series of emotions.
Ryke and Daisy are on a parked motorcycle together, her legs wrapped around his waist, lying almost flat against the gas can near the handlebars. His body is pushed up against hers, no space between them. It’s miles and miles away from innocent.
The worst part: just minutes ago Ryke told me that nothing was going on. I don’t get it. I don’t f**king understand why he has to lie to me. I ask him if he has feelings for her. He says no. I ask him if they’re f**king. He says no. I ask him anything and he gives me responses he thinks I want to hear. He’s walking on egg shells for me, and I just need the f**king truth.
Every day, I feel like I’m going out of my goddamn mind.
Anger drives into me. From so many places. I can’t stop it. Ryke climbs off the bike, acting guiltless about the whole ordeal. Daisy follows suit, and when they’re both standing on the concrete, I go off.
“Did I interrupt something?” I ask my brother.
“No,” Ryke says. “We were just talking.”
I nod repeatedly. There are fears so deep that I can barely touch them. He could f**k over Daisy. Break her heart. He could betray me. And break mine. I just need him to give me something. Tell me that he loves her. Tell me that this is more than what I think it is. Anything that can put these doubts to bed.
I ask, “If you were just talking, then why were her legs wrapped around your waist?”
“Lo,” Daisy cuts in. Ryke raises his hand, silently telling her to stay out of it.
“We’re friends,” Ryke says to me.
That’s all he gives me: We’re friends. I shake my head. “Friends don’t do shit like that.” I point at the Ducati that they were just on together.
Ryke pinches the bridge of his nose, his jaw hardening. “What do you f**king want me to say?”
Anything. “That what I just saw was a mistake!” I shout.
His lips tighten. He just stares at me. I want to punch him right now. Maybe then he’ll tell me the truth.
“It was a mistake,” Daisy says. “I wanted to see what it would be like to ride on a motorcycle backwards. I needed his help.”
I look between them. Is she serious? “That’s the best lie you can come up with?”
She smiles. “It’s actually the truth.”
“This isn’t a f**king joke, Daisy. He’s seven years older than you. He’s been with more girls than you probably even realize.” I don’t want to bring a person in her life that’ll just screw her and leave her. I can’t handle that.
“No,” she says, “I realize that he’s slept with a lot of women, but his number is probably one that I would have easily reached at twenty-five too.”
I grimace. Sometimes I think she puts on this act like “I’m so old and experienced” just for my brother. “I’m in an alternate universe right now.”
“Really?” Daisy says with a lopsided smile, one that brightens her whole face. It reminds me that she’s still young and may be able to escape all of this. I want something better for her than my brother. She has the opportunity to leave Philly behind, date a guy without so much baggage. She can be so f**king free. “Cool,” she nods. “Is it more fun here? I think it is.” She turns to Ryke. “What do you think?”
His eyes never leave me. “Tone it down.” And then he says, “Lo—”
“You’re not good enough for her,” I interject. “You realize that, right?”
Ryke’s muscles flex, as tense as me. “I care about Daisy just as much as you, if not more, so you don’t need to pull this overprotective bullshit on me.”