Faked - Karla Sorensen Page 0,73

fish that had been plopped unceremoniously out of its bowl. It was hard to breathe because I had no concept of how to navigate this. "See what?"

He exhaled slowly, finally turning to face me. "You and Finn."

My stomach was now the thing giving me all the ominous feels because it turned dangerously. What the hell did my sister say to him?

"Me and Finn," I repeated quietly. "Bauer ... I—"

Denial trapped in my throat. Nothing else came up. Because I couldn't lie. And he saw that on my face.

He nodded. "You'd look great together. And it's probably really fucking stupid on my end that I never even considered that you went that night because of him."

"I don't want Finn," I argued. Carefully, I approached him with my hands held up. Don't spook the snowboarder, Claire, because he walked out of that house and had his mind halfway made up already. "I don't know what Lia said to you, or what she thinks she knows, but if she inferred anything that makes you think I don't want to be with you, she's wrong."

"Don't be mad at her." Ugh, my skin recoiled at his casual tone. The way he tucked his hands in his pockets as if this was no big deal, just any other conversation we might have had, standing under a cloudless sky. "She's just speaking the truth."

"How would I know? You haven't told me what she said."

"Fair enough," he conceded. Bauer braced a shoulder on the side of his Jeep and studied my face. "You would've canceled in a heartbeat if you'd known who was going to show up. No yellow dress. No red lipstick. No lying necessary. Because the only reason you did what you did was because you wanted a shot with the Golden Boy."

Normally, I prided myself on being a levelheaded person.

Seeing both sides.

Understanding differing opinions.

But now, I saw red.

"And you stormed out of my family's house because I might have made a different decision if I'd maybe known he was sick, when I'd never even met you before that night?" My tone gradually increased in volume, in pitch, in absolute mind-blown anger. "Is this a joke?"

His face slowly hardened into a mask. "I sure as hell don't think it's funny."

"Neither do I, Bauer." I stared him down. "I didn't know you."

"No, but you sure as hell knew him." He tipped his head back and let out a dry laugh. "Everything you said in the car ... so understanding about my past. You were covering your ass."

"I was doing no such thing," I protested. But hadn't I been? Just a little. Discomfort ratcheted my anger up another notch.

"I have a pretty good bullshit meter, Claire, so be careful."

"I wasn't protecting myself, Bauer. I was trying to get to know you, talk to you about normal relationship things. You asked if I'd ever brought a boyfriend home, and I haven't. Just you."

"Yeah," he said slowly. "Because the guy you wanted was here for every damn dinner."

"And you're punishing me because I had a stupid, silly crush on him, one that I managed to ignore for a long time. I cannot change what I felt before I knew you."

No surprise, but the mask didn't move, and not one word came out of the hard line of his mouth.

I rubbed at my temples. "Bauer, come on, you are smart enough to know that it's grossly unfair to hold that against me. I didn't know you."

His jaw clenched, and his brows lowered a fraction. He didn't want me to be right, but I saw it in his eyes—the complete and utter inability to argue with me.

"Are you going to just stand there?" I snapped.

That finally cracked the mask. "What do you want me to say, Claire?" He spread his arms out. "That right now, it's impossible for me to look at you right now, without seeing you with him. That it's impossible to think about you wanting him—even if it was before me—without wanting to go wreck his pretty-boy face? Would that make you feel better?" he yelled.

I swallowed, tucking my arms around my waist. "No."

"I have one member of my family who doesn't treat me like a complete asshole, and that's him, and now I want to break his fucking nose."

My eyes pinched shut.

"Maybe it's not fair. But if I walk in there and say to him, do to him what this makes me want to do, I will sever any and all relationship with my family. Not to mention