I am not arguing about my sex life with my brother. “Go,” I say to him. “And no partying. I need your help tomorrow morning.”
“Okay, Dad.”
Jesus, I’ll be glad when school is back in. I turn to Beck, who is just grinning. “What?” I ask.
“He’s not wrong. You do need to get laid,” he says and throws his arm around me.
I shake my head as we walk back to my place. “Not you, too.”
He goes serious, and I brace myself. “She’s been gone a long time, bro. You deserve a life, too.”
“I’m happy, Beck,” I say. “I’m busy with life and keeping Tyler on the straight and narrow.”
“Tyler is fine. You’ve done enough for us. It’s time you do something for yourself.”
I brush the moisture from my forehead with the back of my arm. “Where is this coming from?”
“A hot girl moved in next door, and for the last week, you’ve gone out of your way to avoid her.”
We keep pace as we head down the hill. “I’ve been busy.”
“Yeah, busy hiding from her.” He eyes me. “Want to tell me why?”
“No,” I say as we approach my cottage. “Now go get yourself cleaned up and get something to eat.” I give him a shove, and he just laughs as he heads home. When the hell did my kid brother get so grown up?
I step inside my place, shower, get a fast bite, and a half hour later, I park on the street and walk toward the community center. I glance around but don’t see Alyson’s Tesla, which would stick out like a sore thumb on a street lined with pickup trucks. I guess she backed out after all. Probably a good thing. Yeah, it’s totally for the best.
Then why the hell am I disappointed?
I hear the guys shooting the shit and go still when a female voice rises above them. Alyson’s here. I’m almost not surprised by that, and after avoiding her for almost a week, I can only hope she realizes I do not want to start anything with her. But the second I walk inside the building I see her bent over, fussing with her shoes—new heels and new snug-fitting jeans that tease my cock.
“Look what the cat finally dragged in,” Colin says.
“I’m right on time,” I say and check my watch.
My friend Patrick walks over to Alyson, and my eyes are glued to the back of his head as he says something that makes her laugh. Jealousy I have no right to feel careens through me. Christ, I told him to keep his distance, but there’s no reason he should listen to me. He can sleep with Alyson if he wants. She can sleep with him if she wants. Yeah, I have no problem with that at all. As long as it’s over my dead body.
Fuck my life.
Anger steps back for a moment, allowing need and lust to fill the space as I take in curvy hips hugged by tight jeans. Her white blouse is loose on her body, the open top button teasing at what lies beneath. Her hair is piled on top of her head, exposing the long column of her neck, right where my lips want to be.
My gaze moves up her throat and over her face. Dark circles she’s trying to hide with makeup fringe her pretty eyes, a sign that she’s burning the candle at both ends. Soon enough, she’ll collapse under the constant stress. Even though I bet against her, it sucks that she’s having such a hard time. It’s not fun to struggle, and like Tyler said, she’s trying really hard.
They talk for a few minutes, then Alyson’s eyes lift, like she can feel mine on her. Her cheeks instantly flush when she sees me, but she looks away quickly. We never talked about the kiss. Nope. I took off the second we were interrupted and busied myself for the rest of the week. Alyson steps behind the sound system, and a second later, “Sugar” by Maroon 5 blares through a nearby speaker.
Colin laughs. “I love it,” he says. “Sara loves this song.”
“I know,” Alyson says, grinning and avoiding direct eye contact with me. “I had this in mind last week, and Sara and I talked about music when she stopped by to introduce me to her and her friends.” She claps her hands together and looks us over. “Okay, let’s get on with this. We don’t have a lot of time.” She points to a spot on the