18

AIDEN

 

 

“What’re you doin’?” I demand, standing there, looking at my brother.

He gives me a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“You’re sniffing around my employee. My roommate.”

“Uh…” He looks over his shoulder at her.

She and Ally are both looking toward my office. Ally’s looking with her mouth open. They can’t hear us, but they’re watching.

Carly’s looking on with wide-eyed horror while both Austin and I are looking at her.

It couldn’t be more obvious that I’m confronting him about her. Fuck.

Carly quickly looks away.

“I’m takin’ her out tonight,” he says.

“No, you’re not,” I fire back.

“Huh?”

“You have a girlfriend,” I say.

“Nope. Ended it Tuesday.”

He sits down.

“You move fast.” I remain standing. Glaring.

“It wasn’t a big deal. Only dated her three weeks. No waiting period required with a three-week thing, Aid.”

I take a step closer and look down at him. “Make an excuse. Don’t go out with her.”

“Why?” He looks at me like I’m crazy.

“Huh?” I ask.

“Make an excuse? For what? Carly’s a fox. Just had lunch with her. She’s not only a fox, she’s cool. Somethin’ I don’t know? She psycho or somethin’?”

“She’s…” I stop and I’m momentarily lost for words.

“You want her?” He looks at me with unguarded surprise.

I glare at him.

“Shit. Didn’t see that one comin’.” He gives his head a scratch as his smile goes so wide he’s in danger of splitting his own lips.

“I didn’t say that,” I defend.

“You wanna fuck her or you like her, man? ‘Cuz if you’re just after gettin’ laid, that’s outside bro rules...”

“Just back off, Austin.”

I haven’t thought this through. I just reacted. That’s not like me.

“You like her.” He gives me a smile, a smile that’s about to become one brother ribbing another for liking a girl.

Austin knows I don’t do more than hookups. We haven’t been after the same girl since we were in our teens and we devised a loose understanding about calling dibs. It didn’t happen often, since I’m two years older, but it has happened a couple times.

“Don’t start bustin’ my balls, man. It’s been less than a week, but she’s in my apartment, skimpy clothes, fuckin’ barefoot and braless, and I have this view of her all day long, and have you seen her ass?”

He smiles. “Yeah. Why do you think I asked her out?”

My brother is definitely an ass man.

I roll my eyes. “Cancel the date.”

“Alright,” he waves his hands. “Didn’t know you were callin’ dibs.”

“Didn’t know you were single,” I point out. “So, didn’t realize I had to.”

“Well, we don’t talk much these days,” he says, and his expression drops.

I know. He’s right.  We stare at one another a beat without a shred of humor before I look the other way. This is my fault. I know it is. And everything in me is suddenly screaming that it’s time to make it right.

“Tell ya what, Aid. I’ll make an excuse if you be my dinner date instead.”

“Buy me lobster and you’re on,” I offer.

He barks out a laugh. “You know what I expect in exchange for a lobster dinner, bro.”

I point at him, “I ain’t takin’ it up the ass, Auz. I’ll buy my own fuckin’ lobster instead.”

He laughs, rises, and slaps me in the arm. “Miss you, brother. Seven o’clock or seven thirty. Here?”

“I’m outta here at five.”

“What’s up?”

“Just a fast errand.”

“Yeah. I’m workin’ late tonight. Year end. Pick me up and we’ll go to Buchanan’s.”

“Meet me there. I’ll be on my Ducati,” I tell him. “Get a reservation?

“Will do. I’ll be there for seven thirty.” He slaps my shoulder as he passes me and steps back into Carly’s cubicle, leaving my door open.

She’s still facing sideways, talking to Ally who’s standing up and leaning over their half-wall.

I see him lean against her cubicle wall and talk to her.

She aims a big smile at him and it feels sour in my gut.

And I keep watching as he walks away. He winks at me as he passes my office.

She doesn’t turn around. Not at first.

But, then after he’s been gone a good ten or twenty seconds, she looks over her shoulder at me, catches me watching her.

Don’t know why the fuck I put a stop to that, tipping my hand with her. Okay, so maybe I do. I’m planning on fucking her and don’t want Austin to cock-block me and get there first.  But, I got this weird sensation in my gut when I saw how he was looking at her. How she was smiling at him as they talked, walking toward her cube. I didn’t like the way it felt in my gut. It felt a little reminiscent of that sensation I got when I saw Sienna with that dickhead in what wound up to be the end of us.

And now I’m in an even worse mood than I was that morning.

Because the minute I agreed to go to dinner with Auz, deciding it’s time to let him in on a few truths, it puts me on edge about how it’s gonna go. I’ve been avoiding the truth too long.

“You got that Franklin competitive analysis back yet from Blake?” I call out, because her eyes are still on me.

She startles out of her daze and shakes her head. “Not yet.”

“Follow up. I want it today,” I snap, and my eyes go back to my laptop.