CHAPTER SEVEN
COLTON
“I don’t like him,” I said for the tenth time while Jason and I set up the tables.
“Dude!” Jason rolled his eyes. “Why does it matter? She’s like a sister to you. We’ll protect her if he goes all ape-shit.”
“Right.” Because that’s exactly what I was worried about. Her virtue. That was why I’d spent the better part of the night reliving that kiss and woken up so sexually frustrated that I threw my pillows across the room.
Because I was being protective.
Hilarious as hell.
Little sister. Little sister. It was a no-poaching zone. And once you went in for the hunt, you either didn’t make it out alive or you wished you had gotten mauled.
We would never work.
Ever.
Never. Ever.
“Uh, you okay?” Jason asked, his eyebrows arching with what I could only assume was curiosity as to why I looked ready to rip a tree in half and throw it at all men named Max.
“Yeah, why?”
He pointed. “You look like you want to punch the shit out of that table and your hands are balled into such tight fists that I’m a bit concerned you’re going to pass out from blood loss.”
“On edge,” I snapped.
“Shocker,” Jason mouthed, just as Max and Milo came around the corner. Holy shit, I was going to lose my mind.
Her hair was tousled.
Lips bruised.
Well, that was it. Jason was going to have to arrest me. I was going to prison. At night I was going to sneak into Max’s room, beat him senseless, smother him with a pillow, and then dump his body into the pool.
Just kidding . . . the pool wasn’t deep enough.
A pond.
A large pond.
A lake.
The ocean.
“Colt?” Jason waved in front of my face. “I asked you a question.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “What was it?”
“Max says he’s terrible with arrangements so he’s going to finish up with the tables and you’re going to go help Milo, okay?”
“Sure. Whatever.” I dropped the table, hard. Unfortunately it landed on Jason’s foot.
“Shit!” He hopped around on one foot cursing a blue streak.
“Sorry?” I winced.
“Ice.” Jason glared. “Get me ice.”
I ran toward the house, Milo close on my heels. “What happened to Jason?”
“I dropped a table on him,” I said calmly, searching for ice. The guy already had a black eye and now he was going to have a broken toe. Yeah, I was the worst best man ever.
“Why would you do that?” Milo grabbed a towel and held it out as I put ice in it.
“Oh, you know, for shits and giggles.”
“Ah, I see—you’re in love with the bride,” she teased.
I rolled my eyes. “Jayne? No thanks.”
Milo’s face fell. Shit. Now she knew for sure her brother was marrying Satan.
“I didn’t mean it like that . . .”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “You did, but maybe she’s different now, more mature, not as—”
“She’s a whiny bitch,” I said honestly. “But he loves her and that’s all that matters, plus she’s always been a bit spoiled.”
“Yeah.” Milo looked miles away.
“Thanks for helping me with the ice.”
She beamed.
That smile slammed through my body. I used to live for her smiles, used to live for her visits. When she first went away to college, it had felt like a part of me left with her, but it wasn’t like I was able to ever actually say that out loud.
I’d wanted her for years.
But wanting and having were two very different things.
I’d rather never have her—than lose her as a friend. And I’d come so damn close to losing her last night. So yeah, I shoved my foot into my mouth and nearly suffocated to death—but at least we could go back to normal. Right?
“So, Max . . .” I held open the door as we walked out into the brisk morning air. “He’s . . . nice.”
“Liar.” She nudged me in the shoulder. “But I appreciate you trying.”
“Maybe I’d respect him more if he didn’t maul you in front of me.”
“Hmm.” Milo shrugged. “You didn’t seem to mind any mauling last night.”
“Milo—”
“No.” Her smile appeared forced. “It’s fine. Friends, right?”
I knew that look. She was still pissed. But she had a boyfriend! She’d cheated; so if anyone had a right to be pissed it was me—not her.
I grabbed her hand with my free hand and tugged her against me, leaning down so our foreheads almost touched. “Right. Friends.”
Her eyes flashed.
Hell, the pull she had on me was otherworldly. I wanted to close the distance between our mouths. I was desperate to touch her again, even with her boyfriend a few feet away.
“Ice!” Jason yelled. “In pain over here!”
With a chuckle I tossed the ice pack in his direction and turned back to face Milo. But she was already walking into Max’s waiting arms.
I’d done that.
I’d forced her hand, it was the only explanation my pride would allow me to come up with. I’d always felt something between us, and now that something was sizzling into nothing—fast. I’d successfully pushed her back into the arms of her idiot boyfriend because I freaked out over a kiss.
All because I was afraid.