“You’re not dating any of my roommates.” He flung a pair of sweatpants at her, hitting her in the face.
“Who said anything about dating?” She grinned.
“Not cool. Don’t even go there. Pants.”
“Not like I’d do anything with any of your goody-two-shoes friends, Berkley.” She rolled her eyes and shoved her legs into the sweatpants.
“At least none of my friends would strand me a hundred miles from anywhere.”
“But that’s what keeps life exciting. Plus, I have you to bail me out.” She threw on a devil-may-care smile. “That’s what big brothers are for, right?” She stressed the word brother like it was a concession she was giving, calling him that.
“What about next year? What about if I get traded to Seattle or LA or I’m at an away game and I’m hundreds or thousands of miles away? Then what?”
She shrugged.
They fought just like I’d imagined a normal brother and sister would, like in TV shows. God knows I wasn’t a good person to evaluate normal sibling relationships. But… he hadn’t stood me up to bang someone else.
I wasn’t the other woman.
Alexis was his sister!
Finally snapping out of the temporary paralysis that had me stuck in the doorway, I crossed the room and held out my hand to Alexis, Berk’s sister. His little sister. A giddy laugh bubbled up and escaped my lips.
“I’m Jules. It’s so nice to finally meet you. Berk said you liked my cake.”
She looked at me like I was a complete psycho, but put down her phone and shook my hand.
“Ah, you’re the cake girl. I wondered which one of his fuck buddies he’d gotten to do that for him.”
Wow, she was certainly… rude.
“Dude, Alexis, don’t be an ass. And she’s not a fuck buddy.” He cut me a sly grin. “And I paid for that cake.” The baked good smell filled the room when he lifted the lid off the container and wolfed one down. “I’ll make some coffee. These deserve coffee.” He held up another one triumphantly.
A moment of panic shot through me at being left alone with his sister, who was fascinated by anything in the room that wasn’t me. “I’ll come help you.”
I walked down the steps still trying to catch my breath. In the span of ten minutes, almost a year’s worth of pain and doubt had been erased. Berk didn’t have some bad news chick he banged every so often that everyone hated. He had a little sister who got into trouble who he had to rescue, and all the guys hated….
Her being a little sister probably had something to do with it, as well as her sunshine and gumdrops personality, but she wasn’t sleeping with Berk, so that was a huge plus in my book.
I opened the cabinets to get a couple mugs. I was jolted out of the running calculus in my brain by the rough pads of Berk’s fingertips skimming along the backs of my legs.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice that you wore a skirt,” he breathed against the back of my neck, nipping at my shoulder. His hands were joined by the hard press of his erection through his sweatpants. “Did you wear that for me?”
I clutched the mugs to my chest and nodded.
“Ready for some next-level apologizing?” He dropped a kiss to the crook of my neck. The soft but insistent pressure of his lips made my stomach flip.
A cascade of pleasure danced along my spine. The weight of his body pinned me against the counter. He inched his hands higher, giving himself a little space between our bodies to cup and squeeze my ass.
I held onto the edge of the sink, trying to keep myself upright. “I’m always ready for you.” The words were shaky and hungry for his touch. I craved it like my next sugar high.
“Berk, please don’t bang your girlfriend in the kitchen.” An annoyed voice broke the trance we were in.
He jerked back and I whipped around, smoothing my skirt down to make sure I wasn’t flashing Alexis. Berk’s sister. His red-haired, looked-nothing-like-him sister. My gaze jumped between Berk and Alexis.
With mugs of coffee poured for everyone, Berk gave the run down on what had happened last night.
Alexis’s gaze was laser focused on the side of my face. Every time I caught her out of the corner of my eye, her unflinching gaze was on me. It was a little unnerving. Did she not like me? Was she overprotective? Had she disliked Berk’s other girlfriends? Was I his girlfriend? Had he had other girlfriends? He hadn’t corrected her when she’d called me his girlfriend!
The questions raced through my head, whipping even faster around like a roller derby championship.
Doors opened and closed upstairs and footsteps hammered on the floor above our heads as the rest of the house woke up.
“You live across the street?” Alexis picked up the coffee cake muffin and poked at it like she was inspecting it for poison.
“That crap shack across the street is what I call home.”
“It’s way less crappy than it used to be,” Berk butted in. “I’ve helped her fix a few things.”
Alexis scrunched her shoulders up and shot me a squinty-eyed half smile. “How adorable.” She took a bite and there was a flash as the brown sugar and cinnamon crunch hit her tongue. Her eyes widened and even though she fought warming up to me, she couldn’t beat the sugar siren.
That was the look I lived for.
A thud hit the stairs like someone had been thrown down each step.
“Do I smell a Jules special delivery?” Keyton rounded the base of the stairs and tossed his duffle beside the front door.
“Coffee cake muffins.”
Keyton grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug, kissing the side of my face. “You’re our savior. Stale bus bagels with those tiny little pods of cream cheese weren’t going to cut it today.”
“Could you not paw my girl?” Berk brushed him aside and tucked me in under his arm.
“Your girl?” Alexis and I said it at the same time.
I stared up at him.
He broke his glare at Keyton and looked down at me. “Of course. I mean, if you want.” The uncertainty in his gaze made him even more adorable.
“I do.” I rested my hand against his chest, the muscles bunching under my fingertips.
Sneaking a glance to the side, I could see Alexis trying to light my hair on fire with her eyes.
He leaned down and pressed his mouth against my ear. His breath whispered against my skin and sent shivers down my spine. “When I get back, we’re going to make this official, Frenchie.” He palmed my ass, giving it a squeeze. “But, I’ve got to go pack.”
“I can help.”
“Stay here and enjoy your muffins. You can keep Alexis out of trouble.” He let me go and raced back upstairs.
Turning like I was in a horror movie, I slid back into a chair.
“You’re Berk’s new girlfriend.” She drummed her fingers against her mug.
“Seems that way. Are you in school too?”
“No.” She took a sip, completely content not to speak another word to me.
“Taking a gap year?” I added more sugar to my coffee. And cream. Okay, so it was sugar and creamer with a splash of coffee at this point.
“No.”
Alrighty then. “What do you think your chances are, Keyton?”