“I can’t help it. They’re so good,” I say, popping one into my mouth. “And it’s magic.” I wink at her, licking my lips.
She shakes her head, a smile playing on her lips. “I’ll give you magic.”
“You two do remember that I’m sitting right here?” Aspen asks, a smile wide on her face. “I might need therapy after watching the two of you and let’s not get me started on the fact that you two are couple goals times one million. My expectations are high.” She points at me. “Thanks for that. Now I’m going to die a lonely old cat lady.”
“Who’s getting a cat?” Conrad asks, walking into the kitchen.
“Con, we’ve talked about this. You have to start knocking.”
“I saw Aspen’s car in the drive. I knew you two love birds weren’t getting your freak on with her here, or who knows—” He shrugs. “You three might be into that kind of thing.”
“Nope. No. Just no,” Aspen says vehemently.
“So, no girl-on-girl-on-guy. Are you into two…?” He raises two fingers in the air with one hand and points to his crotch with the other.
“S-Stop!” Aspen sputters with laughter. “We are not discussing my sex life or the lack thereof.”
“Aw, sweetness, you need me to help you out with that?”
“Have you been tested?” she fires back.
“Yep. And, I’ve had all my shots.” Conrad smirks.
“How do you handle this? All this Riggins testosterone all the time?” she asks her sister.
“They know she’s mine,” I answer for her.
“Oh, Aurora knows that if she wants a real man, that I can show her around,” Conrad says confidently.
“Out.” I point to the door. “You’re no longer welcome here. Don’t be slinging your game at my girl.” I’m kidding, and we all know it. Mostly. I know he’s my brother and would never make a move, but the thought of any man other than me touching Aurora still has my hackles raised.
“There!” Conrad points back at me, grinning triumphantly. “You admit I’ve got game.” He nods. “I’m telling you, Aspen, I can help you out with the dry spell.” He winks at her.
“We should leave them. Give them some alone time.” I slide up behind Aurora and wrap my arms around her waist. “We should definitely use our time wisely,” I say, kissing her neck.
“That—” Aspen points to us. “How am I supposed to have realistic expectations of a man when this is what I’m witness to?”
Conrad places his hand over his chest. “Aspen, beautiful, you wound me. Am I not man enough for you?” he asks.
I watch with amusement as she takes her time looking him over from head to toe. “Meh,” she replies.
Aurora and I both crack up laughing, and Conrad just shakes his head. He’s a Riggins. He knows he has the looks and the bank account. He grew up in the same house as me, watching our father love our mother with every ounce of his soul. My guess is his game is definitely on point.
Chapter 26
Aurora
“That was so much fun,” Aspen says, plopping down on the couch in our apartment. “When can we do it again?” she asks Grant.
“Whenever you want. If I can’t take you out, I’m sure Conrad or Marshall will.”
“I can’t believe that you grew up doing that every summer. I’m jealous,” she says with a wistful smile.
“It was pretty badass,” Grant agrees with her. He takes a seat in the chair and pats his lap for me to sit.
“I need to go through all that mail,” I say, grabbing the stack and moving to sit on the floor between his legs.
“Take the chair.” He starts to stand, but I stop him.
“I’m fine. I’m going to pull the table close and sort through this madness.” I place the stack on the table and grab the first envelope. “Anyone need an extended warranty on their car?” I ask, skimming the paper, seeing that it’s most definitely junk mail, and tossing it to the side. Reaching for the next one, I repeat the same process. I’m about seven or eight items in when I tear open an envelope that has me sitting up straighter. “What the hell?” I ask out loud.
“What is it?” Aspen turns her head to look at me from where she’s still lying on the couch.
“This says that our loan payment bounced. How is that possible? The checking account is with the same bank the loan is through.” My eyes skim over the statement again.
“There must be some kind of mix-up,” Aspen says.
“I’m sure if you call them in the morning, you’ll get it all figured out,” Grant offers.
“I just don’t understand how that happens.” I say, setting the letter to the side and reaching for another. My mind is still on how our loan payment to the bank that my checking account is with would bounce. “Maybe they put my deposit in Aspen’s account or something?” I muse. Shaking out of my thoughts, I finish opening the electric bill.
Past Due.
“I paid this. I know I did.” Moving the table back, I climb to my feet and grab my purse. I take a seat next to Aspen and dig out my checkbook. “See.” I hold it up for them to see even though I’m sure they can’t make it out. “I paid that two weeks ago. What the hell is going on?” I ask. I can feel my panic start to rise. Why would two bills not go through? “They’re saying we’re a month behind. I paid this bill.” I look over at Grant. He looks concerned, and that look on his face is just another reason why I love him.
“I’m sure it’s a simple mix-up. Maybe they did put your money in Aspen’s account. Your names both start with A. It must have been an oversight.”
“Here, let me pull up my account.” Aspen sits up, and her fingers fly across the screen of her phone. I can tell from the look on her face, our assumption is wrong. “It’s not in my account. The check you paid me bounced.” She holds her phone up for me to see.
“What?” I whisper.
“Yeah, I mean, I have money in there, so I’m not overdrawn or anything, but it says it bounced. They deducted the full amount plus a fee from my account.”
“Aurora, you have online banking too, right?” Grant asks.
I nod, already digging my phone out of my purse. I quickly log in and what I see has bile rising in my throat. “I-It’s negative,” I choke out. “Thousands of dollars in the negative.”
“What?” Grant and my sister ask at the same time.
“Rory, that’s not possible. You are meticulous with your bank account and finances. What the fuck is going on?” Aspen asks.
Grant stands and pulls me to my feet. It’s not until he wraps his arms around me do I realize that I’m trembling. I had enough money in that account for almost a year’s worth of expenses. The bakery has done really well, and I’ve been saving. Now it’s all just gone.
Gone.
How could this have happened?
“Baby, I need you to breathe,” Grant says soothing, running his hand up and down my back. Doing as he asks, I focus on taking in a deep breath and slowly exhaling. “Again,” he says, his voice calm and soothing. I repeat the process several times until I feel myself start to calm down.