“She texted.”
“Semantics.”
“You don’t understand. She texted someone else. I was just intrusive.”
“No. You were a selfish and nosy bastard,” Rory shrugged her shoulders.
“Take that back!” I demanded and took a step toward my sister.
“Please, don’t kill her,” Jason piped up. He stood up from the couch, walked over to Rory, and took her in his arms, almost as if he were trying to protect her. “I kind of like her.”
He should have known better. Rory didn’t need his protection. She had her own. She took her phone out and dangled it in front of me, “You do anything stupid; I’m calling 9-1-1.”
“You do that. I’m getting Jason drunk!”
“You wouldn’t?” Her eyes popped out.
“Try me,” I crossed my arms on my chest, knowing full well I have got the upper hand.
The man couldn’t hold his liquor to save his life. And was a mess for a week after he had two beers.
“Hey,” Jason straightened up. He looked offended. “Don’t I have a say in that.”
“No!” Both of us said in unison.
We were at a standoff. I didn’t have time to spar with Rory tonight. I had to get my girl into bed. But I was damned if I let Rory win.
“She’s not ready, Rory,” I said. It killed, but I knew I had to give her time if I wanted a shot with Skylar.
“Bullshit,” Rory fired back.
“No, no bullshit. A fact,” I stated.
“Damn, you're blind,” Rory rolled her eyes and shook her head. “That woman worships the ground you walk on,” she raised her hand to stop me from speaking. “And before you even go there, it has nothing to do with you saving her or anything like that. Look at her. She’s shitfaced. And while she was getting to that state, she talked. A lot.” Rory smiled, “and almost all of it was about you.”
“Almost all of it?” I raised my eyebrows...
“Don’t be a dick,” Rory deadpanned. “She also talked about her family. And she talked about Jacob. But what’s important, as she was talking about you, she made it seem as if you have no feelings for her, when I know that’s not true. She said you haven’t once called her by her name. You saw what she said. She’s convinced you don’t even know it.”
Rory came closer still. She was acting like I was a wounded animal, and she had to be careful.
“I told her I fell for her,” I admitted quietly. “Hell, I said it in front of Melanie and Chace.”
“And what did you do after, hm?” Rory pushed, and when I kept quiet, she continued to drill me.
“Nothing. And do I really need to remind you that she found out who Chace really was and she had to adjust to everything he was saying? Also, her ex is still out there. She won’t come and ask you outright to kiss her, give a girl a break.”
“As I said, she’s not ready. There’s too much shit swirling around her,” I didn’t budge.
“You’re an idiot,” Rory said. “Didn’t you wonder why she’s still here? Chace offered to put her in witness protection until this is all over. Melanie invited her to go with her to her parents. Hell, she could have gone back to that hotel, but she’s still here.”
She did have a point, but too much was at stake.
“I need to give her time,” I stressed.
“No, what you need to do is take your head out of your ass and claim that woman,” Rory yelled, pointing at Skylar.
“Why? Why do I need to do it so fast?”
“Because she loves you!” Rory exclaimed and rolled her eyes. “And all her life, every single person she’s loved went away. And she’s terrified the same will happen with you! So, she thinks she’s better off if she just retreats and after it’s all over leaves. And I will not let you lose her.”
I had nothing to say to that. Sure, I knew Skylar’s history. Brody filled me in. Just listening about her parents almost brought me to my knees. For her to think she would lose me if she let herself love me was unbearable. But she was the one who needed to ask for what she wanted. For too long, her life was out of her control. It was time for her to take it back. I still didn’t want Rory to think she was right. I would never hear the end of it.
“Hey guys,” Jason called. “I don’t mean to intrude in your tender moment, but there’s a trail of clothes, the ones I’m pretty sure Skylar was wearing, leading to the French doors that are wide open.” He snorted, “and there’s no sign of Skylar.”
Fuck it.
She could have the win.
I turned, walked out, and sure enough, there she was sitting in an Adirondack chair, trying to get her jeans off her legs while looking up at the stars at the same time. Fuck. The moment my eyes hit her; my dick tested the strength of my zipper.
“Bean, what are you doing?” I walked slowly towards her.
My eyes were roaming her body. This is not how I wanted to see it for the first time. I planned to take my time and explore every inch of it, pulling the last morsel of pleasure from the experience and giving her the same. For that, I needed Skylar to be sober and conscious of her surroundings. Not three sheets to the wind.
“You need a deck back here,” she mused. “It’s gorgeous, but it could be even more beautiful. Are you aware that you have a diamond in the rough on your hands? I can’t believe you plan to sell it.”
“Are you trying to tell me you like my house, Bean?” this conversation was ridiculous, but at least she stopped taking her clothes off.
And apparently, I needed to remind Skylar that we had an unspoken agreement.
She was now living with me.
“It’s the house I could live the rest of my days in,” she said offhandedly. “But it needs a porch and a back deck.”
I almost didn’t hear that last part.
Everything in me stilled.
“Hey, I could design it for you,” she turned to me, her eyes unfocused, a bright smile on her face.
“Even if you’re moving, you shouldn’t rob a family that will live here of that experience. Plus, it will increase the value of the house.”
She kept blabbering, but I was focused on one thing she said.
“You want to live here?” if she said yes, I would give it to her.
She should get something she wanted. I planned to restore the house and flip it. Then find something she would like, but if this was the house she wanted, it was hers.