He looks up at me, pausing with a knife in his hand. “Shut up.”
“How are you, Luke?” Mrs. Kelly greets me with a smile.
“I’m here,” I reply, a bit colder than I mean. I soften the sting of my response with a shrug, and she nods.
Tessa resembles her mother, but only in appearance. The friendly demeanor Mrs. Kelly always has skipped right over her daughter.
She rounds the counter with a tray of food in her hand and kisses me on the cheek. “It’s good to see you. Why don’t you boys help Reed with those vegetables?”
Ben hands me a beer as I take in a noticeably annoyed-looking Reed. “Oh, I don’t know. He seems to be handling the kitchen duties better than we could,” I answer, smiling when Reed flips me off.
“Yeah, Mom. I think he’s got it under control. Look at the cute little arrangement he’s making,” Ben adds with a grin.
Once Mrs. Kelly walks outside, Reed places the knife down and throws the chopped up peppers onto a tray. “You’re both assholes. If Tessa wouldn’t cut my balls off, I’d bail on this shit.” He looks up at Ben. “Once again, really happy for you, but the next time you have an estrogen party, leave me out of it.”
Ben laughs behind his beer, leaning on his elbow against the counter. “So, who was this chick last night?” he directs at me.
Chick? What chick? It takes me a minute to realize why he’s asking me that question. I’d completely forgotten about the lie I had dropped a few minutes ago. I look out the sliding glass door, narrowing in on Tessa right away as she continues working on her bullshit gift arrangement. “No chick. I just had to say something to shut your sister up.”
Reed laughs. “She tell you about this guy she met online?”
I whip my head around, glaring at him. “Online? She’s going out with some creep she met online? What the fuck is wrong with her?”
Ben frowns. “What’s the problem?”
I take a massive chug of my beer, needing the alcohol to calm my nerves that are now on edge. I look between Ben and Reed, settling on Ben who, for some strange reason, doesn’t mind his sister picking up men on the Internet. “What’s the problem? This guy could be a psycho. She’s not seriously going out with him, is she?”
Ben shrugs. “I don’t know. Ask Mia. Or Tessa, if you’re that concerned.”
“Well, what the fuck? Why the hell aren’t you concerned? She’s your sister.” I look over at Reed. “Or you? Aren’t you two best friends?”
“Hey, I told her to make sure she meets him somewhere public, and she is. I’ll be at the bonfire to eye up this guy,” Reed states as he picks up his knife and cuts into a cucumber. “People meet online all the time. It’s not that big of a deal.”
The sliding glass door opens and gains my attention. Nolan walks through and tugs at his T-shirt, trying to pull it over his head. “Daddy, can I go swinnin’ now?”
“I’ll take you, Nolan,” I say, leaving my half empty beer can on the counter. “I need to go outside anyway.”
“She’s going to flip out on you if you say something to her,” Reed warns me.
I help Nolan with his T-shirt and pull off my own, throwing them both onto the couch. “Let her flip out. She’s crazy if she thinks I’m going to let her go out with some punk she met in some chat room.” I grab Nolan’s hand and lead him back the way he came.
“Why can’t you two just do your own thing and not worry about what the other person is doing. Or who they’re doing?” Ben asks.
I ignore his question and slide the door open. Why do I worry? I don’t know. But after a fucking year of trying not to care what Tessa does, I’ve given up on fighting it.
It’s a losing battle.
“The girl I fucked last night. What a dipshit.”
“What?” Mia asks, returning to my side after grabbing a plate of food. She snaps into a carrot as I continue to busy myself with the gift arrangement. Not that it needs it. I just need to keep my hands active right now because if I don’t, I might punch someone.
Luke, to be specific.
She nudges me. “He probably only said that to piss you off. How did you think he was going to react to you insinuating in front of him that you’re going to have sex with some guy next weekend? With a high-five and a ‘go get ’em’?”
I open my mouth to answer her when the sliding glass door opens, and then every single word out of my vocabulary is stolen from me at the sight of who walks through it.
Shirtless.
Tanned.
Tattooed.
FUCK.
“Nolan, hold up a second,” Luke says before walking directly toward me. I grab a gift and quickly hold it in front of me, needing a barrier in between that body and me. He stops a few inches away, glancing down briefly at the gift. “You’re meeting up with some guy you met online? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Nolan, wait for Uncle Luke,” Mia says behind him.
Luke whips around, grabbing Nolan who is inches away from the edge of the pool, and hauls him up on his shoulder. He returns to his spot in front of me, leaning closer with expectant eyes.
As if I actually owe him an answer.
As if he hasn’t done worse.
I place the gift back onto the table, no longer needing a barrier. His mouth just wiped out every tempting thought that was circling in my head and I’d actually like the use of my hands right now. Or a finger.
I straighten, glaring up at him. “Spare me the holier-than-thou attitude you have going on right now, Luke. I don’t really see the difference between hooking up with some guy I meet online, and grabbing the nearest willing slut at a wedding.”
He steps closer. “What I’ve done is not your concern.”
“And who I do is not yours. Last time I checked, we aren’t together. In fact, I don’t think we ever were.” I see the reaction to what I’ve just said spread across his face. Shock and then bitterness.
He masks it quickly with a steely look, shifting Nolan’s squirming body in his arms. “You’re right,” he says, leaning down so his face is inches from mine. I swiftly glance at the day-old stubble along his jaw I used to run my finger across before he continues. “We weren’t. Do whatever you want, Tessa. See if I give a shit.”
You wouldn’t. Because giving a shit would require actually caring about someone.
He turns, walking to the side of the pool with the stairs. Nolan slides down his front and they both descend into the water, Luke holding on to him even though my nephew is a good swimmer.
I know Luke cares for Nolan, but seeing him act like a damn parent bothers me. Every time I saw him with Nolan last summer, he acted the same way. Loving. Protective. But back then when I was around it, it sparked a whole new set of feelings inside me. Feelings I’ve never felt for a guy. It gave me this delusional family image in my head. One starring a man who I now know wants nothing to do with that fantasy. So, when I see him playing with Nolan in the pool, smiling and laughing as if he’s actually enjoying himself, it infuriates me. Because it’s just another one of his lies.
The door opens and Reed comes out carrying a tray of food, Ben walking out behind him. I walk over to them, wanting to talk to Reed, when my brother grabs my elbow and pulls me to the side.