Breaking Even (Sterling Shore 5)

I’ve started to go talk to Brin numerous times. It feels wrong staying away from her. We’re friends. Only friends. And I happen to love being her friend, even though I’ve only known her for a short period of time.

So why do I feel like I can’t just walk over and talk to her?

“Do you know that girl or something?” Leah asks.

She doesn’t sound annoyed or intimidated, and that sort of bothers me. Brin looks amazing tonight, so Leah should feel insulted by my inability to stop looking. Brin pulls off the innocent thing, even though I know she’s not at all innocent.

“Yeah. I do. She’s my neighbor and my friend.”

She shrugs as she asks a passing server for another Corona. Leah drinks my favorite beer, likes the things I do, and she’s a knockout, but I can’t seem to make myself interested.

Fuck. This is her fault—Brin. I can’t keep thinking about her like this, but every time she forces a brittle smile for the guy she’s with, I want to go rescue her and spend the night watching gory movies and talking about nothing. And then I want to do something to torment her.

“You smell like a carburetor,” Leah says, grinning.

Not sure how I smell like a carburetor, but okay...

“I showered at the garage before Tag swung by to tell me about the party.”

She giggles as she steps closer. “I wasn’t complaining. I happen to love it.”

I’m fairly sure this girl would fuck me in the work area of my garage, and usually that would have me squealing tires to get us over there, but I keep looking over at Brin instead. The guy she’s with doesn’t seem the least bit interested.

“Excuse me,” I say to Leah, and I make my way toward Ash as Leah says something back.

Ash looks up from her glass of water and frowns at me. “What’s that look for?” she asks.

“Who’s the guy acting like he can’t wait to get out of here?” I retort, glaring at her.

How could she do this to Brin?

She grumbles and groans under her breath, and finally she releases a few choice words.

“An accountant I just met.”

“And you set him up with Brin without knowing him? Why would you do that?”

She hesitates for a minute. Then she finally curses again before dropping her shoulders in defeat.

“Fine. You and Brin weren’t supposed to come. And if you did come, you were supposed to come together. But apparently the two of you don’t give a flying shit about each other the way I presumed—the way we all thought you did. That guy is the only guy I could get over here at the last minute. But I honestly thought the two of you were into each other, and I never thought you—being the alpha jerk you are—would let her show up with another guy. It was a push. A tiny little push, and the two of you shoved back. This was not supposed to backfire.”

I’m going to strangle Tag. Now I look like a dick. “So Brin had no intentions of going out with that guy tonight, did she? Tag came and told me she was already coming and that she’d accepted the date offer.”

Ash guiltily pouts as she looks toward the very depressed and bored Brin.

“No. That was to force you to face your feelings for her. She told me she had plans when I asked. I was so excited, and then she sent a text later saying that she’d come. I thought you liked her. I wouldn’t have tried pushing you two if I had known you would go out with Leah. Tag said if you turned down a girl like Leah, then you were more than likely hard-up for Brin. His words.”

I turn and glower at the fool talking to Dane Sterling, but he doesn’t notice. I should kick his ass for this. Brin came to my house thinking she was going to cook, and I fucking offered to let her ride with me and my date. She thinks I’m the one who didn’t cancel. I should throttle the both of them for doing this to us.

“We’re not guinea pigs, Ash,” I growl.

“I know,” she says apologetically. “It’s just... Rye, you smile when you’re with her. You laugh. You joke. And you look so damn happy. I’ve never seen any of that with you until you met her. And it happens every time she’s around. I just wanted you to see what’s right in front of you. Jealously is a good motivation. Tag and I messed around and wasted so much time. I didn’t want you two to do the same thing.”

Fuck. Can’t we just be friends? It’s like I’m speaking a foreign language that no one can understand.

“Thanks to you, Brin thinks I bailed on her to go out with Leah, and now she’s over there with Captain Jerk who keeps staring at your ass every time you walk by. Think about that the next time you want to play the manipulation game.”

I start to walk over to Brin, but Ash starts crying, and I groan. Fucking pregnancy hormones.