He chuckled. Clearly, he still enjoyed tormenting me. “Can I help you with your things?” He took my box while I grabbed my suitcase.
I followed him through the house, down the hall with squeaky floor boards.
“Here’s your room,” he said, entering the small space and putting the box down on the bed. The room was clean and tidy, but tired looking. The bed was covered in quilts that were probably sewn by his great-grandmother.
“I think you’ll be comfortable there,” Ryder said.
Unable to conjure up my manners, I said, “Why do you think I’ll be comfortable here? I’m not a fan of Little House on the Prairie décor.” God, I was a bitch.
But Ryder, being Ryder, laughed. “That’s too bad.” He reached out, picking up a lock of my hair and rubbing it between his fingers. The gesture was familiar and intimate, shocking me.
“You’d look good in braids,” he said with his easy smile.
I wanted to jerk away. I really did. For some reason I didn’t. It might have been the magnet that was inexplicably pulling me toward him that was to blame.
“Getting settled?” Sinclair said appearing in the doorway.
Feeling like I’d just been caught kissing behind the bleachers, I turned away hoping that I wasn’t blushing.
5
Ryder
This bet was nuts, but being someone who liked to keep life interesting, I was all for it. Especially if meant getting up close and personal with Trina. The craziest part of this deal was that the practical, serious Trina was participating in it. She wasn’t a woman to do anything that she hadn’t already researched and plotted out on a chart. I half-expected to see some sort of schedule or honey-do list to show up taped to my refrigerator. She definitely wasn’t a woman who enjoyed life. I was certain her definition of fun was organizing her sock drawer or categorizing her books. Would she do it by genre or alphabetical order? Some combination of both, probably.
Despite this bet going against her nature and good sense, she did agree to it, and I knew that once she agreed to it, she would be too proud and stubborn to back out, which meant that now she was in my house. With her here, maybe I could find out why the heck she acted like I was the last man on earth she’d ever give the time of day to. What had happened ten years ago to turn her against me? Once I knew that, maybe I could change her mind about me.
But now wasn’t the time. Now I needed to let her acclimate to her new surroundings. She was like a skittish cat, and I need to move slow to help her feel safe and comfortable.
“I’ll let you get settled,” I said to Trina, leaving her with Sinclair. I headed to my kitchen, the only room in the house that had an upgrade since I bought it from my grandparents, who’d moved into an active senior community a couple of years back. The home was as old as dirt, and definitely needed some work, but it was sturdy and clean, and fit my needs.
I pulled out a pitcher of sun tea and some glasses.
“So, you’ve gotten what you wanted.” Sinclair stood in the kitchen doorway leaning against the door jam.
“What do you mean?” I loved Sinclair, but that didn’t mean I always liked it when she used her twin Spidey-sense on me.
“Play coy if you want, but I know you. I just hope this isn’t to get in her pants. I hope that whatever it is between you two is more than that.” She stepped into the kitchen.
“The way she feels about me, I’m sure she’s wearing a chastity belt.” I had no doubt that Trina’s pussy was locked up as tight as Fort Knox. Not that I wasn’t averse to finding the key, but my goal was more than that. This crazy attraction to her needed to be resolved, one way or the other, even if it meant my finally getting over it and moving on.
Sinclair laughed. “You could be right. Maybe you could loosen her up a bit. She takes life too seriously.”
“I thought it was just me she was prickly around.” I put ice in the glasses.
“She’s most prickly around you, but she’s pretty intense and judgy around most things. She likes order and control, two things that aren’t associated with you.” She looked toward my windowsill. “Don’t forget the mint. It will be a nice touch.”
I laughed, thinking it was strange to have my sister playing cupid. “Thanks.” I pulled two leaves from the plant.
“I’ll get out of your hair.”
“You’re not staying for some tea?”
“Nah. I’ll let you get started on your bet. Play nice,” she ordered.
“I’m always nice,” I said as I poured tea into each glass.
“Oh yeah. Hopefully, she’ll play nice.”