“Yes, I decided I don’t feel like eating in after all.”
“You’re not going out with him,” Adam growled.
Ash hissed, clenching her fingers into tight balls, “I’ll go out with whomever I please.”
“That’s right,” Ryan began. “She—”
“Shut up, Cooper.” Adam pushed his way into the house. “Why would you want to go out with a jerk-wad like Ryan Cooper? He’s only interested in one thing.”
“You can’t come in here and insult me.” Ryan yelled, though he made no move to follow Adam across the room.
“What do you mean by that remark?” Ash demanded, stomping behind Adam as he corralled Kujo and grabbed his leash.
Adam spun around. “You know exactly what I mean. Ryan Cooper is just trying to get you into bed.” He pointed an accusatory finger at Ryan, who turned beet-
red.
“Back off, Walker!” Ryan objected. “Where do you get off saying something like that?”
Ash marched up to Adam, trembling with anger, her hands flying about as she spoke. “So you think that little of me? You think Ryan couldn’t possibly want anything from me but sex? You assume he wouldn’t want to engage in an intelligent conversation, since I don’t have a college degree?”
“Yeah, Baby. You tell him!” Ryan moved behind her, wrapping his arms over hers.
“Ash, you’re putting words in my mouth.” Adam still frowned, but he shifted from foot to foot, as if the floor might fall out from under him at any moment. “Ryan’s sleaziness has nothing to do with your intelligence. He’s an equal-opportunity dirt-bag.”
Ash’s heart threatened to bang its way through her ribs. “First of all, just because Ryan’s a sleaze bag doesn’t mean I would sleep with him.”
Ryan protested, “Hey! You called me a—”
“And secondly...” Ash threw Ryan’s arms off and stomped forward to pound an accusing finger on Adam’s chest, marking every syllable. “You. Can’t. Tell. Me. What. To. Do.”
Adam backed up with each poke, as if she used a stick pin. Then his wide eyes narrowed, and his mouth tightened, his lips blanching.
“Fine. You’re a big girl. Make your own choices. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He pushed past her and grabbed Ryan by the collar, practically dragging him to the door. Ash heard Adam’s coarse whisper, but couldn’t distinguish his words. He marched out the door and slammed it shut, leaving a white-faced Ryan behind.
“What did he say?” As Ash’s tension leaked out, she collapsed on the couch like piece of soggy bread.
“Nothing nice.” His forehead beaded with sweat, Ryan tugged at his collar.
Some ridiculous part of her still wished Adam had been acting out of jealousy instead of big-brother defensiveness. But she comforted herself knowing she’d salvaged Monday morning’s big surprise.
“I’m sorry about that, Ryan. Adam’s my cousin, and he’s a little protective.”
“He acts like that for a cousin?” Ryan blew out a low whistle. “If that man had had a sister, she would die an old maid.”
Chapter Thirteen
GROUCHY DIDN’T BEGIN to describe how Adam felt as he climbed into his truck Monday morning with Kujo taking his customary place in the back seat. Adam kept the heat on full blast to counter the freezing air whipping inside the open back windows, but Kujo loved the cold, bounding from one side to the other to hang his head into the wind.
Three sleepless nights had taken their toll on Adam’s mood, which, as Erin had so deftly pointed out, already tended to be on the gruff side. Even two Benadryl hadn’t blotted out the pictures that flashed through his mind each night, tossing figurative sheep to and fro and leaving him bleary-eyed and exhausted. An image of Ryan Cooper, standing behind Ash with his arms draped around her, had permanently etched itself onto the back of Adam’s eyelids, elevating his blood pressure to pre-stroke levels.
“Hi, Mom.” He answered his cell phone through the hands-free system as he barreled down the highway.
“Did you get the message? Are you on your way into town?”
“Yes, I got it. You’re the third family member to call me.”