Priceless (Forbidden Men 8)

I motioned to the textbook, notepad, and laptop scattered across the mattress between us. “I fell asleep studying.”

With an affectionate grin, he shook his head. “What a nerd. You’d probably study in your sleep if you could.”

“Would not. Now tell me what’s wrong.”

His grin died, and he cleared his throat as he busied himself by picking up my textbooks and notepads before shoving them into my book bag for me. “Yeah, so...I heard about your date.”

That caught me off guard. I blinked at him in surprise and opened my mouth to ask how he’d heard when I guessed the answer. “Mason?”

He nodded as he slid the book bag off the side of my bed and onto the floor, then he scooted closer with an earnest sparkle in his gaze. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

I shook my head, frowning. “I...I didn’t know I was supposed to.”

Cracking off a sharp laugh, he glanced around the room before returning his attention to me. “You tell me everything, Sarah. Why wouldn’t you tell me is a better question.”

“You don’t tell me about any of your dates,” I countered, growing uncomfortable and wondering why I hadn’t told him. It just hadn’t felt like the right thing to do.

“That’s totally not the same thing,” he snapped.

Squinting, I tilted my head. He truly looked put out that I hadn’t run to him as soon as Seth had asked what I was doing this weekend.

“Oh really?” I demanded. “How is it different? Because I’m a girl? Handicapped? Too ugly to be asked out?”

“What?” Gaping as if I’d lost my mind for suggesting any such thing, he shook his head. “No, because you’ve never been on a date before in your life.”

Thanks, I wanted to mutter. Rub that fact in, why don’t you? Sarah, the twenty-two-year-old dating virgin—or just plain, all-around virgin—was lame. I got it.

Except Brandt kept ranting. “I’m guessing this is a big-ass deal to you. For me, dating is any given Friday night. So, again, why would you not tell me about such a big thing for you?”

Every Friday night, huh? Hmm, I’d had no idea how often he went out with women. He never told me about his exploits; I had to hear about them through the grapevine. I just knew he got around. Frequently. Which might be one of the reasons I hadn’t mentioned Seth to him. If we were supposed to be best friends who told each other our deepest, darkest secrets, then why did he never mention any of his hookups to me?

It hurt my feelings that he couldn’t trust me with that, so okay, I’d been a little bit smug and spiteful when Seth had asked me out. I finally had something to keep from Brandt.

Plus, there was also the worry that Brandt might—

“I’m going to kill him!”

Yeah...that.

“What?” I shook my head, boggled as to why he’d already reached the point of stabbiness. “Why?”

“Because you were bound and determined to keep this from me for a reason, probably because the guy’s a douche and needs his ass kicked. So I’m kicking it.”

Yep, there went my overprotective savior. Like usual. Except tonight it didn’t fill me with the usual warm, happy endorphins because it told me how much he loved me. No, tonight it irritated the hell out of me.

“Has it occurred to you,” I started through gritted teeth, “that maybe I didn?

??t tell you because I actually wanted to go on this date?”

My answer halted him in his tracks. Beautiful, dark eyebrows crinkled in confusion. “Huh?”

I laughed. When he scowled, my amusement faded into a sigh. “Tell me honestly, if I had let you know about this from the beginning, that you wouldn’t have tracked Seth down, done some kind of background check on him, or tried to intimidate him, basically frightening him away before I could even go out with him?”

He only sniffed and glanced away. “Hey, if the guy can’t take a little heat, he should stay out of the kitchen.”

With a growl, I jabbed my finger in his direction. “Except this is the only time anyone’s ever wandered anywhere near my kitchen. Don’t fuck it up for me. Please.”

His eyes flared. “Did you just compare a kitchen to your...” When his gaze wandered down to my lap, his expression filled with dismay as if I’d just traumatized him for life.