Her tone was stiff, so I shot her a curious look.
I immediately knew something was off with her.
I could sense it.
“Hey, you okay?” I asked.
“Fine,” she said shortly as she slammed a mug into the coffeemaker a little bit harder than she needed to.
Her eyes were defiant as she turned to look at me while the coffee dripped into the mug.
She wasn’t fine. Something was bugging her.
“It’s really none of my business if some woman leaves her clothes at your house,” she snapped.
Holy shit!
I assessed her carefully for a minute before I acknowledged what was really going on.
She’s jealous.
She thinks those clothing items belong to some current or previous female I hooked up with.
I knew I hadn’t imagined the brief flash of hurt in her eyes.
I stepped forward and tipped her chin up so she’d look at me. “You’re jealous,” I accused lightly.
She tossed her head and huffed as she grabbed my coffee. “I am not jealous. We aren’t really involved. It’s all a bunch of fiction. Sugar and cream?”
“No thanks. I take it black out of a coffeepot.”
I grinned as she handed me the cup of steaming liquid.
I had no fucking idea why it pleased me that Riley was in a snit over some woman’s clothing that was in the closet of my guest bedroom.
Hell, I wasn’t about to complain if she wanted to throw a little fit over the fact that I might want to screw another woman.
Even if I didn’t.
It was a sign that this relationship was becoming more than a sham to her.
However, I had seen that flash of hurt, which bothered me. “Those things belong to my sister Brooke. She keeps stuff here because she and Liam usually stay with me when they come to visit from the East Coast.”
She leaned a hip against the counter as she looked at me. “That stuff belongs to your sister?”
I nodded. “If it makes you feel any better, you can look in the other closet across the room. Liam has stuff here, too.” I was assuming she’d gotten the right closet the first time.
“I believe you,” she said, sounding relieved. “And I was not jealous. I was just . . . curious.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Riley. It bothered you.”
She picked up her tea from the counter and took a sip before she answered. “How can I be upset over it?” she said, her voice tremulous. “You’re not really mine. I mean, I really shouldn’t be worried because you have another female’s clothing in your house, right?”
She looked frightened by the entire realization that she had actually been pissed off.
“Hell, yes, you can be angry. We’re dating. Exclusively, right now.”
“I don’t want to turn into some green-eyed monster,” she confessed.
I smirked. “Your eyes are green, but you could never be a monster.”
“This isn’t funny, Seth,” she said as she put her mug back on the counter. “I can’t remember a time when I was ever jealous. At all! Ever!”
I was guessing that right now wasn’t the time to tell her how cute she was when she added at all or ever to her sentences when she was trying to convince herself that something was absolutely true. Or if she wanted the statement to be true, but she knew otherwise.
“Emotions happen when you’re dating somebody, Riley,” I reasoned. “Hell, I’m jealous of every guy you’ve ever been with, especially Easton.”
She blinked hard. “You are? Why?”
“Because at one time, you offered yourself to him, committed to him. You gave a part of yourself that you’ve never given to me.” It was time to get honest, and I wasn’t about to stop telling her the truth.
I moved forward and put my hands on the counter, trapping her body between my arms. She wasn’t moving until we got things straight. If we didn’t, I was going to lose it.
She stared up at me like she was clueless, and my goddamn heart nearly stopped when she hesitantly wrapped her arms around my neck. “I never really gave him anything, Seth,” she whispered softly. “Not really. The only thing he got was my body occasionally, but deep down inside, I knew he wasn’t all that attracted to me. He had my loyalty, too, even though he didn’t do the same for me. Otherwise, he never really knew me. I never talked to him like I talk to you. He never once made me laugh. And he sure as hell didn’t accept me the way that I was. Everything was conditional.”
For some reason, her words placated me. Yeah, I wasn’t thrilled that the bastard had gotten access to her body. He hadn’t deserved it.
I wanted to ask her what in the hell she was doing with him when he didn’t make her happy. But I already knew the answer. She’d still been trying to get her mother’s approval.
“Nothing will ever be conditional between us. You get that, right?” I needed her to know that I’d never want to change anything about her. Not even a single red hair on her head.
Riley was my idea of perfect.
She nodded slowly. “I think I know that. But please understand that it’s not always easy to accept.”
“I know,” I told her as I wrapped my arms around her.
Fuck the friendship rules.
Somebody needed to protect this woman, and I was going to be the guy who did it.
Nobody else ever had.
She’d spent her whole damn life trying to be someone that she wasn’t to please a parent who didn’t give a damn about her.
“Thank you for understanding,” she murmured.
She snuggled into my body so trustingly that I knew I was in hell, but I had very little desire to escape my fate.
CHAPTER 15
RILEY
“Dinner was amazing, Skye. Thanks for having us over,” I told her as we sat on the outside patio of her gorgeous beachfront home.
“I appreciate you having me, too, Skye,” Penny parroted shyly. “I’m not exactly family.”
It was just the three of us on the patio. Aiden and Seth were playing some music inside the house—Aiden on the piano and Seth on the guitar. Skye, Penny, and I had grabbed a spot outside, close enough to hear them but far enough away from the rest of the family and guests to chat.
“I’m just sorry I couldn’t give you much notice,” Skye answered apologetically. “And I’m glad you’re here, Penny.”
Penny’s face was glowing because Skye had been so kind to her. Her blue-eyed, dark-haired beauty really shined now that her expression was truly happy.
When Seth had suggested that we go to Skye and Aiden’s weekend barbecue a few days ago, I’d already planned to have Penny down to stay with me for the weekend. Graciously, Skye had invited Penny to come along, too.
“Your parties are fun,” my young friend told Skye. “Everybody here laughs a lot.”
Skye rolled her eyes. “We have to just laugh. Jade and I are overwhelmed by testosterone and male jokes. And now, poor Riley has to put up with it, too.”
I smirked at Skye from my seated position across from her. “Believe me, I don’t mind.” Parties with the Sinclairs were fun, so different from what I was used to. “But I did get grilled by Noah today.”