“That’s weird,” Claire says. “He hasn’t told me about a single one. So, how many have there been, Asher?”
I look at her in shock. Did she just ask that?
“Oh, come on, Ryker.” She gives my arm a playful shove. “I’m no longer a child.”
My eyebrows go up. Is she saying she isn’t a virgin anymore?
“You sure don’t look like one,” Asher says.
I pull him aside.
“Stay away from her,” I warn him in words since the looks I’ve given him haven’t worked.
Asher still doesn’t seem the least bit thwarted.
“The question is, little brother, can she stay away from me?”
“Stop calling me that,” I tell him. “And I mean what I said.”
I grab Claire’s arm. “Come on. Let’s go somewhere else.”
I lead her away from Asher but not before he speaks again.
“I’ll go find Joel and keep him… occupied.”
I ignore him. Whatever. I just need to get Claire away from him. Far away.
Before I know it, we’re in the dining room, the smaller one where we used to have breakfast when I was a child. Right now, it’s empty. It looks like it’s been that way for a while. It’s quiet. And lonely. The rest of the house looks bright and festive, but there’s not a single Christmas ornament here, like it’s just been skipped over. Why?
“Damn it, Ryker.” Claire pulls her arm away. “Have you lost your mind since I last saw you?”
“Have you?” I ask her. “You know how dangerous Asher can be and you still let him corner you.”
She snorts. “We were hardly in a corner.”
Not my point. “Claire…”
“I can handle him, Ryker. I know you think I’m still five, but I’m nineteen now.”
“And he’s twenty-seven,” I remind her. “Almost a decade older than you.”
She shrugs. “So what? All men act the same age when it comes to women.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Oh, you’re an expert on men now?”
“I know more now,” Claire answers confidently with her hands on her hips.
I see. So she has had a boyfriend. And a lover. Maybe the same guy. Maybe not. Still…
“You don’t know Asher,” I tell her. “You can’t handle Asher.”
“I can.”
“Really? Because you looked like you were already falling into his lap.”
She puts her hands up. “I was just talking to him.”
“Yeah, right.”
She was flirting with him. And Asher was flirting back. And she was enjoying it.
“Wow, Ryker.” I hear the dismay in her voice. “When did you get to be so stuck up?”
“When did you get to be so desperate to suck dick?”
The moment the words have left my mouth, I regret them. Even more so when I see the pain in Claire’s wide eyes.
Joel is going to kill me.
“I’m sorry,” I apologize quickly. “I… shouldn’t have said that.”
Claire looks away and says nothing. Her shoulders droop. I suddenly have an urge to wrap my arms around her. Instead, I swallow the lump in my throat and apologize again.
“I’m sorry, Claire. I know you think I’m being a jerk, but I was just worried about you.”
She turns her back to me and places her hands on the table. “Why?”
Why I was worried about her?
“Because as much as I care about Asher, I know he’s the devil when it comes to women.”
“So you were worried about Asher. Not me.”
Not true. “I was worried about you, too.”
“Why?” Claire asks again as she turns to face me. “Why should you care? You’re not my brother. You’re not my best friend. I don’t mean anything to you.”
“That’s not true,” I tell her. “I’ve known you for most of your life. I helped take care of you when you were sick. I helped fix your bike. I helped you with homework. I cheered for you when you were on the soccer team.”
“Wow. It sounds like I put you through a lot of trouble. No wonder you got sick and tired of me.”
I give her a puzzled look. “What?”
“We’re friends on social media but you’ve never once sent me a message.”
Because I didn’t have anything to say to her.
“Not even on my birthday,” she adds.
I didn’t think she was expecting a greeting from me, especially since she must get dozens each year.
“And since I’ve arrived here, you’ve barely spoken to me. You know, if you had been talking to me, I wouldn’t have been talking to Asher in the first place.”
Why haven’t I been talking to her? I saw her when she arrived with Joel. I should have approached her then, talked to her. But I didn’t. Why?
It’s strange. Before tonight, I never had a hard time approaching her. But the first time I saw her in her red dress, I froze. When I saw her alone, I wanted to talk to her but I just couldn’t come up with anything to say because my heart was pounding so loudly I couldn’t hear myself think. Even now, it’s trying to break free of my chest so fiercely that it’s almost painful to breathe. My skin burns all over.