Page 5 of Eye Candy

It didn’t change the fact she was a heinously immoral person, back to drag my brother’s name through the mud when it would damage him the most.

Joe clapped his hands together and addressed the crowd. “Dinner and a show tonight, huh folks?” Laughter ran through the room. “I’m glad the ghosts of my past were able to entertain you all.”

My half brother was very comfortable being the center of attention. Like our dad.

“I’m a changed man now. Very responsible, very boring. And it’s past my bedtime. Teddy, good luck with your life. See you… never.” Then he nodded stiffly at me. “Chase.”

With that, my brother slipped out the doors and disappeared down the street.

The gallery burst into whispers and the weight of their eyes on me became physically painful. Itchy. Like the poison oak rash I got after going to my first and last summer camp, which I’d begged my mom to let me go to because that’s what everyone else at school talked about after summer break. Rashes, I learned, didn’t impress my peers at all. The opposite.

“Wow,” the hellion heiress drawled from behind me. “I don’t think your brother likes you very much.”

“Incorrect. We’re very close.”

“I’ve seen closer rats and cats.”

I turned and looked at her properly. “What?”

Teddy shrugged.

Hips. Lips.

Her demeanor was completely at ease. She didn’t care that people were looking at her—at us. As if to prove it, she languidly licked the drizzled cucumber.

Unable to tear my eyes away from the tzatziki running down her hand, I tugged at the neck of my sweater. The air conditioner in here was broken; I made a mental note to tell Sonya.

To compensate for the height difference between myself and Teddy, I stepped closer to recite my preprepared speech warning her away from Joe. But the words died in my mouth when her eyes widened.

“What?” I asked instead.

“You smell....” She swallowed. “Good. No! Surprising. I meant you smell surprising.”

“What?” I repeated, as if I wasn’t a writer and that was the only word I knew.

She wiggled her shoulders like she was shaking off unpleasant thoughts. “I came here to heal my broken heart. Joe can pretend he’s a changed man, but I’ll never forget the havoc his antics caused, or forgive the embarrassment of his cheating. Broken hearts don’t mend overnight.”

It was rude, but I scoffed. “Come on, Teddy. You’ve had seven years of overnights.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sonya Barlow reach for the straw of her drink with her mouth and miss because she was too busy staring at us. No one wanted Sonya’s famous insatiability for gossip focused on them, least of all me, so I shifted, shielding Teddy and I from her view. Teddy was shorter than me, likely shorter than most people, so the action was easy.

I skipped to the end of my speech. “Teddy, your engagement to my brother was the short-lived foolishness of two nineteen-year-olds. Joe has outgrown you. Leave him alone and move on with your life. If you pester him again like this in public, you’ll regret it.”

She crossed her arms. “Are you threatening me?”

“Yes,” I said, pleased I’d done it correctly.

She cocked her head. “And what will you do if I don’t listen? If I keep doing exactly what you told me not to? Because to be honest, I’m not very good at doing what uptight, overbearing men tell me to. It makes me want to do the thing even more.”

There was suddenly too much blood in my veins, most of it running south.

She pressed her advantage.

“I’ve got your measure, Chase Sanford.” She stepped closer, rising on her tiptoes to whisper in my ear. “Your hands are clenching as you talk to me, and you’re shifting in place like you think that can hide your thickening cock.” Her eyes dropped down to my pants. “You’re a good man and that’s your thing. I get it, Mr. Virginity is a Construct. But not even the good ones can hide all their naughty thoughts.” She tilted her head and slowly raked her eyes up to meet mine. “Yours are broadcasting through your eyes.”

“That’s—” I pushed my glasses up my nose and tried again. “That’s ludicrous. You are ludicrous.”

“Ludicrous!” She patted my chest. “Nice five-dollar word. All right, bye.”

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