Goddamn. I’m a grown-ass-fucking-woman.

He walks past me, and down the front steps before turning around to face me. “Come on, let’s go.”

I shift my stance, hands on my hips. “Did you hear what I just said?”

“Yeah,” he says impatiently. “But if I don’t take you home, then I’m going to hear about it all fucking night. So—” He gestures to his ungodly expensive sports car, which is parked thirty feet away, right in front of the house. “—can we do this, please?”

“Have you been drinking?”

“Not yet, which is why I’m the one stuck doing this,” he says, not even trying to sugarcoat his annoyance.

Perfect. That makes two of us.

Blowing out a breath, I follow him to his car. Whatever. It saves me the expense of hiring a car to take me home. I slide into the low bucket seat and shut the door.

As soon as we’re on the road, I give Christian my address and cancel the car I’d just scheduled. Then I shove my phone into my purse. It’s dark and Christian’s car smells like perfume. The stale, awkward silence is unbearable.

“So, what the fuck is wrong with your brother?” I ask, staring out the passenger side window at the occasional halo created by the streetlights.

“What do you mean?”

I look over at him. It’s so weird, being with Christian right after my exchange with Lucas. They’re fraternal twins (allegedly), but they lookexactlyalike. The only difference is their hair.

“He’s taking your cousin’s death really hard,” I say. “So much so that he’s obsessing overmylife like I still belong to Gabriel.”

“Yeah,” he says somberly. “Gabriel and Lucas were tight. Tighter than any of us, really.” He glances over at me. “Well, you obviously know that.”

Yeah, but Lucas hardly acknowledged me when Gabriel was alive. Occasionally, I’d get a “hey” with a chin flick, or a random question about something, but we never really hung out. The most time we ever spent together was when we rode around looking for Lux’s missing friend Bree a few months ago. And even then, we spent the entire car ride in silence.

It’s weird. I always got the vibe that Lucas didn’t approve of Gabriel and me dating. Like he thought his cousin could do better or something.

“What I don’t get is Lucas’ sudden interest in me,” I say, hedging.

We pull up in front of my place, and Christian kills the engine, turning to face me.Fuck,he’s hot. He has his brother’socean blue eyes, straight nose, and chiseled jaw. But there’s an ever-present sense of amusement in Christian’s expression that’s completely absent from Lucas’. They may look alike, but their personalities couldn’t be more different.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” he says. “Lucas is fucking weird sometimes.”

Spoken like a true brother.

But when Christian’s eyes shift away from me, I get the feeling there’s something he’s not telling me. Something that might explain Lucas’ strange fascination with my sex life.

“What aren’t you saying?” I ask.

He smacks his lips together and opens his car door. “Let’s get you inside so I can get back and drink until I’m puking into my brother’s hood,” he says, ignoring my question.

Hauling myself out of his bucket seat, I slam his door shut just as he’s coming around the front of the car.

“Thanks for the ride. My studio is right there.” I point to the white door fifty feet in front of us. “So you don’t need to walk me up.”

With a nod, he folds his arms over his chest and leans against the car. “I’ll wait until you get in.”

Okay, whatever. Blowing out a breath, I head up the walkway. I pull out my keys and unlock my door, then turn back to wave at Christian. With a nod, he pushes off the car and slides back into the driver's seat.

Shutting the door behind me, I lock it, then sag against it.

“Holy fuck,” I breathe. That whole evening was a lot, and I’m so exhausted, my limbs feel heavy.

Moving deeper into my micro apartment, I kick my heels off and flip the lights on. It smells nice in here. The second the room is illuminated I see why. It’s hard to miss.