Page 5 of Caden

“Don’t flatter yourself,Ruby. You brother would kill me if you got tetanus,” I mock mutter as I practically burst out of the gym to get away from Mr. Asshole. It’s mostly embarrassment that fuels my anger. But hey, that anger turns out to be pretty fucking productive.

I spend my morning power washing the paint-chipped concrete block walls that cage in this run down alcove. I know they’ll need it again—along with a coat of paint—before I’m finished, but there’s a smug sense of satisfaction in seeing the white of those blocks again. But when I turn the hose on the weather-beaten wooden fence between the two buildings, it collapses.

“Shit.”

“I was completely wrong about this place,” Marshall’s voice causes me to jump, and I nearly spray him with the hose when I spin around. “It’s such a dream.”

He’s quick and jumps out of the way. The stream of water rains over a shiny clean car of one of the gym goers.Double shit.

“Dammit, Marshall. You should know better than to sneak up on people.”

“I can be quite ninja-like when I want to be,” he says, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that I know well from our childhood.

“What do you want?”

“Do I have to want anything?”

“You’re my brother. So, yes.”

“Okay, you caught me.”

I shift the setting on the hose nozzle, effectively stopping the water flow. “What is it?”

“I was hoping you could watch Gram for a couple of days.”

“Going somewhere?” My question is most definitely an accusation.

“So what if I am?”

“And you can’t take Gram?”

“No.” Marshall grins, clearly enjoying this form of brotherly torture. He knows I’m nosy and more than a little curious about what he’s up to. But he’ll make me dig it out of him before he offers up any answers. “And before you ask, Caden can’t watch him. His apartment’s not dog friendly.”

“Well, Caden could stay at your house.” I don’t know why I’m arguing with Marshall. I love spending time with Gram. It wouldn’t be the first overnight adventure we’ve had together. I blame the unfairly sexy firefighter inside the gym for putting me on edge.

“He could.”

“Problem solved.”

“But it would encroach on his hot date this weekend.”

There’s a foreign reaction in my body that feels an awful lot like jealousy. Except, I can’t possibly be jealous of Caden having a date.

“You can stay at my house,” Marshall offers.

“And sleep inyourbed?” I shake my head vehemently. “No thanks.”

“Then you can pick up Gram before the gym closes tonight. Caden will watch him until then.”

“Where are you going?”

“You’ll have to try harder than that, Sis.”

There’s a staring contest happening, but then I remember I have the upper hand. “You’re going to tell me, or I’ll spray the answer out of you.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

I grab the sliding lever, half teasing, half tempted. This standoff reminds me of when we were kids. When life was simpler and a lot harder to mess up. It was…fun. “You off to Vegas?”

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