Page 29 of Flaunt
“Are you a hoarder?”
He lets the spoon clink against his bowl. “Are you always a pain in the ass?”
“I’m just saying that there are systems you can use that help you declutter.”
“I like things the way they are.”
“How do you find anything?”
“Because it’s where I put it.”
“Huh.” I shrug and look at him again. “I’ll cut to the chase. I need your help.”
“Nope.” He gets up and takes his bowl to the sink. “Not helping you ever again.”
I sigh. “I don’t need youto doanything. I just need to borrow something.”
He leans his back against the cabinet. His abs are a freaking washboard, rippling as he moves.Dear Lord.
Banks stares at me like I’m an alien, like I showed up here and operate under a set of rules that don’t make sense.
“What?” I ask.
“You realize that no one comes here to borrow my stuff, right?”
“That’s not true because I’m here to borrow your stuff.”
“No. That’s not how this works.”
“That’s not how what works?”
He spreads his arms out. “This. My life. I’m the borrower, not the borrow-ee. I borrow everyone else’s things. They don’t borrow mine.”
A satisfied smirk looks very good on Banks Carmichael. A fact I wish I didn’t know …
I square my shoulders to his. “I’m not everyone else.”
“No, you’re not. You have less of a chance than they do to borrow my stuff.” He cocks his head to the side. “You show up here, move in with my brother—”
“For a few days.”
“Join us for pizza night—”
“I was invited.”
“You walk in my front door uninvited—”
“It wasn’t locked.”
He stands tall. “And now you think you can borrow my stuff?” His voice rises. “Who do you think you are?” He takes a deep breath. “Me?”
I roll my eyes, undeterred by his antics. “Obviously, I don’t think I’m you. If I were you, I wouldn’t need your help.”
“Well, you’re over here ignoring personal boundaries and thinking my things are community property. That’s verymeof you to think.”
“I quite like your way of thinking when it benefits me.” I narrow my eyes. “Like now.”
He shakes his head. “I’m not helping you.”
