Page 15 of It's Just You

“Who says I’m the one who annoys him?” He smirked.

“Because that’s kind of in the job description of older brothers?” I ventured.

This time, he at least laughed. “Ah, but we weren’t going to talk about me annoying him. We were going to talk about the things he was saying about me, remember?”

I huffed. “Fine, if you want to hear it…” Actually, now that I thought about it, Sam and I hadn’t talked about his brother much, but Kane didn’t need to know that. Right?

“Oh, I do. Especially if I’m supposed to be the one annoying him. I need some good ammunition to counter his measly attacks,” Kane replied.

“Well then.” I tried to come up with a good answer that would sound good but also wouldn’t get Sam pissed off at me. “He’s… um… well…” Damn it, now he’d managed to catch me at a loss — what was wrong with me tonight? “Okay, so he doesn’t speak badly about you.”

Lame. So fucking lame.

“No? Why’d you hesitate to tell me then? Earlier, it sounded like you two gossiped about me.” He took a sip of his beer, but his eyes were trained on me.

Was he curious? Interested? Irritated? I couldn’t tell.

I snorted. “Would I ever gossip about my friend’s brother? Please.”

Now it was Kane’s turn to look at me like I’d just flat out lied to him. “Uh-huh.”

“Fine. We didn’t talk about you much. There, happy?”

“Well… No.” Kane laughed, and it was a nice sound coming from him, even if it seemed… foreign somehow, like he didn’t do it often. “Now I don’t have anything to use against him. You could’ve at least made something up, you know.”

“You’re aware that I’m stuck here for the next few weeks and he’s about the only one I can stand for a longer time out of everyone back for the summer, right?” I drawled.

He looked a little chagrined at that. “Well, still.”

“Nope. Besides, what do you think we should gossip about? Seriously, man.” I stepped closer to him, breathing in the smell of his soap.

“No idea?” Kane didn’t step back, and his eyes never left mine.

The moment was getting seriously intense, and some revelation should’ve hit me on how to handle it, but I could only draw a blank.

I cleared my throat. “See, me either. Besides, it’ll be way more fun to grill him about the girl he was making eyes at.” Closer. He needed to get closer. If he just got a little closer, this intimate moment could turn into something more.

The attraction was definitely there. I was sure of it now. But whether he’d admit to it? That was a different story.

I tilted my head up, looking at him more intently. Damn, he was big, with strong muscles… I bet he could just pick me up and carry me. Yummy.

“You feel free to do that. I’m not too keen on hearing the details.”

I could feel myself deflating. That had been the perfect opening for some flirty comeback, but nope. Nothing. He still didn’t put any space between us, though, so… He wasn’t uncomfortable with it? Damn it, this man was driving me crazy. His signals weren’t just mixed; they’d been through the blender, and I had to try to figure out what had been thrown into the mix in the first place.

I took a long sip of my beer. “So, no hearing about your brother trying to get it on, no killing your brain cells… What do you do for fun then?”

Besides driving me absolutely crazy, like he was now.

“Work out. Read instruction manuals,” he deadpanned, though I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. Knowing him and his mixed up signals, he probably wasn’t.

“Instruction manuals…” Definitely not flirting material. “That sounds… interesting.”

Kane grinned again but hid it by taking a sip of beer. “Sometimes, it isn’t so bad, but not always. I used to enjoy hiking, but I haven’t done that in ages.”

Oh, come on. Outdoor activities? Really? Why couldn’t he like something indoors that I could try to draw him into? Like… sex?

“Now that’s something I wouldn’t dream of trying.”

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