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I inhaled. “We’ve been…texting.”
Her nod was slow. “Yeah, I know.”
“You do?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Like he could hide theway he’s been slinking around here, acting all covert as he checked his phone every two minutes.”
He was?
I wanted to smack myself that my chest glowed at the thought.
Her chuckle was low and overflowing with wry disbelief as she shook her head.
I scowled at her. “Why are you laughing like that?”
“Because it’s just as it seemed.”
“What is?”
“My brother wants you. Really wants you. Like…reallywants you.”
My skin tingled in all the places where he’d touched me.
“He’s just being kind.”
She laughed. Fully laughed. “Um, sorry to break it to you, Charleigh, butkindprobably isn’t something most would attribute to my brother. And if my brother brought you here? He might not admit it, but I’m pretty sure he plans on keeping you.”
My heart fluttered. Damn it.
“No. We’re just…friends.”
“Friends?” she challenged.
I nodded with as much innocence as I could muster.
She didn’t buy it for a second. “Has he kissed you?”
I might as well have been twelve with the way my cheeks flamed.
She gasped. “Have you two gotten naked?”
I had the urge to bury my head. “No, of course not.”
“But he kissed you?” she prompted.
In unease, I shifted on my feet. “Are you mad?”
A frown cut through her features. “Why would I be mad?”
“I don’t even know,” I admitted. But whatever River and I were doing, it felt like a secret. Maybe because every element of my life had always needed to be that way.
She took my hand again, and her voice softened. “Of course I’m not mad, Charleigh. I love you both and I want you both to be happy. But my brother…”
She trailed off, hesitating, as if she wasn’t sure she should admit whatever she’d been thinking.
“He has issues,” she seemed to settle on.
I choked over a small, self-deprecating laugh. “Don’t we all?”
