Page 59 of Pick Me This Time

My heart pounded as I stalked across the floor and yanked the door open all the way, propping a hand on my hip and glaring at him. “Seriously? You couldn’t just text?”

He shrugged, his blue eyes so similar to my own that I recognized the slight flare of suspicion in them immediately. Striding into my room, he looked around, his gaze lingering on the closet for a moment. “Why are you being so weird?”

“Weird is showing up at someone’s house at the crack of dawn without even a phone call,” I said flippantly, taking his arm and dragging him out of my bedroom. “I don’t know what century you think it is, but people just don’t do that anymore.”

His brow furrowed, but he let me pull him out of the room—just not without another quick look back over his shoulder. “Why do you care? I come by all the time and you’ve never had a problem with it before. Do you have company or something?”

“No, but I was about to take a shower. Privacy is a real thing, you know.”

He sighed. “Sorry. But for the record, it’s not the crack of dawn. And I stopped by to talk to Mom anyway.”

“Either way, wait for me to answer the door or don’t complain if you see something you’re not supposed to see.”

Eyes forward again, he looked me over and then pressed his hands together as we got back to my front door. “Help me today?”

“Fine.” I managed to give him a smile, but my heart still hadn’t stopped pounding. “I’ll be there soon.”

“Awesome. Thanks, sis.”

“Next time, call.” I schooled my features into a strict look, opening the door for him and waving him out. “But I love you and I’ll see you in a few.”

Chuckling, he finally left. I shut the door behind him and pressed a hand to my chest, trying to calm my heartbeat. I kept an eye out through the window, watching him make his way to the garden gate and disappear out of it before I raced back to my bedroom.

I opened the closet to find Sterling dressed—sadly—and smirking at me. Dark hair still mussed, he stepped out and ran his forearm along his brow. “Phew. That was a close call.”

I laughed, shoving him slightly before collapsing back on my bed. “You’re telling me. I think I came this close to a cardiac event.”

I lifted my hand, setting my thumb and index finger about an inch apart. Sterling chuckled, nodding his agreement before coming around to sit on the bed beside me. He smiled, turning to face me and reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear.

“Do we need to talk about this?” he asked quietly.

I shook my head, returning his smile as I leaned into his touch. “We’re good, Sterling. Don’t worry. We’re all good.”

I had no idea what else to say, but we really were good. Last night had been fun and that was it. As much as I wished things were different, they weren’t, and overcomplicating it wouldn’t help. We were just good.