A slow grin breaks out on his face. “Oceans Eleven. Obviously.”
George Clooney and Brad Pitt.
The two people I can’t say no to.
Damn him.
Chapter Six – Kyle
I throw the football at the wall, catching it each time it bounces back. With each thud I think a different word, any word, in an attempt to get a certain raven-haired beauty off my mind.
It doesn’t work. Every word is about her; stubborn, ignorant, lost, guilty, Roxy, Roxy, Roxy.
We’ve argued every time I’ve seen her since I got back. She riles me in every way with the way she talks and acts, and I’m not even sure it’s because of my promise to Cam. The thought it’s because I want to protect her for me and I’m a little jealous of the guys she gives so much of her attention to keeps growing. It’s as if I can’t help but fight with her already, and I’ve never felt so unsettled about anything before.
She’s Cam’s f**king sister. I should be looking at her and thinking about how to take her mind off it, not pissing her off and wondering how her lips would feel against mine. I shouldn’t be wondering if they’re as soft as they look or if they’ll taste as sweet as I know she really is deep down.
Like I was yesterday.
I don’t get why she turned up at my front door demanding I cancel with Mia. There’s only a few times I’ve seen her that pissed off – granted most have been since I got back – but that was different. There was a fire in her that set everything inside me alight.
Being so close to her – without her being mad at me – only fueled the insanity inside. My hands on her body. Her laughter in my ear. Our lips close to the others. If she was any other girl, if she deserved anything less than my complete and utter respect, I would have closed every inch of f**king torturous space between our bodies.
“You’re going?” Ben’s voice drifts across my yard.
“Of course I am. Selena knows that,” Si replies.
“Going where?” I grab the ball and look at them.
“Portland.” Ben holds his hands up.
“Why the hell are you going to Portland?” I throw the ball at Ben. Like I need to ask.
“Because there’s some stupid damn party there tonight, and Roxy and Selena are going. Why the f**k else?” He grits his teeth and grabs the ball from Ben. He throws it hard at the ground.
My muscles tighten. “Have fun with that, man.”
“I will. You’re coming with me.”
“Am I f**k!”
“I can’t keep Roxy’s crazy ass under control, Kyle, you know that,” Si grumbles. “Only you can do that.”
“I’m not going to Portland. Shit, every time I go near her we end up fighting. I’m not gonna give her another reason to kick my ass tonight. Besides…” I lean against the wall. “…She’s determined she isn’t doing anything wrong so she isn’t gonna listen anyway.”
Ben laughs. “You just don’t want to see her go off with some other guy.”
“Course I f**king don’t. I don’t feel like knocking a guy out because he crossed the line with her.” Because he’d be crossing a line I can’t. “Are they staying there?”
“Not a damn chance. I’m driving them there and I’m driving them the hell back.” Si smirks. “They’re on a curfew.”
Both Ben and I burst out laughing.
“Are you serious?” Ben sputters.
“What do you take me for? Of course I’m f**king serious!” Si chucks the ball at his chest, and he grabs it. “I’m not hanging around in the city for too long – I don’t fancy getting my butt busted by the cops for being at a party underage. They wanna be there for nine, but they don’t know they’ll be leaving at eleven.”
“Let me get this straight,” I say through my half-smile. “You’re driving an hour each way for a two hour party?”
“Yep.” He catches the ball back from Ben. “Roxy doesn’t need any more bad influences or dickhead boys from the city giving her ideas. If I have to pull your boyfriend trick tonight then I will.”
I grunt. “Just keep those ass**le city boys away from her.”
“Just go and do it yourself,” Ben puts in. “Save Si the job.”
“If I’m there tonight I won’t be able to get up at six a.m. tomorrow to drag her ass out.”
Now it’s Si’s turn to laugh. “You’re gonna get Roxy up at six in the morning? You’re having a laugh, man.”
“Glad you find it funny, jackass, but I will. Trust me.”
~
“I have no idea why you’re standing on my doorstep at six-thirty in the f**king morning.”
I lean against the doorframe, a smirk quirking my lips to one side. “Well aren’t you just the little ray of sunshine on a cloudy day?”
Roxy looks at me flatly. “I’d prefer to be the bolt of lightning that strikes your ass for waking me up so early.”
“Oh you’re going to be so much fun today.” I laugh.
“Who said I’m doing anything with you today?” She sniffs. “One, the time. Hello, it’s the middle of the freakin’ night! And two, I could be working.”
“But you’re not.”
“You don’t know that.”
I grin. “I do. I stopped by the café yesterday and asked your mom.”
“I could be busy.”
“But you’re not,” I say again. “C’mon, Rox. Stop being goddamn awkward and go and get dressed.”
“Awkward?” She flings the door open wide and stalks into the house. I follow her in. “You turn up here at a time that’s practically illegal and you’re calling me awkward?” She huffs loudly, much to my amusement, and stomps upstairs.
“Well, damn. And here I was thinking you were eighteen years old not eighteen months!”
“Get lost, Kyle!”
I stare after her for a moment and try to decide whether I want to shake my head and sigh or laugh. I go with laughing and make my way into the kitchen. Ray’s sitting at the large oak table in the center of the room, sipping a cup of coffee. A smile graces his lips, and I shrug when his eyes meet mine and slip in next to him.
“It’s too easy,” I mutter.
He nods in agreement. “It is when you’re brave enough to take her shit.”
I half-snort. “I’ve never taken her shit, despite her best efforts, and I’m not gonna start now just ‘cause she’s having a tough time. The rest of us are too. I’m not treating her like a princess unless she starts acting like one instead of the entitled brat crap she’s been pulling.”