JAMES
Match. Chat. Date.
I threw my phone across the bed with a low curse. I didn't need to read the app's description any further to understand what Leah had been implying.
My face felt hot. Rarely was I wrong, but I couldn't help but wonder if my perception of Leah and her desires were off. She suggested a dating app for fuck's sake.
Was she on Tinder?
I reached for my phone and unlocked the device. Shaking my head, I set it down more gently.
Even if she was, I didn't want to bring her to me that way. She lived with me. I had all the opportunities in the world to clear up any miscommunications between us. And to lure her into my bed.
I couldn't sleep anymore, especially not after a night of tossing. The cure to my sleeping ailments would be to have a soft, warm body beside me. I'd gone without for so long.
After rousing myself, I changed into running clothes and headed for the door. I hesitated in the hallway. It would be nice to see her, bundled up in bed, sound asleep.
Before I followed my impulse to invade her privacy, I turned and continued toward the back door.
The forest beckoned me. My stresses melted away under the glowing green of the canopy. Each stride sent a tingly jolt up from the contact of my shoe against her spongy earth. My shins and thighs jolted as I bounced on the balls of my feet. I inhaled through carefully controlled breaths. The feeling was simultaneously energizing and intoxicating.
I followed the trail I'd marked and did it twice, in either direction. Four and a half more miles under these feet. Once I stopped running, the sweat oozed from every pore on my body. I pulled my shirt off and draped it over my shoulder.
Perhaps, if she was awake as I suspected, this would open Leah's mind to all the opportunities. It was incredible how the moment I wasn't in the blissful void of running, my thoughts drove right back to her.
Those thoughts were fragmented at the sight of a car in front of the house. It was a new, outlandishly red Hyundai sedan. I didn't know a single soul who drove such a vehicle. Certainly, no one who had my address.
I approached cautiously, glancing about, and looked at the tag. The license plate was from Florida.
I sulked towards the house. I knew exactly who the mysterious driver was. She had such shitty timing.
The moment I entered the house, I heard their voices from the kitchen. Leah introduced herself and the response was silence. Shit show.
They both looked at me. I pulled the shirt from my shoulder and tossed it on the counter, next to the opened bag of bagels. I noticed Leah wasn't anywhere near them. That meant Julia was already welcoming herself into my home. As usual.
"Well, what a pleasant surprise, baby sis. Your rental car is disrupting my nature."
She stuck out her tongue and then crossed her thin arms, leaning against the counter. "Mom sent me. You haven't been answering her texts since the memorial. She's worried."
"It's been busy around here," I said.
When I looked at Leah, she kept her gaze aimed low. I nodded at her.
"You've met Leah, I see."
Julia cleared her throat. "Yes, you have fantastic taste in roommates. Can we talk in private for a moment?"
"I'll be getting ready for work," Leah said, padding out of the room before I could say anything.
I sauntered over to the island and picked up a bagel. My damp fingers twisted the wrapping closed around the rest of the food as I then returned the package to the pantry.
"Why is she here?" Julia asked. "You literally could not have picked a worse person."
"It's not any of your business, Julia. This is my home."
"Like hell. You're my idiot brother. I'm the one who makes bad decisions."
"All the Muller children make rotten life choices." I took a bite from the bagel and turned back to her.
Her lips curled reprovingly. "At least tell me why you're fucking her. I mean, I get it a little bit—she's hot. But the baggage?"
"And I don't have baggage? Besides, we aren't fucking and, again, this isn't your business." I grabbed my shirt off the counter. "Shouldn't you be off having sex with potheads or something?"
"I've come to terms with some of Mom's brainwashing, so no. I will not be having sex with potheads. Only old men who will buy me nice things."
"Christ. Why? Can't you get a job like normal people?"
"Normal isn't me and it isn't you. Don't act like that's the M.O. around here, Jamie. I don't want to work anyway."
"Oh, of course. You'd rather collect venereal diseases than paychecks."
She inserted her middle finger in the air.
I arched a brow. "What is it you want, Julia?"
"I told you: Mom wanted me to check on you. Also, I wanted to see the house for myself. Are you going to let me use the basement when you finish with it?"
Rolling my eyes, I tossed the rest of the bagel in the compost bin and started for my room. She trailed behind. "There is no basement."
"No basement? I'm sorry. I don't think I heard you properly—"
"I'm done with that. I have been done with that since Marissa. I'm sure the man who bought my cabin would be more than happy to entertain you there."
When we reached my room, she climbed onto the bed with a dramatic sigh. "I don't believe you. Once a dom, always a dom."
"You wouldn't know anything about that."
She laughed. "Don't be naive, big brother."
"Fine. I don't want to know anything about that."
I walked into the bathroom, closed the door, and peeled off my sweaty shorts. Then I stepped into the shower and let all three heads pelt my skin.
"I missed you," she said through the door. "That's why I came. You know the rest is all for show anyway."
Then there was silence. I pushed my head against the wall with a deep breath. My sister lost a baby and a future.
She was trying to find her way again. Before Leah came here, I would have welcomed her in this house. She would have been a happy distraction from the intolerable loneliness.
But now she was just an annoying distraction in my endeavors to capture Leah.
After the shower, I dressed in jeans and a button dress shirt. I stepped into the hall and quietly opened her door. Her pajamas littered the floor and the bed sheets were messily thrown across her bed. I could imagine her lounging naked on the bed, but that would merely be my imagination.
"There's a bear out there," Leah was saying from the kitchen. "You should just be cautious."
"God, I love nature," was Julia's reply. The front door slammed shut.
Leah was helping herself to the coffee as I entered the room. She glanced at me but her eyes hastily found claim on other things.
"Your sister is a real charmer," she said.
"That's what they all say."
She chucked. "She mentioned staying here a bit. I don't want to be a burden or be in her way. I'll make sure to be out of your hair by tomorrow."
I stepped into the threshold when she moved to exit the kitchen. Her gaze gradually rose to mine.
"My sister will take the couch," he said. "She won't be here long."
She swallowed forcefully. "I don't want to crowd her out. She's your family."
"My family who showed up without notice. She can't expect royal treatment when she's acting like a brat."
That at least made her smile. "I don't mind having another person here, you know. Anyway, I'll let you work that out with her."
I nodded. "Get the meeting room set up for me. Please."
"Yes, sir," she whispered as I stepped aside.
And there went my dick, hardening at a moment's notice. Fuck.
Maybe my sister did know something after all.