“Ever the charmer, Victoria.” I headed toward my car. “Does she prefer brine or spring water?”
“I’ll kill you!”
“I’ll haunt you,” I shot back, unlocking my truck. “Enjoy your date tonight.”
“I doubt it!”
Laughing, I shut the door and put the key in the ignition to get it started. The air conditioning blasted to life, chilling me, and I quickly turned it down to a more manageable speed that wasn’t trying to blow me out of the car. Then, I pulled out of my parking spot and headed for home.
The fact she had a date tonight was a sucker punch to the gut.
I had no right to feel this way, not really. If I wasn’t going to be honest with her about how I really felt, I had no business being gutted when she went out with other guys. Maybe one day I’d pull my head out of my ass and tell her, but I had the feeling that if I did, she’d run.
Selfishly, if casual sex is all I could have from her, I’d hold onto those times as long as I could.
Sounded fucking pathetic and more than stupid given the fact I was thirty years old.
If I couldn’t tell someone how I felt at this point, I didn’t sound pathetic.
I was pathetic.
I pulled up outside my house and groaned when I saw my sister’s car there. What the hell did she want? If it was about dating again, I was going to throw her out by her ear and call Josh to come and get his girlfriend.
Moving down the street from him had been a good idea at the time.
I was now regretting that.
Should have bought a house in, oh, Alaska.
“What do you want?”
Kinsley looked up from where she was reading on the steps to the front porch, completely ignoring the bench she herself had insisted I put there. “Hang on.” She looked back down and continued reading.
Was she being serious?
Sadly, she was.
I had no idea why I’d asked myself that.
“You do realize this is my house.”
She said nothing, merely held up a finger, then used it to turn the page.
“All right, so I’m gonna go around you, and you come in when you’re done there.” I scooted around her and let myself in, leaving the door ajar for her to come through when she was ready.
I dumped my keys and phone in the living room then went to do the laundry I’d intended on doing. By the time I was done, Kinsley was still sitting on the doorstep, so I poured her a glass of wine and took it out, wordlessly setting it on the step next to her.
She gasped, reaching for it and turning the page simultaneously.
“You’re welcome,” I said, going back inside.
There was one thing I knew about my sister: if she was reading to the point she was completely and utterly ignoring you, something serious was happening in her book and it was best to take her a drink and leave her be.
Back inside, I trawled the fridge for something for dinner. There was nothing. I’d been so busy with work and visiting Grandpa that I hadn’t been to the grocery store like I’d planned, but I really didn’t want takeout.
Shit. I was gonna have to go after Kinsley left, and I was starving.
That was a recipe for disaster.
I’d end up with six packets of Oreos and no vegetables.
I blew out a long breath and leaned against the counter, looking around. Tori was on a date and I was here alone with my sister not even bothering to talk to me.
Maybe I had to take her up on her offer to help me date online.
Jesus, no. That was a terrible idea.
“Hi!” Kinsley bounced in with her book under her arm and her wine glass in her hand. “Hey, what wine is this? I think it’s that one Tori likes.”
I shrugged. “No idea. I just bought it. I keep wine on tap for times like these.”
“When you come home and find me reading on your front porch?”
“Exactly that.”
“I’ll do it more often, then.”
“Please don’t.” I shook my head. “What did you want? I need to go shopping. I have no food.”
“I know. I have lasagna in the oven at Josh’s. I made enough for you, so I’ll run it down when it’s ready.” She smiled knowingly. “Otherwise you’ll end up with all of aisle six and no actual food in the fridge.”
“Starting to feel attacked here.”
“Good. So I was on your dating profile and—”
“Nope.”
“Oh, come on!”
“Nope.”
“Colton,” she whined, dragging my name right out.
“No, Kinsley. I told you that. Stop getting involved in my dating life.”
“But she’s—”
“Nope.”
“—Really cute and—”
“Nope.”
“—She likes sports and—”
“Nope.”
“—Likes to hike and—”
“No!” I held up my hands to make her stop. “Kins. I told you. If I’m going to date, it’s going to be on my own terms. Stop forcing me into something I’m not ready for.”