“Been there.”
When Blake jerked his head toward the hall Kristen had disappeared down, James shook his head.
“No, it’s nothing like what you have with my sister. You guys actually like each other. Tori and I are more likely to come to blows than agree on something.”
Blake’s lips curved into a lazy smile. “Blowing can be a good thing.”
James grabbed the nearby baguette—still wrapped in paper—and smacked his friend upside the head with it. “Try and focus here.”
Blake snatched the bread from him. “That is serious abuse of a carbohydrate.” He tugged the paper sleeve off to begin slicing it. “And your sister makes a mean garlic bread.”
Garlic bread was the last thing on his mind now that Blake had put that imagery of blowing in his head.
The visual wouldn’t go away. Tori on her knees and James’s hand tangled in her thick brown hair as she took him with her mouth.
“Ah, shit, I got you thinking about it, didn’t I?” Blake barked out a laugh. “I don’t envy you and this stage you’re in, bro. But I’m sure you guys will end up bouncing the bedsprings together.”
“No way.”
“It’s inevitable. My guess is within a couple months. If we hit May and you guys still aren’t hooking up, then I owe Eric fifty bucks.”
“You what now?” James blinked as the words sank in. “Wait, you guys are betting whether or not I sleep with Tori?”
“No, of course not. It’s not if, it’s when. Like I said. It’s as inevitable as the sun rising.”
“Okay, I’m back.” Kristen returned to the kitchen and hip-checked Blake to get him to scoot over. She took over the bread slicing. “So, what’d I miss?”
“Nothing.” The word was past James’s lips so quickly, she cast him a suspicious look.
“Mm-hmm.”
“How’s grad school going?” Desperate for a change of topic, he focused in on his sister’s life.
Fortunately, she seemed eager to fill him in. While he tried to be a good brother and listen, his mind still wandered back to Tori.
Everyone was so convinced they were going to sleep together.
Why? Why couldn’t he stop thinking of her?
Maybe Ryan was right, and he needed to start dating. Distract himself with someone else. Anyone else.
Which, on that same line of thinking, his cousin had already called dibs on her anyway. So even if James got it into his head to make a move—and he wasn’t that stupid—Tori was basically off-limits by rule of the Bro Code.
You don’t go after the girl your friend—or cousin—already likes.
And more than once, he’d found Ryan and Tori alone together chatting away, so clearly that ball was already rolling.
Ryan and Tori.
God, even their names sounded good together. Maybe they would be the perfect couple. Both highly attractive to the opposite sex. They were outgoing and ambitious. People at the office loved them.
Love almost didn’t seem like a strong enough word for Tori. It’d only been a week since she’d started at the firm, and already she’d become as popular as the bougie citrus soap in the bathroom.
It was like being back in middle school. She was the kid everyone wanted to have at their table. Men wanted her, and women wanted to be her.
The whole thing was almost nauseating.
“You get to take the bar again soon, right?”