Laughing, I speed out of the room and ignore Kit’s narrowed gaze. She’s pissed. She’s assuming the worst. I race through the motions in the guest bathroom, shower, towel off, makeanothermental note to get a fucking haircut.
With the towel slung around my hips, I rush into Bobby’s room and stand in front of the closet. He’s bigger than me, but I’ll make it work. Pulling on pants, cinching the belt tight, and shrugging on a shirt, I turn and squeal like a girl when I catch Kit in my peripherals.
“Fuck!”
“Where’s Izzy?”
“Jesus, woman, you scared the crap out of me.”
She’s not sorry. She simply shrugs and steps into the room. “Where’s Izzy?”
“You shouldn’t walk in here when I’m getting dressed. If you wanna see my sexy body, then you only have to ask. But don’t sneak. It’s disrespectful to my brother. If we’re gonna have a raging affair, it’s only proper he gets to watch the whole thing.”
Leaning her shoulder against the door jamb, she smirks. She ain’t playing. “Where’s Iz?”
“Don’t know. Home, probably.” Lie. I know exactly where she is.
She looks toward my dirty pile of clothes. “Where did you sleep last night?”
“That’s none of your business, Princess.” I turn and finish buttoning Bobby’s shirt. All jokes aside, I won’t disrespect my brother by being half naked and alone in his bedroom with his wife.
“It hurts her, you know.” She walks closer. “You hurt her.”
Don’t I fucking know it. “Fuck off, Kit.” My words hold no heat. Mostly, it’s a desperate plea.
“Don’t swear, Jimmy.” Her arms wrap around my stomach, her face to my back. She squeezes me tight and holds me together. Fuck if it doesn’t feel nice.
Turning in desperation, I hug her back and swallow down the heartbreak that threatens to tear me apart. I’m going to break up with Izzy today. And by break up, I simply mean, I’m walking away.
“I love you, Princess, you know that? You’re exactly right for my brother.”
She sighs happily. “I know. I love you, too.”
Bobby clears his throat at the door. “Are you two quite comfortable?”
Kit jumps in my arms, but he’s not pissed. He’s not jealous. He simply smirks at his wife’s guilt-ridden face as she tries to pull away. “Go away, B. We’re not done here.”
He snorts and steps into the room. “Get off my wife or I’ll break your face.” He tugs her from my arms and buries his nose in her hair. “You smell like him now, baby.” He rubs his jaw over the top of her head like a big stupid bear. “You need to smell like me.”
“I wasn’t on her, B. She was on me…” I leave the sentence hanging and bounce my brows.
“Shut up!” She pulls away from my brother with a smile and pats down her hair. “Both of you, shut up. Hurry up and finish getting ready. You’re gonna make us late.”
As soon as she walks out of the room, Bobby turns back to me seriously. “Where’d you sleep last night, Jim?”
I groan and sit on the edge of his bed to pull on socks. Never in a million years – Pre-Kit– would he ask me that. But now that the women have infiltrated our ranks, they’ve turned him soft.
Now he wants to talk about feelings and shit.
“None of your business, B.”
“Normally, I’d let it go, Jim. Normally, it’s not my business, but I feel like right now, when my wife’s giving you the beady eye and my baby sister’s painfully pregnant, I need to make it my business. I won’t tell you what to do with your life, but I don’t want Izzy to hurt.”
“I’m trying not to hurt her, Bobby! I’m trying to give her space.”
“You think she won’t hurt when she finds out you’re sleeping around?”
If only he knew the truth. I may as well wear a flashing L on my forehead. Or better yet, a capital V.