″Haley,” she says.
Saoirse finally looks up at the sound of a new woman’s voice. Now I’ve got her intrigued. Her eyes widen as she looks at Haley and, book in hand, she hurries to us, wrapping her arms around me. “Callum, you’ve brought a friend.”
″Aye. This is Haley.”
″Haley, I’m Saoirse. It’s so nice to meet you.”
″Nice to meet you, too.” Haley meets her warmth with a hug, more relaxed now. I’ll have to make sure Saoirse is around more whenever I bring Haley over until she’s more comfortable with the brothers. And maybe she can help figure out what’s got Haley so timid.
Sean snatches Saoirse’s book from her.
″Give it back, asshole,” she says.
″Oh! What do we have here? Her Master?” Sean smirks as he flips through the pages. “Saoirse, you dirty girl. Didn’t realize my sister was into bondage.”
″It’s a romance novel, you freak!” She lunges for her book, but Sean raises it above his head.
″Romance, with some dirty fucking scenes. Now I’m not so sure that I’m the freak of the family. I think it’s you.”
″Maybe you should read it. You’d learn how to treat women. And give them an orgasm.”
Haley’s face turns red, and I sense her tension. Almost as if she’s embarrassed, so I step in. Grabbing my brother into a headlock, he lets go of the book, trying to free my arm from his throat.
Saoirse picks up her book and straightens her skirt. “Thanks, Cal.”
″Wait,” Haley whispers, grabbing Saoirse’s elbow. “There’s romance with actual sex scenes? Like porn?”
″Oh, it’s a thousand times better than porn. There’s love involved. It’s an actual story. The sex just enhances it.” She pauses. “You mean you’ve never read a steamy book?”
Haley shakes her head. “I listen to Audible, but it’s mostly non-fiction.″
″Do you have a Goodreads account?” Saoirse pulls Haley to the couch, and I wander over so I can listen to their conversation.
″If that’s a social media thing, no. I don’t have anything like Instagram or whatever. I’m basically nonexistent in that stuff. No time.”
″Okay. We need to get you set up with a Kindle account. Hand me your phone.”
″I have it already,” Haley says, grabbing her phone from her purse.
″Perfect. I’m going to buy a ton of books for you. We can compare notes. It will be fun to have someone to chat with.”
″Sure. But I don’t know if I’d like it. I don’t…” she pauses, then lowers her voice. “Let’s just say it takes a lot to get me going.”
″Oh, honey,” Saoirse laughs. “You won’t have an issue with that. Trust me.”
″Really?”
Saoirse catches me eavesdropping and squints her eyes as she glares. “Callum, are you not satisfying her?”
I cringe internally at my sister. Leave it to her to talk about sex like it’s nothing. I don’t want to imagine her with men, just as I don’t want to discuss my sex life around her. Not that I have one right now, considering Haley’s only begun kissing me yesterday.
Fuck, since when did I become celibate for a woman? I tug at the collar of my shirt, suddenly overheating.
″Oh. No.” Haley shakes her head. “We’re not—we’re just—no.” She huffs. Her chest heaves rapidly as she runs a hand through her hair. “I’ve never had time for dating before. I was always so busy studying or training.”
″And you’re datingCal?” Saoirse shrieks. “Oh Jesus, Cal. No wonder you’re wearing the black suit.”
I run my tongue along the inside of my cheek. Why hadn’t Haley mentioned she was a virgin? That seems to be something important to say when you’re sitting on the lap of a man, shoving your tongue inside his mouth.