Page 6 of Craving Her
“Stop that. I think you’re amazing,” I tell him honestly.
“But then, you don’t know me,” he says, studying my face.
“You don’t know me either, Torin. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that right here with you isexactlywhere I want to be.”
“What is your mom—the doctor—going to think when she sees you slumming with the likes of me?”
I laugh. “Trust me, she’s not immune to a hot guy on a bike. Now, I can think of a better question for you to ask.”
“You can?”
“Oh, yeah,” I drawl.
“What is it? No fair keeping me in suspense,” he responds with a grin. The trepidation I saw on his face when he found out I was going to med school lightens and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“The question youshouldbe asking is when I’m going to play doctor with you?”
“Are you wanting to play with my very large stethoscope, Peaches?”
For a second, I just stare at him. Then, laughter bubbles out loud and free with his joke. Torin even joins me, laughing harder than I’ve heard before. It makes me feel proud of myself because once again it strikes me that it seems he hasn't laughed much in his life. I’m about to ask him just how big his stethoscope is when I hear the door open. In the background, I can hear a group of men chuckling. I ignore them. I only want to concentrate on Torin.
“Skylar? Joker? What the fuck is going on here?”
I turn immediately and face my very irate brother. I guess I won’t be able to keep my secret as long as I wanted.
Damn it.
Chapter 3
Skylar
“Breaker? You know?—”
Panic hits me. I feel it spreading through my system, but I can’t allow it. I have to do damage control and try to salvage this. I put my hand on Torin to stop him. He recoils under my touch and puts distance between us, making my heart physically hurt. With a sigh, I walk over to my big brother. “Tone it down, Mattie,” I snap. “It’s not what you are thinking,” I kind of lie.
“Sure as hell looks likesomethingis going on,” he counters, staring at me like he wishes he could choke me right now. The truth is, he probably does. “It looks like my kid sister is sitting too fucking close to a man who is supposed to be patched into the club next week. A man who is also way too fucking old for her, not to mention it’s way past your curfew.”
“Curfew?” Torin asks, and now I’m getting pissed off.
“Yeah, curfew. It’s what kids who are still in school have because they’re underage and shouldn’t be sharing a meal with a fucking prospect who is twice her age.”
“Mattie, stop it right now. He’s not twice my age. Plus, you dickhead, I graduated from high school last week. Although, I can forgive you for not realizing that since you, nor Thea either, could manage to be there,” I huff. I also let him hear how muchit hurt me that they didn’t even bother to show up. Normally, I would never let any of my family see when they hurt me. Mostly because the majority of the time, they don’t mean to. Right now, however, I’m hoping to drive home the fact that Mattie did hurt me and divert his attention away from Torin.
“Fuck. You graduated?”
“Don’t act like that. You’re in the group family chat. Plus, IknowMom called you.”
He frowns and then lets out a sigh. “We were on a run and didn’t get back until late. Dad was?—”
“Hmm?” I hum, knowing what’s coming next.
“Fuck, Skylar, did Dad miss your graduation, too?”
“Mom was there,” I answer with a shrug. There’s really not much more to say about the matter. It won’t change anything.
“Damn, sis.”
I shrug. “It’s okay, but you need to quit acting like a neanderthal. I had a bad evening because my brother was supposed to pick me up after work and wasn’t answering his phone. He’s kind of forgetful like that.Especiallysince he’s the one that took my car to the garage and they still have it, even though it was supposed to be done yesterday.” I keep up with the theme of piling on Mattie’s guilt. Besides, it really hurt me, and I want him to know. I actually think I’m being nice. I could add that it was something Mattie could have fixed quickly but didn’t want to be bothered. I huff out a breath. I know I can be bitchy to my siblings. It’s just, I don’t think they see that they treat me like I’m an annoying fly that they swat out of their way quite often. They also don’t realize that I’m not ten anymore. I have legitimate opinions and ideas that are not childish at all—even if they don’t agree with them. I’m no longer their kid sister who begs for them to spend time with me either—even if it would be nice if they offered occasionally.