Chapter Fifteen
Gus woke up alone, which wasn’t out of the norm, but to wake up in Faith’s bed without her felt weird.
He rolled off the bed, rotated his neck, and sat there for a few moments, remembering the night and all the sex.
God, she responded to his touch like she was meant for him.
She’d been eager and fresh and sweet. He glanced down and swore.
His morning hard-on was more about Faith than anything else.
With a grimace, he got up and used her bathroom to take care of a few things. When he was done, he glanced around.
Her bedroom was tidy; clothes folded and put away, and her suitcase tucked between her bed and the wall.
There was nothing personal to be seen. No photos, no artwork, or books.
It wasn’t unlike the bedroom he claimed across the hall, and Gus supposed it wasn’t abnormal considering they were renters, and their apartments were short-term dwellings that suited a purpose.
It wasn’t his home, and it wasn’t Faith’s, either.
But it made him wonder, and it was the wondering that made him decide it was best to leave things alone.
Gus had a full plate of his own shit to deal with.
Why borrow more from a woman he’d be leaving in less than two months?
They’d decided to keep things casual, and casual was something he was used to.
The relationship thing wasn’t his gig, and the fact that he’d even thought of the word relationship made him wince.
He’d seen enough heartache in his thirty-three years to know he wasn’t cut out for that kind of thing.
With a curse, Gus scooped up his jeans from the floor and pulled them on, along with socks and boots.
He had a harder time finding his T-shirt but eventually located it under Faith’s pillow when he made the bed.
He was about to leave the room when his cell pinged.
He paused and retrieved it from the front pocket of his jeans but realized it wasn’t his cell he’d heard.
The ping sounded once more, and curious, he walked to the other side of the bed, where he found a phone plugged into the wall. It was face up, and he took a step back when it pinged again.
Don’t look.
Not your business.
It pinged again, and he glanced away — but not before he saw the name Declan.
Huh.
Friend? Partner? Family member?
With a frown, he left the bedroom. Faith had told him she didn’t have a cell phone, and while he had no idea why she’d say that when clearly, she did, it was her business. Her secret. Lord knows he had a shit ton of his own.
He read the note. Should he write one back? What the hell would he say? Deciding a note wouldn’t do, he grabbed the key and locked up. Then he slid it underneath her door and stood back. Maybe getting involved with a woman who had as much to hide as he did wasn’t the smartest thing to do.
And yet, after the night they’d shared, how could he walk away and give her up? He was already looking forward to round two.
With a sigh, he decided not to borrow trouble. It was late morning; he needed a shower and food, and things would make sense. Gus crossed the hall and let himself into his apartment.
“We need to talk.”
“The fuck?” He growled, though it wasn’t the man on his sofa who caught his attention. It was the woman who sat across from him with a grin on her face. Long dark hair. Big brown eyes. Cinnamon freckles and attitude.
His youngest sibling, Iris, smiled up at him sweetly, but her eyes were sharp and calculated. “Surprised?” she asked.
Gus ignored her and glared at Walker. “You had one job to do.”
“Have you met your sister?” Walker sighed. “She’s relentless and her bullshit meter is almost as big as yours.”
“I think my stick is bigger,” Iris said with a smirk. “I mean, if you want to whip it out and compare.”
“I’m good, thanks,” he tossed over his shoulder.
His good mood long gone, Gus walked past them without a word and headed for his bedroom. He took ten minutes to shower and when he returned to the living room, Walker was still on the sofa and Iris was still sitting across from him playing on her phone.
He opened his mouth, but she cut him off before he could speak.
“I’m not leaving.”
He and Walker were going to have some words. He shot a dark look at his friend, but Walker grinned and shrugged. “She belongs to you, not me.”
“I don’t belong to anyone.” Iris made a face. “But I am hungry.” She got to her feet. “You’ve got no food in here, so where we are going?” She headed for the door and disappeared before Gus found his tongue.
“Did you lose your balls along with the instructions I gave you?”
Walker got up and patted Gus on the shoulder. “Sorry bud. She was not taking no for an answer, and I figured it was easier to bring her along than worry about your mother finding out where you’ve been.” He sighed. “The girl plays dirty.”
“And then some,” Gus muttered, taking a step toward the door. “Are you coming for food?”
Walker shook his head and walked over to a black backpack. “Hell no. I’m not getting between you two. She’s all yours.” He handed Gus a large manilla envelope. “There’s everything Dozer put together.”
“Coward.”
“Smart coward is more like it.” Walker flashed a smile.
“You better get going before she starts the kind of trouble you don’t want.
” His friend exited the apartment, and Gus tossed the envelope onto the counter.
He cursed all the way downstairs and found Iris on the porch. He walked past her, eyes on his truck.
“Isn’t Walker coming?”
“That’s a hard no.”
“He’s a pussy.”
“You tend to bring that out in men.”
“Can’t help it. I was built to annoy.” She laughed, and Gus hid a smile. As much as Iris was a pain in his ass, he loved her energy, and it was good to see her. Not an ideal circumstance, but still . . .
He decided to avoid Fire Lake altogether and drove out of town with the music so loud, conversation wasn’t possible.
He needed to get his head right and figure out what the hell he was going to tell her because he knew there’d be questions.
The kid had started talking in full sentences before she was two and hadn’t stopped.
About thirty minutes later, Gus pulled up to a place called Rikki’s in Rockwell, a town not unlike Fire Lake.
He followed Iris inside aware of the looks sent their way by locals who didn’t recognize them. He was guessing they’d stir up interest no matter what on account of his sister’s eccentric outfit. Her T-shirt and matching shorts were covered in pictures of dogs.
He chose the table farthest away from a group of older men enjoying their Sunday gossip and coffee.
His butt had barely met the chair when they were approached by a young woman who handed them each a menu and smiled widely.
If Gus had to guess, he’d say she was in her early twenties, but with a face-full of artfully applied makeup, it was hard to tell.
“I’m Kylie. I’ll be your server. Can I start you off with drinks?”
“What do you have on tap?” Iris asked, glancing up.
“Really?” he replied.
“What?” she said with a smile. “It’s four o’clock somewhere.”
“Can I see some ID?” Kylie glanced between the siblings.
“Sure can.” Iris dug through her bag and held up her driver’s license. Kylie gave it a look and then frowned. “Boone.” She stood a bit straighter. “Are you related to the Boones in Fire Lake? Porter Boone?”
A heartbeat passed. And then another. Iris tucked her ID away and shook her head. “Nope. We’re not from around here.”
“What about you?” Kylie turned to Gus.
“No relation.”
Kylie looked like he had a damn horn growing out the side of his head. “Did you want something to drink?”
“Coffee.”
As soon as the server was clear of their table, he nailed his sister with a look that would make most men shake in their boots. But Iris? She just watched him with those big brown eyes of hers, a fuck you expression deep in their recesses.
“What are you doing here, Iris?”
“What are you doing here, August?”
“Is this the game we’re going to play?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “Is it?”
He sighed and settled back in his chair.
His sister left him no choice. He’d always been of the opinion that offense was the best way to go when it came to situations like these, and he had no regret going in hard.
Kylie appeared with his coffee and a Bud Light for Iris, and once he ordered the Hungry Man Special, and the server left, and he leaned in for the kill.
“I know you dropped out of college last fall.”
If Iris was shocked, she didn’t show it. “Technically I flunked out.”
“I was being nice.”
“Thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome.”
“What else?” she asked with cheek.
“I also know you quit your job at the insurance place.”
“Would you work in insurance?”
“I would if I needed the money to pay my bills.” He didn’t like the smile on his sister’s face. She took a swig from her bottle and looked at him coyly.
“Where were you last night?” she asked.
“What?” The abrupt change in conversation took him by surprise, but he was quick to recover. “We’re not talking about me.”
“I am, and I’m not going to answer any questions about me until you tell me where you were last night.”
Christ, he so didn’t have time for this shit. Gus considered ignoring her demand, but the only person on the planet more stubborn than himself was Iris.
“I was with a friend.”
“You don’t have friends outside of work.”
“Apparently I do.”
“Girlfriend?”
“No.”
“A boyfriend?” She winked.
“Definitely not.”
“Right,” Iris replied, clearly enjoying herself. “I was with your boyfriend last night.” She shrugged. “Friend with benefits?”
“Just a friend,” he replied, irritated as all hell. The truth was that friends with benefits made what he’d shared with Faith sound cheap. And that was something he didn’t like.
“No sex?”
“Are we really going to talk about my sex life?”