Colin looks first at the ceiling and then the floor. “Just some girl.” He gets up and helps himself to a beer from the fridge.
I exchange knowing looks with Teagan. This is almost as interesting as analyzing Rebel’s statements to try and detect lies.
When he comes back in the room, I get him with my laser-beam eyes and determined eyebrows. “Just some girl? Do tell. Where did you meet her? What’s her name? Do you like her?”
He laughs once and takes a swig of beer. “You guys are bad.”
“Bad? How so? We call it curious.” I lean towards him. “Tell us all your secrets. You cannot escape. Our will is strong.”
He takes another drink before responding. “Her name’s Juanita and I met her at a club. We went out a couple times and then we stopped.”
“Who stopped? You or her?” I already know the answer, but I like walking down the path anyway.
“Me, I guess. I mean, she wasn’t the right one. We both knew it, but she just kept hanging on.”
“Oh, man. That’s harsh.” I cringe inside on her behalf. No wonder she was acting so crazy.
“What? You think I should stick with a girl even when it feels wrong?”
“No. I just can imagine what you did to the poor girl before you dumped her, though.”
He frowns. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
“Wined her. Dined her…”
Teagan adds, “Sexty-nined her…”
Half his mouth goes up in a charming grin. “You guys are nuts.”
I seriously want to hug him right now. He could not possibly be cuter.
The door to the apartment opens and Mick is standing in the doorway, looking at all of us. He scowls when his eyes first land on me smiling my head off and then at Colin.
“What’s up?” he asks, moving into the room.
My smile slides down and I force myself to breathe slowly, focusing on managing my blood pressure. I don’t know what it is about this guy, but whenever he’s around I start losing it. It ticks me off that I can’t seem to control myself. I don’t want to like him, and I don’t want him to send my system offline every time he’s near. Too bad I’m not the one calling the shots up in my brain. Down, Hootchie, down! Control yourself!
“What’s up with you?” Colin asks, finishing off his beer. When Mick moves towards the kitchen, he calls out, “Get me another beer, would ya?”
“Get your own beer,” Mick says, coming back with a soda in hand. He sits down in the armchair next to Teagan, completely ignoring his brother. “You okay?” he asks.
Colin gets up and slaps Mick on the back of the head when he walks past him, headed for his next beer.
Mick’s expression goes dark, but he doesn’t go after him. He waits for an answer from Teagan.
“I’m fine.” She focuses all her attention on her milk.
“You gonna stay here tonight?” he asks. His voice has gone soft.
My heart crushes for Teagan. She’s so lucky to have this family looking out for her. I almost feel replaced, and I try not to feel concerned about that. I probably shouldn’t worry; no way can these guys girl-talk like I can.
“She can stay at my place,” Colin says when he comes back in the room. Using the bottom of a lighter to lever the beer cap off, he looks over at Teagan. “You can have the couch or the bed, your choice.”
“She’s not staying at your place, Trouble,” Mick says. He looks at Teagan. “You can stay at mine if you want. I’ll just stay here. Or you can talk to Rebel and work it out. I know that’s what he wants.”
She lifts her chin. “Well, I don’t really care what he wants right now.”
“Okay, so you decide,” Mick says. “Where do you want to go?”
Teagan goes silent for so long I’m starting to wonder if she’s fallen asleep with her eyes open. But then she speaks and startles me with her vehemence. “Here!” She takes a breath. “I’m staying here. And I’ll talk to Rebel, but not tonight. I’m tired. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
Colin stands. “I’m out.” He looks at me. “You want to come over to my place for a second? I’ve got something to show you.”
Mick stands too, scowling at his brother. “She doesn’t want to see anything you’ve got.”
I look at both of them and don’t know what to say. Colin isn’t giving me the sexy look, so I really don’t think his goal is to make a move on me or anything. And when I look at Mick, he’s got that expression on his face I saw once before, when he was standing on the dance floor facing off with Mark. For some reason, it gets my back up.