The Sterling Boys(20)

Dale walks toward me, tensing his jaw in true frustration. When he opens the door, his eyes fall to Tria momentarily before coming back to me. "We're taking Rain and Kode home. He's going to crash at her place, since he might have a concussion. She wants to keep an eye on him."

My hands fist at my sides. "You're kidding, right?" I growl. "Tell them to bring Kode's ass in here. I'll keep an eye on him."

"Won't work," he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Rain feels like it's her fault that he was knocked out, so she wants to take care of him. It's always the same. One of them is a jerk, and she always takes care of them. They're never going to grow the hell up if she doesn't make them. It's the same with Maverick and Corbin. They treat women like shit, but she simply bats her eyes and gets them more, knowing they're just going to fuck the girl and then fuck her over. I'd stage an intervention, but it would be pointless."

"He shouldn't be there." I'm pissed that he's even considering leaving my drunk and crazy brother alone with Rain after he apparently tried to force himself on her.

"Don't look at me like that. Kode's a jerk—especially when drunk—but he wouldn't dare do anything like that. I'd go rip him out of their car right now if I thought he would. You know better than that. He thinks he's clever, but he's really not. It's so obvious what he's doing, but no one else seems to catch on."

"What do you mean?" I ask, feeling just as oblivious as the others.

Dale shrugs, seeming as though he's surprised that I don’t know. "He's always had a thing for Rain, and when he's drunk, he uses it as an excuse to try and spark something between them."

Now that really strikes a chord in me. I shouldn't feel jealous. She didn't want me. Obviously she doesn't want Kode either. She loves fucking with our heads, though. I don't know what I feel toward Kode right now—pissed or empathetic.

Dale runs a hand through his already disheveled hair, and then he glances around at the mess of water on the floor. "Couldn’t you have let her borrow some of Britt's clothes?"

His accusatory glare insults me. Does he really think I’m such a jerk that I’d intentionally just send her back outside without a towel and dry clothes? I’d have given her one of my T-shirts if she had let me. I might be pissed at Rain, but I'm not a dick.

"She ran out of here when I tried to hand her a towel," Tria says, distraught.

I actually feel bad for her.

Dale doesn't even acknowledge her. Instead, he turns toward the door. "I'm going to grab Fiona and go. I'll call you later."

"Yeah," I grumble, frustrated for so many reasons.

I guess I only thought I was over her. After touching her, feeling her so tightly wound around me... fuck.





Chapter 4





RAIN



I flop down in my guest bed beside Kode as he groans in his sleep. His eye is swollen, his lip is split, and his face is a little bruised. It's fortunate he wasn't hurt worse.

"I'm sorry, Rain," he mumbles while drawing his arm over his face. "I acted like a total jerk."

I smile as I slide in closer, and his arms come to wrap around me and draw me against him. This is my Kode.

"It's fine. I was handling you, but the guys got antsy. You didn't do anything too terrible."

"Oh?" he muses, sliding his sober hand down to my ass and squeezing. "You saying you enjoyed it?"

I roll my eyes and swat his hand away, but I'm caught off guard when his lips suddenly crush mine. What. The. Fuck?

"Kode," I grumble against his lips, but my attempt to talk only allows him access to slip his tongue through my parted lips, and damn does he know how to use it.

It becomes obvious that he's been awake already, because he has brushed his teeth. And... I can't believe that's what I'm focusing on. My best friend is groping and kissing me, but I'm focused on his breath.

When he jerks my center to meet his arousal, that's when I snap out of my trance and push him back, feeling a little breathless.

"Kode, what the hell?"

He curses to himself while shaking his head. "Damn it, Rain. I'm sick of this. I've been trying since we were thirteen to get you to fucking see me the way I see you, but it's like... it's like you're incapable of viewing me as anything more than the kid I once was."

Saying I'm taken aback would be laughable. Kode has always been extra sweet to me, but... this? How do I respond to this?

"Kode, I—"

"You what, Rain? You're sorry but you don't feel that way? You can't help but think of me as just a friend?"

I swallow hard as he climbs out of bed. A few tears start to slip free, but I wipe them away as quickly as they're shed.

"Please don't do this. We're friends, Kode. Best friends. I don't want to lose—"