Unraveled
think Cole
had cared one bit until he had seen Noah in all his shirtless glory. I figure
he's jealous. Fortunately, he has absolutely no idea how much he really should
be jealous.
    I wasn't
about to clue him in, either. I feel bad keeping what happened with Noah a secret
but I know Cole well enough to know he'll flip out. Our relationship has been
problem free and I have a feeling shit would hit the fan if Cole learned of my
indiscretion.
    “It's not
like that. It's just my brother has a bad opinion of you and it's rubbed off on
Noah,” I explain, in reference to his question as we head for the kitchen.
    “Who the
fuck cares what this Noah guy thinks anyway. You don't, do you?” he asks almost
casually as he starts rummaging through the cupboards.
    “The only
thing I'm trying to avoid are confrontations.”
    He pauses
and glances at me. “He shouldn't have any reason to confront me.”
    “Don't take
this the wrong way, Cole, but you tend to rub everyone the wrong way.”
    “Even you?”
he asks as he gives me a roguish look.
    “Funny. What
are you looking for?”
    “Liquor,” he
says as he turns back to opening cupboards and inspecting their contents.
    “Liquor? Are
you insane?”
    “Loosen up a
little, Blayre. It'll be a rush doing this shit in a cop's house. Maybe we
should go have sex out in the pool while we're at it. Or better yet, his room.”
    My arms
cross over my chest as I stand near the island counter. Cole and respect
definitely do not go hand in hand. “Not funny. And that cop is my brother.”
    “So? Ah...there's
some Jack,” Cole says as he grabs a bottle out of the cupboard and holds it up
with a triumphant smirk.
    “No,” I say
firmly.
    “How's he
going to know? He's in his little car right now pulling over stupid people as
we speak,” he says as he unscrews the cap and takes a long drink.
    “Why do you
have to push the limits all the time?”
    “Why are you
always so scared to live a little?” he counters.
    “I've been
doing a lot of living lately and you know it.”
    He walks
over to me and holds out the bottle, his eyes glinting with challenge. “You
worried your other house mate is going to catch you drinking?”
    Back to that
again.
    “Why would I
be worried about, Noah?” I ask with exasperation.
    “You tell
me,” he says, his eyes focused intently on mine.
    A slight
chill creeps up my spine. I could almost swear he knows something and I have no
clue how he'd know. I try to hide my concern as I reach for the bottle and take
it from him. Part of me wants to smack him on the head with it but obviously
I'm not going to do that. I need him to lay off of Noah, so I take a long drink
before handing it back to Cole. “Happy now?”
    He studies
me for a long second before he takes another drink from the bottle. “Where's
his bedroom?”
    This is
going downhill really fast and I don't know how to stop it. “Does it matter?”
    “Yeah, it
does.”
    “Upstairs,”
I say reluctantly.
    “Near
yours?” Cole asks in a deceptively soft voice.
    “This house
only has three bedrooms, Cole. Tate has the one on this floor. There wasn't any
other option for me.”
    “So you run
into him all the time,” he says slowly.
    I'm trying
really hard not to look nervous. “Why are you asking all these questions?”
    “Why do you
look so worried?” he asks as his eyes narrow on me.
    “I'm not.”
    Cole's green
eyes deliberately scan me from head to toe, taking in my bare tanned legs that
are shown off by the khaki skirt. The cute sleeveless shirt I happen to be
wearing did nothing to hide my full breasts and my long dark hair falls down my
back today. “You're hot as hell. I bet he's noticed.”
    “I wouldn't
know.”
    He sets the
bottle of liquor on the island counter and walks over to stand before me. “I
saw the way he looked at you that night I was over here. He had “ownership”
written all over his face. Why is that?” he asks in a carefully controlled
tone.
    “I don't
know what

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