Always Have: A Bad Boy Romance(4)

Yes, I notice her ass and her tits. Of course I do. I’m a f*cking man, aren’t I?

I’m normally not the kind of guy who gives a crap about Valentine’s Day, but since I get to hang out with my sister and Kylie, sans boyfriends or dates, I’m in a pretty good mood about it. I wonder why Selene isn’t going out with that Nathan guy, but I guess I’ll find out tonight. I’m assuming it isn’t because they broke up, otherwise I would have heard. I decide to swing by a store and get them both flowers. That will make them smile.

I meet my girls at a Thai place not far from my condo. I saunter back to their table, holding two huge bouquets of roses wrapped in white paper—pink for Selene, red for Ky. Selene sees me first and her face lights up.

I grin at both of them. “Ladies,” I say, and hand them their flowers.

“Aw,” Selene says. She takes the flowers and holds them up to smell them. “Big brother, you’re the sweetest.”

We’re twins, but I’m older by three minutes.

“And for you,” I say, handing the red bouquet to Kylie.

Kylie takes the flowers, but looks more suspicious than my sister. “What is this all about?”

“It’s Valentine’s Day,” I say. “I wanted to make sure my girls had flowers.”

They’re sitting on the same side of the table, so I take a seat across from them.

“So how are we all dateless tonight?” Kylie asks.

“Nathan is out of town for work,” Selene says. “I was kind of bummed about it, but this is fun.”

Kylie’s eyes flit to me. She won’t ask. She’ll wait to see if I mention why I’m not taking Hope out tonight. It’s our thing. We don’t discuss our relationships.

“Hope and I broke up,” I say with a shrug.

“That’s too bad,” Selene says.

Kylie raises an eyebrow. “Is it?”

“Oh, come on, Ky,” Selene says, “Hope wasn’t so bad.”

“She hated my guts,” Kylie says.

My stomach twists a little at that. Kylie did notice. Fuck, that pisses me off. “Yeah, well, it’s over. So we can celebrate our singlehood together tonight.”

“You guys go ahead,” Selene says with a smug smile. “I’m very happily un-single at the moment.”

“I like Nathan,” Kylie says. “At first I thought he was too arrogant, but he’s actually pretty funny. I’m glad things are working out for you guys.”

Selene smiles, and my heart swells. I love seeing my sister happy. Nathan better not f*ck this up, though, or I’ll break his face.

The waitress arrives with our dinners, setting down a steaming plate of food in front of each of us.

“Crispy garlic chicken with sautéed basil, five star,” Kylie says, pointing to my dinner. “I ordered for you.”

“Thanks, Ky,” I say. The smell already burns my nose. I love Thai food, and crispy garlic chicken is one of my favorites at this place. Kylie knows me well.

We all dig into our dinners. Selene has some sort of veggie thing that looks decent, but Kylie ordered coconut curry chicken, which is my second favorite thing here. I reach over and grab a bite from her plate. It has just the right mix of heat and flavor.

“The cook is serious with the spice tonight,” I say.

Kylie samples from my plate and makes an approving yummy noise.

“So what’s going on with that guy you were trying to sign?” Selene asks.

“Derek Marshall? Oh, he’ll sign,” I say. I’m an athletic trainer, specializing in college and pro athletes. My soon-to-be client is a receiver for the Seahawks. He’s trying to up his game after he almost got traded last season, which is where I come in. “He knows I’m the best. His manager is being a pain in the ass about it, but he’ll come around.”

“Why does his manager care who trains him in the offseason?” Selene asks.

“Who the f*ck knows,” I say. “Maybe he’s getting kickbacks from the current trainer and he knows I don’t play like that.”

Getting a Seahawk as a client, especially one as high-profile as Derek Marshall, will be great for my business. I have a lot of clients in other pro sports—soccer and baseball in particular. But football is my personal favorite, so I’d love to train more players. A football career was once my dream for my future, but a motorcycle accident when I was eighteen put an end to that.

Kylie’s phone goes off and she digs it out of her purse to check. A little smile crosses her face as she reads her message.

“What’s up?” Selene asks.

“You remember that guy I went out with a week or so ago?” she asks.

“The one who was so much fun, and then you didn’t hear from him after your first date?” Selene asks. She sounds as skeptical as I feel. If the guy’s ignoring Kylie, she should f*cking ignore him right back.

“Yeah, but he says he didn’t call because he had to go out of town for a family emergency,” Kylie says. She smiles again. “He apologized for not calling and says he wants to see me this weekend.”

I keep my face carefully neutral. I think it’s bullshit, but I don’t say anything. Family emergency, my ass.

“Are you going to?” Selene asks.