Faked (Ward Family #2)(24)

Paige and Lia started swapping stories, and I slowly lowered my hand from where it was still resting on Paige's back because I hadn't thought about Finn once since Bauer left the night before.

Not once.

His half-brother, bold and unapologetic and tattooed and fearless and completely opposite of him in every way, wanted to kiss me and would probably have the opportunity to if I wanted, and I hadn't thought about Finn once.

It wasn't easy, but I tried to keep the confused furrow from my brow as I made my bed, simply to busy myself in a way that wouldn't show my face. My sisters chattered away, oblivious to the way my brain had started spinning in circles, wobbling dangerously off-kilter at the realization.

"Claire," Iz said. "Earth to Claire."

After tugging on one last wrinkle in my bedspread, I smoothed my face as well and turned. "Sorry, what?"

"Do you have thick socks packed?" Paige asked.

I blinked. "Umm. I have normal socks packed, why?"

"It's cold up there, and they're supposed to get snow."

Rubbing a hand across my forehead. "Snow? It's spring."

"It's the mountains," Paige said. "You should pack wool socks."

"I'll be in a mansion, you guys. I'm pretty sure it'll have heat."

Iz grinned. "Bauer can keep her feet warm."

Speaking of warm, my face was probably bright-ass red.

Lia scoffed. "He better not."

"Damn right, he better not," Paige said.

Isabel grinned at me. "Pretty sure that's up to Claire, not you two."

"Claire does not go for guys like Bauer," Lia argued. "She likes her men sane and kind and polite and not liable to drunkenly cuss someone out."

I held up my hands. "Okay, enough. Bauer isn't needed to keep anything of mine warm. I've been keeping my own feet nice and toasty, all by myself, thank you very much."

Lia smirked. "If you say so."

Isabel tapped a finger against her chin. "I need a new foot warmer. Mine broke last week."

"I have your brother," Paige said around an unrepentant grin.

"Gross," the three of us replied in perfect unison.

I pressed my hands to blazing hot cheeks. "Okay, he will be here any minute. Please ... just ... don't embarrass me, Paige."

"Me?" Her eyes widened dramatically.

"There's no chance you'd take Iz and leave before he gets here, is there?"

Isabel wrapped an arm around Paige's shoulders. "She does not have a chance in hell of dragging me from this apartment."

Paige glanced sideways at her. "I could still take you, you know."

Iz patted her head. "No, you really couldn't."

Lia stared at Iz. "I don't know why you're so excited to meet him. It's just Bauer."

"Because he's a world-class snowboarder," Iz replied. "Did you see his triple cork at the X Games last year?"

Lia sighed. "Nope."

"That's not a reason to let him warm Claire's ..." Paige paused with a grimace, "anything. We don't idolize athletes in this family, remember? They're just normal people—"

"Who do abnormal jobs," we finished by rote.

Paige's phone dinged, and she raised the screen up to read whatever was on it. "Case in point, your brother—the world-class football player and coach—can't figure out how to use the washing machine."

Paige was right. Normally, none of us fawned over professional athletes because we'd been around them our entire life. Between my brother and his years playing for Washington, and our oldest sister, Molly, who was dating another famed member of the Washington Wolves roster, Noah Griffin, we'd shared plenty of meals with people who made extremely generous livings by playing games.

When I glanced at my alarm clock, I let out a deep breath because he was a couple of minutes late.

The buzzer at the door went off, and the four of us froze.

"I'll get it," I said quietly.

Lia exhaled. "I'm going to hide in my room. I don't need to witness this crazy."

"The crazy that's your fault, you mean," Isabel whispered under her breath.

As she walked out of my room, she narrowed her eyes dangerously in Isabel's direction.

Paige gave me an encouraging smile. "It'll be fine. I promise to be nice."

I snatched my backpack and pillow, mentally girding my loins for whatever circus show was about to unfold. For a moment, I felt bad for not preparing Bauer for the one-woman firing squad.

That only lasted a second because the other ninety-nine percent of me knew it would be awesome to see her knock him off balance. He'd sure as hell been knocking me off balance since the moment he turned around in that tuxedo.

"Come on up," I said into the speaker.

"You didn't even make sure it was him," Paige hissed. "What if it's a sex trafficker?"

"Ringing the buzzer at eight a.m. on a Saturday?" I asked. "Do you think a sex trafficker would ring the buzzer of our apartment early on a Saturday morning?"

She sniffed. "A polite one, maybe."

Isabel was laughing when I opened the door for Bauer.