Double Dare (Neighbor from Hell #6)(14)

“I said that I was sorry!”

She rolled her eyes, because he hadn’t apologized and probably never would. “Go away!”

“What if I told you that I had Black Jack’s pizza?”

“Oh, shit!” she gasped in terror, jumping off the couch and racing to the door, praying that Darrin hadn’t heard him, because even though she was pretty pissed at her brother right now, she really did love him. She had the door thrown open and was dragging her brother, pizza and all, inside before she slammed the door shut, wincing at the noise and praying that Darrin hadn’t heard it.

“He’s not here,” Jake said, chuckling as he shifted the pizza boxes and appetizer bags in his arms so that he could hold out the six-pack of A&W root beer to her.

“His truck wasn’t outside?” she asked even as she slowly reached up and turned the lock on her door, flinching when the action produced a soft clicking noise that was bound to give them away.

“No,” he said teasingly as he gave up on waiting for her to take the soda from him and placed the six-pack on the coffee table.

“You wanna eat in here or in the kitchen?”

Licking her lips nervously, she reached up and slowly turned the deadbolt, something that she only used in dire emergencies. Cringing when the lock made a louder clicking noise, she froze on the spot and listened. When she didn’t hear anything she turned around and mouthed the word, “bedroom,” and gestured for her brother to move his ass.

Rolling those baby blue eyes of his, courtesy of their mother, Jake walked upstairs. She picked up the six-pack and looked around, making sure that there wasn’t any evidence left behind like a napkin or one of those coupons they usually slapped on the pizza boxes. When she didn’t find anything that could give them away, she grabbed the small bottle of perfumed air freshener that her mother had bought her as a housewarming gift seven years ago and liberally sprayed the living room and stairs as she made her way upstairs, praying that the obnoxious smell was enough to keep Darrin from finding out what they were doing.

“That shit stinks,” Jake said, taking the air freshener and six-pack of soda from her and placed them on her bureau, freeing her hands so that she could shut and lock her bedroom door behind her.

“Mom gave it to me,” she said absently as she checked and then double-checked the lock.

“I think she gave me the same bottle a few years ago,” Jake murmured thoughtfully as he looked at the bottle. “I’m pretty sure that I gave it to an ex-girlfriend.”

“Probably,” she absently agreed as she considered stuffing a towel against the bottom of the door.

“Let’s eat,” Jake said, chuckling as he threw his arm around her and-

“What the hell happened to your hand?” she demanded, noticing for the first time that two of the fingers on his right hand were in splints.

“Huh?” Jake asked, glancing down at his fingers as he shrugged it off. “Just decided that I needed a new accountant.”

“I thought the guy you tried setting me up with was your accountant,” she pointed out, allowing him to lead her to the bed.

“Was is the operative word,” he said with a wink as he waited for her to climb on the bed.

“What happened?” she asked, shifting closer to the edge of the bed to make room for the pizza and Jake.

“Nothing that you need to worry your pretty little head about,” he said mockingly as he reached over and patted her on the head, an annoying habit that he’d picked up from Darrin.

Rolling her eyes, she grabbed one of the heavy-duty paper plates off the pizza box and tossed the other one to him. She reached down, opened the box and realized that Darrin might very well kill her on this day.

“The Monster,” she said in a reverent tone as she reached for a thick slice that held every delectable topping known to man.

“I figured this would make up for the other day,” he said, helping her load the impossibly thick slice of pizza on her plate.

“It doesn’t,” she said, taking a bite of pizza and groaning when the buttery crust and toppings competed for attention in her mouth, “but it’s a nice start.”

“What will it take to earn your forgiveness?” he asked, grabbing a slice of pizza for himself before he shut the cover and provided them with a table.

“Well, besides a root beer?” she asked, giving him a pointed look that had him rolling his eyes and getting off his ass.

“Yes, besides a root beer,” he said, grabbing the six-pack and walking back to the bed. As he sat down he handed her a can.

“You could stop trying to set me up with your loser friends,” she suggested, hopefully.

“My friends aren’t losers,” he said around a large bite of pizza, groaning in pleasure.

That was true. His friends and the men that he normally tried to set her up with weren’t losers, but the last one definitely had been. Seriously? What kind of loser was willing to pay for sex?

“And the last guy clearly doesn’t count,” he said firmly.

“Fine,” she said, taking another bite before she added, “Then just stop trying to set me up. I’m fine.”

“Are you going to marry Darrin?” he asked offhandedly as he popped the small piece of crust in his mouth.

“We’re just friends,” she mumbled as she took a big bite out of her pizza, but this time the delicious flavors were lost on her and all she wanted to do was throw the pizza and Jake out of her apartment so that she could avoid this conversation, the same one that they’d been having for the past five years since Jake had caught them-