Risk (Gentry Boys #2)(40)

She wore a shapeless gray t-shirt and a pair of ancient cutoff jeans she always liked to sleep in.

“Sorry if we woke you up,” I said, surprised because usually nothing woke her. She had dark circles under her eyes so perhaps she wasn’t sleeping well. “You want to join us?”

“Just tell your ogre to keep it down.” She moved into the kitchen and sniffed.

I pointed to the stove. “I made an extra omelet. It’s yours if you want it.”

That seemed to brighten her mood. She grabbed a plate and went to transfer the omelet from the frying pan onto the plate. Unfortunately, her aim was sloppy and it wound up on the floor. Stephanie shrugged and grabbed it anyway.

“Thanks,” she yawned, carrying to the plate to her bedroom. She slammed the door behind her.

“What the hell,” Creed muttered.

I shook my head. “Exactly.”

Creedence could be quite the gentleman. He gathered up the dishes and washed them carefully while I finished my coffee. He even washed Stephanie’s plate after she tossed it in there before disappearing into the shower.

“I should change,” I frowned, looking down at my shirt. It had a halter-style strap and was a tight fit around my breasts.

“Why?” he asked as he pulled his own shirt on.

“A lady should make some overtures to decency.” His expression seemed a little blank and I rolled my eyes. “My tits are practically poppin’ out, Creedence.”

Creed stood in front of me and grabbed a handful of my right breast. “Honey, you couldn’t hide all this if you tried.” He smiled. “So don’t try.”

I let him talk me into coming back to his apartment to wait while he showered and changed. I didn’t see the boys’ truck or Saylor’s car parked outside and the place was quiet. Creed told me I could hang out in the living room if I wanted to. I felt a little uncomfortable as I sat on the couch and listened to the shower starting down the hall.

Chase Gentry walked into the living room rubbing his eyes. I figured I should be grateful that he was at least wearing underwear.

“Hi,” he said when he saw me.

“Hello Chase. How are you?”

He sat down next to me. Right next to me. Our shoulders touched. He put his elbows on his knees and frowned at the wall. Chase was every bit as tough, strong and categorically sexy as his brothers. But there was something else about him too. Saylor had often talked about how smart he was but he also had a vulnerable, childish quality that made you want to take care of him.

“I’m hungry as shit,” he said, turning to me. “Fucking Cord. Ate the rest of my cereal.”

I rose from the couch and went to the kitchen. I wasn’t sure what I’d find there. I knew Saylor didn’t cook and I doubted the Gentry boys even knew how to boil water.

“Want me to make you something?” I asked.

Chase stared at me. “You’d do that?”

“Sure. If there’s anything here I can use.” I started scanning the fridge. It held a nearly empty carton of milk, an avocado, a stick of butter, three slices of American cheese and a package of baloney. I took the butter, cheese, and baloney out before shutting the door. I was pleased to find a new loaf of bread on the counter and a griddle shoved underneath the sink.

Chase sauntered over to the table and stared at me while I started to heat some butter on the griddle.

“Is Saylor around?” I asked.

“Nope. She had some writers’ group thing to go to this morning. And Cord’s at work already.”

I removed three slices of baloney from the package and dropped them on the hot griddle. They sizzled and immediately sent out a heavenly aroma. After a few minutes I flipped them with a fork. As they were browning I laid out the bread, topped with cheese slices. When the baloney was done I put the whole thing together and melted it on the griddle for a minute before setting it on a paper plate.

Chase stared at the food I put in front of him. “This is nice of you,” he said. He said it as if he was surprised.

“I can be nice when I want to be.”

Chase snorted. “Yeah, you’d have to be nearly a saint to put up with that sour gorilla who’s washing his ass off down the hall.”

“He’s not so bad,” I smiled.

Chase took a bite of his sandwich. He looked at me carefully while he chewed. There was nothing lewd about it though. It was a serious appraisal of the girl his brother had started spending a lot of time with.

“You’ve got one too,” I said, pointing to the words inked on his chest. Chase, however, decided to abandon his manners. He looked pointedly down at his crotch and smiled broadly.

“I’ve got the best one, Miss Truly. This is a f*cking awesome sandwich by the way.”

“I’m glad. By the way, my roommate Stephanie knows who you are. You guys share a class.”

Chase looked interested. “Is that so? Tell her to come say hi sometime. I’m pretty friendly.”

“Yeah, but she isn’t.” I tried to imagine Stephanie Bransky and Chasyn Gentry having a conversation. I didn’t think the occasion would go smoothly.

Chase continued to eat his sandwich. He stared down at himself again and I wondered if he was going to say something else crude. He lightly touched a pink line of scar tissue running down the middle of his abdomen. I knew he’d suffered some internal injuries when he’d been jumped in a cowardly attack several months earlier. He had needed surgery. The scar marred the look of his otherwise perfectly tanned and muscled chest.