Watch Me Fall (Ross Siblings, #5)(13)
Ugh.
“Maybe it’ll turn into more than that,” Julie said thoughtfully.
“Why is it whenever a single girl has any encounter whatsoever with a single guy, everyone starts acting like they should go pick out china patterns?”
“Is he hot?”
“Um…he’s like, a cowboy. The man listens to country music.”
Julie laughed. “So? Is. He. Hot? Does he achieve DILF status?”
Oh yeah. Smoking. “I guess!”
Starla hadn’t realized Doug was back in the living room. “I don’t see why it matters,” he interjected from the couch, remote control in hand. “He won’t be around for long. Hit it and quit it like everyone else she goes out with.”
Starla started toward him. “Hey, f*ck y—”
“Whoa, whoa, be nice!” Julie yelled over Starla’s retort, sticking her arm out in her way.
“Tell that motherf*cker to be nice.”
“Both of you be nice. Doug! Don’t say that.”
“Whatever,” he muttered under his breath.
“Don’t let him get to you,” Julie said as soothingly as she could. Starla could barely hear her for the rushing in her ears. “Come on, Star.”
Soon. Someday soon, it was going to come down to Julie choosing between a roommate who pulled her weight and a brother who let his putrefy on the couch. God help Julie if she chose her brother, because she wouldn’t be able to afford to live here without Starla’s contribution.
Sighing, Starla turned away and somehow managed to find her purse through her lingering rage. She didn’t know where she was going for the next three hours, but it had to be away from here. Except…shit, the cookies. Chucking her bag back on the counter, she turned and snatched the oven door open. Looked good to her. Fresh and fragrant. She might even have one herself. If Doug touched them, she’d take his f*cking hand off. In fact, she should really piss him off and give one to Julie. But no, she didn’t deserve one either, always taking his side.
She hadn’t wanted to go to Jared’s house pissed off at the world, but it looked as if that was where the day was heading. As she cooled and packed the cookies, she tried to calm herself by imagining the family she was about to spend the evening with—probably getting ready for church right now, two pretty little girls and their handsome dad all dressed up. The very picture of wholesomeness, singing hymns and shit. She didn’t fit in with that, even for one evening. This had been such a bad idea, and the closer the clock ticked to seven, the more sure of it she became. At six thirty, she grabbed the groceries and the plastic container of cookies and headed for the door. Julie, who had settled in with her brother to watch a movie, shouted good luck to her.
Was she ever going to f*cking need it. But she’d reached one important decision, if only to prove everyone else wrong: she was not succumbing to the curse of the blue eyes. She was not sleeping with Jared Stanton. Ever.
Chapter Five
“Dad, she’s looking at me.”
“You looked at me first.”
“Did not!”
Jared glanced in the rearview mirror and snickered. “Mimi, don’t ever look at your sister again for as long as you live.”
Ashley and Mia giggled. “Really, Dad?” Mia said with that sardonic little attitude she’d been developing lately.
“Really.”
Mia sighed. “I’m hungry. I want pizza.”
“Remember, I told you my friend is coming over to make us dinner.” He supposed that was still the plan. He hoped so. Strange how much he was looking forward to the idea of seeing Starla again. He flicked the blinker to turn onto the dirt road that would take them home, the road where he’d picked her up.
“Oh yeah. Why can’t she just bring pizza?”
“I don’t know what she’s bringing.”
“I want pizza too,” Ashley chimed in.
“I’m sure you’ll like whatever she makes.”
“What’s her name?”
“Starla.”
“Is she your girlfriend?” Ashley drew the word out to a comical length, and Jared laughed.
“No. Just a friend.”
“How come we don’t know her?”
“She’s a new friend.”
That seemed to satisfy them. For the next couple of minutes, anyway, they sang along with the song on the radio. Then Mia said, “Is she Mom’s friend?”
Not hardly. He and Shelly had probably had the most amicable divorce in the history of broken marriages, and they remained committed to presenting a unified front to parenting the girls. But Starla would probably scare the shit out of his ex-wife. No doubt the girls were going to go straight home and tell their mom about Dad’s new “friend.”
“I don’t think Mom knows her,” he said carefully.
“Can I call Mom?” Ashley asked. She was the one most likely to get homesick for their mother’s house. Mia was the exact opposite—always wanting to call him when she was with Shelly, seemingly most content when she was near the animals at his place.
“Maybe after dinner, okay?” Jared watched Ashley’s expression in the mirror for any sign of an impending outburst or deluge of tears.