Chapter 13

CHAPTER13

“Start talking,” Sean said as soon as Bryce left.

“I want to see other people,” Cayley said, nodding solemnly even as she found herself thinking about the look on Bryce’s face when she asked him why he hated her. It just…

God, he’d looked so lost at that moment.

“I’m sure that you do,” Sean murmured, bringing her focus back to her current problem.

“What are you doing here?” Cayley asked, deciding to make herself useful and began searching through her boxes for the pitcher so that she could water the Christmas tree that was going to look absolutely perfect once she decorated it.

“Besides wondering why you’re trying to starve me?” Sean drawled as he closed the refrigerator door with a disappointed sigh.

“Besides that,” Cayley said dryly as she tore through a box marked “kitchen plastic” until she finally found what she was looking for. Pitcher in hand, she turned around and-

Found herself face-to-chest with Sean, who was now glaring down at her with a look that she knew all too well. “What was my brother doing here?”

“Glaring at me?” Cayley said, wondering why they were having this conversation.

When his eyes narrowed dangerously on her, she knew that this wasn’t going to end well. “What else?” Sean asked as his gaze turned calculating.

“Last time I checked, I didn’t answer to you,” Cayley said, refusing to look away first, knowing that if she did, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

“True,” Sean murmured, looking thoughtful as he considered her. “You’re not going to tell me?”

“There’s nothing to tell,” Cayley lied, shrugging it off, knowing better than to tell him what she was up to until after it was over.

Then, she fully planned on rubbing it in his face.

She was more than capable of being alone. She didn’t need him, and soon, he would be forced to take back his words and-

“I couldn’t help but notice that your closet was on the smaller side,” Sean drawled as his lips pulled up into that smile that still had the power to terrify her.

“It’s on my iPad,” Cayley found herself mumbling weakly as she thought about the last time he’d shoved her in a closet and-

He forgot that she was in there.

“See how easy that was?” Sean said with a satisfied sigh as he gently tapped her on her nose.

“I really hate you,” Cayley said, feeling her shoulders slump in defeat as she turned around and made her way to the kitchen sink and filled the pitcher with water.

“I know you do,” Sean murmured absently as he grabbed her iPad and dropped down on the couch with a satisfied sigh.

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing,” Cayley said, hoping that it would be enough to get him to drop this.

“Probably,” Sean said, swiping open her iPad. “Then again, you could just tell me what I want to know.”

“There’s honestly nothing to tell,” she said, making her way to the large Christmas tree and filled the stand with water.

“Then, explain Thanksgiving dinner,” Sean said, settling in more comfortably on the couch.

“I didn’t run fast enough,” Cayley said even as she had to admit that she was still wondering the same thing.

“That doesn’t explain why you attempted to make Thanksgiving dinner before my brother kidnapped you,” Sean said as she tossed the empty pitcher at him as she dropped down on the other end of the couch.

At her questioning look, Sean said, “I spotted the turkey that you incinerated in the trash when I broke in last night to see if Aunt Laura dropped any tasty treats off for me.”

“You broke into my apartment?” Cayley asked, frowning in confusion. “When?”

“This morning when you were beating the shit out of your alarm clock,” Sean said, shifting his attention back to her iPad.

“What the hell were you doing at my apartment at one in the morning?” Cayley asked, only to sigh when he laid down and propped his boots on her lap.

“I was hungry,” Sean said as she shoved his feet off her lap.

“Then grab something out of your own damn fridge and stop eating all my food, jackass,” Cayley snapped when he put his feet back.

“Your food tastes better,” Sean murmured absently as he shifted further down the couch and threw his legs over hers when she managed to shove them off again.

“What food? You keep eating everything,” Cayley said, moving to shove the large bastard’s legs off her only to realize that he had her pinned to the couch.

Oh, God, no…

“Back to this deeply disturbing list that you titled ‘One Month to Prove the Big Jerk Face Wrong’,” Sean said with a satisfied sigh as she struggled to shove his legs off her lap. “I’m assuming that I’m the big jerk face.”

“You assume correctly,” Cayley said, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she watched Sean as he took his time reading through her list and when he was done, he read through it again with a quietly murmured, “Interesting.”

“What’s interesting?” Cayley asked, returning her attention to shoving the large bastard’s legs off her.

“I can’t promise that I can do all of this with you, but I should be able to do most of it,” Sean said, nodding at whatever disturbing thought was going on in his head as he tossed her iPad on the coffee table and focused on her.

“Umm, why would you need to do any of it?” Cayley couldn’t help but wonder.

“Because you need me,” Sean said with a solemn nod.

For a moment, Cayley gave up trying to shove his legs off her lap and pointed at the iPad as she said, “The whole point of that list is to prove that I don’t need you.”

When his eyes narrowed dangerously on her, Cayley decided that it would probably be in her best interest to make sure that she cleared up any misunderstandings that he might be harboring from the start.

“You’re not invited,” Cayley said firmly.

“And why is that?” Sean drawled as he folded his arms behind his head and got more comfortable while he watched her curiously.

Never a good sign.

“Because I’m proving you wrong,” Cayley said, throwing in a firm nod to make it crystal clear to the large bastard shifting his legs on her lap to get more comfortable that she didn’t need him.

“I’m never wrong,” Sean said, shrugging it off.

“You are this time,” Cayley pointed out, slapping her hands on his legs and pushed, only to end up narrowing her eyes on the bastard when he wouldn’t budge.

“I give you four days, a week tops, before you come running back to me,” Sean said with a satisfied sigh and a smug look that was only making her more determined to pull this off on her own.

“I really won’t, though,” Cayley said as he watched her for a moment, his gaze slowly shifting from curious to resigned as he released a long-suffering sigh and-

“I’m going to help you,” he announced, making her stomach drop.

“Please don’t,” Cayley mumbled weakly as she remembered the last time that he said those words.

Sighing heavily, Sean threw his legs off her lap as he sat up so that he could reach over and pat her on the head as he said, “Shhh, this is for your own good.”

“It’s really not, though,” Cayley said, shaking her head frantically as she sat there, struggling to come up with something, anything, that would save her from whatever was going on in that deeply disturbed brain of his.

“You’ll thank me later,” Sean said with a firm nod as he got up and headed back to the kitchen.

“I don’t need any help,” Cayley stressed, only to forget how to breathe when he said the four words that never ended well for her.

“I have a plan.”