Chapter 6

CHAPTER6

“Did you know that your brother was insane?”

“Yes,” Sean said around a loud yawn. “What did he do now?”

“He thinks I’m in love with him,” Cayley said, shifting the phone to her other hand as she threw her bag on a stack of boxes by the backdoor.

“He told you that?”

“Yes,” Cayley said as she took her time selecting one of the delicious treats that Aunt Laura dropped off for her earlier.

There was a heartfelt sigh and then, “This really is going to be the best Christmas ever.”

“It’s really not, though,” Cayley said with a heartfelt sigh as she settled on a brownie with fudge frosting, only to wince when Sean demanded, “What are you eating?”

“Nothing?” she said around a bite of the incredibly delicious brownie.

“Don’t lie to me, woman! I saw Aunt Laura’s car in the parking lot today. What did she bring me?”

“What makes you think they’re for you?” Cayley asked, wondering why she put up with the annoying bastard.

“Because she adores me,”came the answer that had her rolling her eyes even as she found herself sighing heavily as she headed for the door when whoever decided that this was a great time to knock on her door did it again and-

“You followed me everywhere,” Bryce said as soon as Cayley made the mistake of opening her front door.

She opened her mouth to respond, only to shake her head with a sigh as she turned around and made her way back to her kitchen with a muttered, “I really can’t do this tonight.”

“Can’t do what?”Sean asked, sounding bored.

“You were always following me,” Bryce bit out as he followed her inside.

“Is that…is that Bryce?”Sean asked, sounding intrigued. “Do not hang up the phone, woman!”

“When?” Cayley found herself asking, unable to help but frown as she struggled to figure out what the hell he was talking about.

“When we were kids, you followed me everywhere. You were always at the house,” Bryce said, looking incredibly pissed as he glared at her over the kitchen island.

“Because your brother wouldn’t stop dragging me over there,” Cayley said, unable to help but wonder where he was going with this.

“I really wouldn’t,”came the heartfelt sigh from the bastard that was going to pay for this.

“You followed me to school every day,” Bryce said, folding his obscenely large arms over his chest while he glared at her, daring her to argue with him.

“We went to the same school. How the hell was I supposed to get there?” Cayley asked with a helpless shrug.

“You were always trying to hold my hand,” he bit out between clenched teeth.

“Yeah, when I was six and wasn’t allowed to cross the street by myself.”

“You always made it a point of sitting next to me at dinner.”

“Because that was the only empty chair at the table?” Cayley said, reaching up to rub her temple as she felt a headache coming on.

“Why did you show up at every job site I went to after school?” Bryce demanded.

“Because your annoying little brother threatened to put snakes in my bed if I didn’t bring him baked goods from my aunt’s bakery every day,” Cayley snapped, deciding that she was going to need caffeine to get through this asinine conversation.

“I really did,” Sean murmured, sounding quite pleased with the direction this conversation was headed while Cayley began searching through her refrigerator for a Coke.

“Then explain why you’re renting the apartment across from me and why we’re now working at the same job,” came the demand as Cayley frantically searched through her fridge for her much-needed caffeine fix only to resign herself to making another trip to the store.

“Because the jerk face that I’m really wondering why I’m friends with got me evicted over an order of chicken tenders and got me fired on the same day because he can’t keep his dirty little hands to himself and left me with no choice but to beg your brother-in-law for a job and a place to stay,” Cayley snapped as she closed the refrigerator door.

There was a heartfelt sigh, and then Sean was mumbling, “Memories.”

Grumbling, and really wondering why she was friends with the big jerk that was making her life a living hell and couldn’t keep his greedy little hands off her Coke, Cayley grabbed a pen off the counter and made her way back to her kitchen island, where she wrote “Find a new BFF” on her to-do list.

“You better not have done why I think you just did,”came the warning that had her smiling.

“Oh, but I really did,” Cayley said, angrily slamming the pen down on the kitchen island and-

Suddenly found herself cornered by a very large and very angry James brother.

“You’re in love with me,” Bryce said, placing his hands on the counter on either side of her and caged her in as he glared down at her.

Blinking, Cayley asked, “How are you getting that from what I just said?”

“Because he’s crazy,”came the murmured whisper in her ear that had her rolling her eyes.

Keeping his eyes locked on her, Bryce plucked the phone out of her hand and ended the call before placing the phone on the counter.

“You’re always watching me,” Bryce bit out.

“Because you’re always glaring at me,” Cayley pointed out.

“You-” he started to say, but honestly, she’d had enough for one day.

“You know what I think?” Cayley asked, cutting him off. “I think that you’re in love with me.”

When Bryce frowned down at her, she kept going. “How else would you explain your obsession with me?

“I’m not obsessed with you,” Bryce said as his eyes narrowed dangerously on her.

“Really? Because it sure sounds that way. In fact, it really wouldn’t surprise me if you knew everything about me, from my favorite candy bar to my favorite movie,” Cayley said, knowing that she was right when she saw him swallow hard.

“What are they?” she asked, stepping away from the counter and gave him no other choice but to step back.

When he didn’t answer, she kept going. “How often do you think about me?

“I don’t,” Bryce bit out as he took another step back.

“Yes, you do,” Cayley murmured, stalking him through her kitchen and into the living room as a thought occurred to her. “Why were you always the last one to leave the house for school in the morning?”

“What?” Bryce said, looking confused.

“When we were kids, you didn’t leave the house until I did. I was always running late because I had to walk my dog before school, but you didn’t have an excuse. It would have actually been really easy for you to avoid me if you’d left when your brothers and little sister did, but you didn’t because you wanted to walk with me,” Cayley said, watching him closely as they made their way through the living room.

His answer was a clenched jaw as she continued walking towards him.

“Why were you always the first one to take a break when I showed up when you guys were working? You never had any of the food that I brought, but you were always the first one outside. Why do you think that was?” Cayley asked, sounding thoughtful as she watched Bryce stumble back through the door he’d left open.

The muscle ticking in his jaw was her answer.

“Why didn’t you ask Connor to kick me out when you found out that I was moving into the apartment across from yours? Or, at the very least, work on something besides the renovation when you found out that I was going to be working for him so that you wouldn’t be forced to be around me all day?” Cayley asked with a sad shake of her head as she reached for the door and added, “That’s what I thought,” when he didn’t say anything.