The house, the yard, his dog. For as long as Spencer could remember, everything he loved eventually found its way into Caleb’s hands. When he’d spent a year as an exchange student living abroad, Caleb had shown up with a backpack and a forged passport to accompany him. When he’d announced his intention of starting a dog show, Caleb had taken up professional dog-show training.

And he wasn’t even going to think about what happened when Caleb had been arrested for running an online gambling website and used his one phone call to beg Spencer to bail him out. The evidence of that was clear.

“I know how it looks, but it’s not what you think,” Spencer said.

“Well, don’t let me stop you.” Ruby made a gesture toward Spencer’s feet. He was standing in his half of living room, which was more of a walkway than an actual living space, but there was plenty of room for an impromptu workout. “If you have a debt of honor outstanding, I think you should pay it.”

“Yeah, Spencer,” Caleb chimed in. “You should always pay your debts.”

He shouldn’t let himself get goaded into it, Spencer knew, but there was something about Caleb’s expression that got under his skin. It was the satisfied smirk of a man who was certain Spencer wouldn’t do it. Of the two of them, Spencer was the responsible one, the boring one, the one who knew better than to show off in front of a woman who was the walking definition of trouble.

He was all those things, it was true, but he was still flesh and blood.

And that blood burned hot.

“Fine.” He didn’t bother rolling up his sleeves or removing his shoes this time. “Thirty more? Go ahead and start counting.”

This time, the push-ups didn’t come easily or make him feel relaxed. He was too aware of Ruby’s presence, of how fixedly she stared at him as he went through the motions.

Thirty push-ups wasn’t a huge strain on his physical resources, so it was over with fairly quickly. He sprang back up to his feet to find that while his brother had moved on to more interesting things, Ruby was still staring.

He expected something caustic to come out of her mouth, but she tilted her head and asked, “How many can you guys do? Like, how high does the number get before you have to give up?”

“I don’t know,” Spencer said honestly. “It was one thirty today, which means it’ll be one forty the next time. I’ve never done more than that.”

“So there’s no forfeiture rule? Like, you have to pay double the money if you fail, or the duct tape line gets moved over a few feet?”

Spencer groaned. “Please don’t give Caleb any ideas—”