“What do you want?” He got to his feet and poked his head out his bedroom door, the book still in hand. To Hook a Star wasn’t nearly as graphic as the erotic novel that sat half-read on his nightstand, but he liked it. More to the point, he liked that Ruby liked it. It hinted at a softer side he was only just starting to see. “I’m busy.”

“No, you’re not. You’re brooding alone in your room like you always do.” Caleb drew up to the edge of the line and made a big show of looking around the living room. “Where’s Ruby? She was supposed to wait for me.”

“She wanted me to tell you she’s going to finish the training session at home.”

“Goddammit, Spencer. What did you say to run her off? I was only gone an hour.”

He ignored this. To divulge any of the details of his interaction with Ruby would be to divulge all of them. How she looked as she’d removed her shirt, daring him to do something about it. The way her eyes had widened in shock when he’d accepted the challenge. The sound of her moans. The gyrations of her hips. The—

He cleared his throat and forced himself to think of expressing anal glands and removing embedded maggots instead. He had to go to the darkest side of veterinary care; Caleb would see through him otherwise. He’d never been able to lie to his brother.

“Maybe she has better things to do than sit around waiting for you,” he said as soon as he had a better handle on himself. The maggots helped. “You forget that most of us have responsibilities.”

Caleb laughed. “Don’t worry. Living with you is a constant reminder of the weight of responsibility. Am I allowed to ask why you’re holding a book with a pink cover, or is it better not to know?”

Spencer didn’t make an attempt to hide it. “It’s research. And I’m serious. Has that animal improved in the slightest since you took this job?”

“Of course he hasn’t. I assume that was why you allowed me to take her on as a client in the first place. You know damn well Wheezy is untrainable.” Caleb paused just long enough to take a breath. “Aren’t you going to ask me how it went with my parole officer?”

Spencer sighed. For once in his life, he wanted to talk about something other than his brother’s legal problems. He wanted to discuss what they were going to do about Wheezy. He wanted to talk about his feelings for Ruby. He wanted to rip that tape up off the floor and sit in his own living room so they could have a conversation face-to-face.

Shit. What he really wanted was a friend—his friend, his twin brother, the companion of his youth. Not the roommate who lived to thwart him or the reckless competitor who would do anything to win.