She gives a pointed look to my barely touched glass. “Not for the reasons I anticipated when you walked in the door, but maybe this calls for a sleepover. I miss Carter while he’s at the fire station. You can keep me company.”

“Deal,” I whisper. “But I’m emotionally exhausted, so don’t take it personally if I fall asleep before ten.”

“I’ll make your bed.”

Easton

“Did you know your sister is seeing someone?” I ask Carter as he finishes his last set of squats Monday morning.

He grunts. “I think there’s a guy from school she goes out with sometimes. Nothing serious, though.”

“Does he make her happy?”

“Never met the guy. She doesn’t really talk about him, but I assume he’s decent enough.”

Decent enough. Nah, I’m not gonna step aside for decent enough. “He can’t be that good if she hasn’t brought him around.”

Carter freezes then slowly reracks the barbell before turning to me. “Why?”

His glare could knock a lesser man over, but I just shrug. “Because if he’s not the most wonderful thing that’s ever happened to her, if he doesn’t treat her like an absolute goddess, I’m going to do everything in my power to convince her she should be with me and not him.”

The ire in his eyes morphs into shock. “Excuse me?”

“Come on, Carter. You know I’ve had a thing for Shay since she was sixteen.”

“Since you were a fucking college student drooling over my baby sister. Yeah, I remember.”

I nod to the barbell in the rack. He has one hand wrapped around the knurling, squeezing like I imagine he’d like to do to my neck. “You gonna let me squat that or just grope it all day?” He scowls, but I grin slowly. “She’s not a baby anymore, and you don’t fucking scare me.”

“She’s not like the girls you’re used to, East.” He steps away from the rack and helps me add another bumper plate to each side. “If you’re hoping to fuck her and walk away, save yourself the beating, because I won’t let that happen.”

I duck under the barbell, position it on my shoulders, and walk it off the rack. “Who said I want to walk away?”

“Are you serious right now?”

“I have feelings for her, Carter. Deal with it.” I rep out a set of five and rerack the weight.

When I turn back to him, he’s studying me. His eyes flash but he sighs. He scans the gym around us before stepping closer to me. “If you hurt her—if you make my sister cry one fucking tear—I’ll punch you in the nuts so hard you’ll feel them when you gargle. You get me?”