Christian laughs and rakes both hands through his hair, standing it on end. He puts his hands on his hips, right above his waistband. His fingers dent his flesh.

“I like it when you get all Mama Lion. It’s hot.” He yawns, jaw stretching wide. The flirting falls so short I don’t even feel like I can chide him about it.

I head for the front door. “Just so we’re clear. Don’t mess with him. I’ll tolerate a lot from you, but not that.”

That might have been the wrong thing to say, because his tired demeanor perks up. “You will, huh? Like what?”

“Like letting you live on my property, for one thing.” My hand’s on the doorknob.

His laughter tickles the back of my neck. “Hey, by the way, the toilet in here isn’t flushing right.”

“I thought you were supposed to be doing the handyman thing to get cheaper rent. Keep the receipts, and I’m sure Ken will take it off what you owe.”

“I’m not a plumber, but okay. Sure. I’ll take a look at it. I’m just letting you know. Hey. Jewelann,” he says as I turn the doorknob. “Hang on. Look … can’t we be … friends? Or at least, can’t we be friendly?”

“We were never friends.” I feel like I keep denying it, over and over, but the only person who believes that is me.

“So what’s stopping us from being friends now? High school was a long damned time ago, you know?” His voice lowers. I tense at the slap of his bare feet on the concrete as he comes closer, but he wisely doesn’t try to touch me.

“High school isn’t the only reason we can’t be friends, Christian.”

He has always been many things, but never stupid. Christian was never the clueless boy who hurt you because he just didn’t get it. He always got it, and that cruelty always made the hurt so much worse.

“Tell me why,” he murmurs.

“You were spying on us.”

“So you did see me. I wondered if you were looking at me. I thought you were, but I couldn’t be sure.”

I press my lips together. “Did you like that?”

His low, soft laughter sends rivulets of ice up and down my spine. “Did I like watching you get railed by someone else?”

“You stayed for the whole show.” I release a breath. “Did you get off on it?”

A shadow of something flickers over his expression. “Did you?”

When I don’t answer him, Christian smiles. When he moves closer, I don’t pull away. His fingers twist the errant strand of hair that had come out of my ponytail.

“What’s going on with you and Beth?” I immediately regret asking, but it’s worth the flicker of surprise that passes over Christian’s expression.

“Who’s been watching who, Jewelann?”

I shrug and fold my arms across my chest. There’s a distance between us, but it could be crossed in a second. He frowns.

“Beth’s just a friend. You don’t need to worry about her. I’ve got plenty of room for you.”