Most people needed a cheat sheet to keep the Wilder family straight, but it was the wonderful craziness that I’d grown up in and why I loved being surrounded by that kind of energy now.
It was that exact energy that Greer brought in with her when she breezed through my open bedroom door and sat primly on the edge of the bed.
“Emmett Ward,” she said.
I rolled my eyes, unzipping the suitcase so I could set my cosmetics in the hallway bathroom. “Hello to you too. My drive over was fine, thanks.”
She ignored me. “Passed him and Parker on my drive in. They were running from the barn back to the main house.”
“Running is a commonly accepted form of cardio for the general population.” I shoved my pajamas into the top drawer of my dresser. “Why is that so special?”
“His shirt was off.”
I slammed the dresser drawer shut. “Your point?”
“My point is that it is offensive how good looking he is, and if your single ass does not find a way to benefit from this weekend, I will disown you,” she said, enunciating each word a bit more forcefully than was necessary.
I whipped around, settling against the dresser while I studied my sister. Heat crawled up my neck.
“He and I …” I paused, fighting the instinct to say that we were nothing, and I felt nothing for him. Greer could call my bullshit from a mile away, so there was no point in lying. “Nothing can come from it. He lives and works in Florida. I live and work in Washington. I am not moving across the country from my family. And I will not go through another Nick situation, even if Emmett asks for anything of the sort. Which he’s not.”
Her eyes softened. “He’s here, though. And it was his idea to take Parker’s place. He thought it would be fun to surprise you.”
Now why did that make me feel all panicky and cold? “Who told you that?”
“Parker. When he got here last night.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m … choosing to ignore that fact.”
“Ahh, I see we’re taking the road of denial. Solid coping mechanism.”
“Screw you, okay?” I said without heat. “There’s nothing between Emmett and me except a mildly embarrassing story that will not be repeated. You watch. We’ll have a friendly weekend hanging out, then we’ll go our separate ways, and everything will go back to normal.”
Greer grinned. “Mmmkay.”
I flipped up my middle finger, my other hand tugging my extra bras out of my suitcase. “You’re single too. No one’s giving you shit about him being in the house.”
One dark eyebrow rose slowly. “Does that mean if I wanted a shot with the sexy quarterback, you’d stand back and let me?”
My skin went hot and prickly, and without even realizing it, I narrowed my eyes in a glare. Greer fell back on the bed in helpless laughter.
It took her a solid twenty seconds to get herself under control.
“I hate all of you,” I muttered.
“Even me?” His deep voice came from the doorway.
Just … kill me now. From the time he finished his run to when he came upstairs, the shirt had covered whatever glorious collection of muscles contained on his upper body. But the shirtsleeves were ripped off, a large gap in the sides showing glimpses of his obliques, the rounded curves of his arms and shoulders.
“Hey,” I said. Breathlessly. Like an idiot.
Greer smothered a grin, and I wondered if it would be too obvious if I stepped forward to kick her in the shin.
Emmett smiled, his eyes bright and sharp with interest. It didn’t matter that I’d been around him the night before because I didn’t know it was him. There’d been no breathless greetings or reading through all the subtext of eyes and smiles because he’d simply been a hot guy in a mask who asked me to dance.