Page 43 of From Grumpy to Forever
Chapter Twenty
Reid
This guy needed to get the fuck out of the inn. His very presence was infuriating and putting me on edge. Never mind the evening he’d just interrupted. But there was nothing I could do about it. Not now.
Not when Avery had invited him in.
It wasn’t my place to kick him out. No matter how badly I wanted to.
Still, all she had to do was say the word, and I’d haul his city boy, slick ass out to the curb and leave him there.
“We’re not really set up for guests,” Avery told Jacob, as if it wasn’t already completely obvious. “We don’t have a proper bed for you.” She shot me a look when Jacob’s back was turned, and I nodded in understanding.
“Why don’t you make your cousin a cup of tea,” I offered. “I’ll see what I can do about getting a room set up for him.”
More like, I’d race up the stairs and pack up all my shit before he could see that we’d been sleeping in separate rooms. Details.
“Do you have anything stronger than tea?”
I watched Avery force a smile and nod as she led him into the kitchen. “I’m sure we can find something.”
It wasn’t often that I saw anything but a genuine smile on Avery’s face. It was easy to spot the difference if you were paying attention. And when it came to Avery, I was always paying attention. Her cousin didn’t seem to notice, which only led me to believe he didn’t know her very well.
The minute they’d disappeared into the kitchen, I took the steps two at a time. This asshole was here to make trouble for Avery. Even if I didn’t know all the details, I knew that much.
It didn’t take a family therapist to see there was no love lost between the two of them. He was going to be looking for any loophole he could find to take this inn away from Avery, and I’d be damned if that was going to happen.
There wasn’t much in my room beyond an air mattress and an old chest of drawers I’d cleaned out for the T-shirts and jeans I wore daily. I stuffed everything I could into my duffel bag before doing a sweep of the small bathroom.
Avery hadn’t been exaggerating when she said we weren’t set up for guests. I’d been using a sleeping bag. And if Jacob thought he was getting a freshly made bed with crisp linens and a fluffy duvet, he was mistaken.
I gave the sleeping bag a shake to “freshen it up” and dumped it on the bed in a heap.
With one last look around the room, I was confident I hadn’t left any traces of myself in the room and was just about to head down the stairs when I stopped.
Avery’s room—the owner’s suite—was downstairs, just off the kitchen. If I waltzed down the stairs with my duffel bag of things over my shoulder, it would raise eyebrows. But I couldn’t leave it upstairs.
“Shit.”
This guy was proving to be a bigger pain in my ass by the second.
Out of options, I went to the end of the hall, pulled up the window, and dropped my bag into the overgrown shrubs below. No doubt, I’d scratch the hell out of my arms later retrieving it, but I had little choice.
Our guest was sipping a glass of whiskey when I returned to the kitchen. Avery shot me a questioning glance behind his back. I gave her a slight nod that I hoped was at least a little bit reassuring. She looked exhausted. But it was more than just being tired.
She was worried. And working hard not to let it show.
“Your room’s all ready for you.” I bumped his shoulder, splashing whiskey on his dress shirt as I moved past him. “Like Avery said, we’re not set up for guests yet. Hope you’ll be okay with a sleeping bag on an old air mattress.”
I actually hoped he wouldn’t be okay with it. And it only just occurred to me that I should have popped a hole in the mattress so the jackass ended up on the floor.
Missed opportunity.
“It’ll do.” Jacob narrowed his eyes in my direction as I slipped my arm around Avery’s waist and pulled her close so she could rest her head on my shoulder. “So, you two.” He gestured between us with his glass before taking a sip, like a total douche. “How did you say you met again?”
“I don’t think we did,” I answered quickly, saving Avery from a conversation she didn’t want to have.
Jacob snorted, and Avery squeezed my arm a little. “We actually met years ago when we were kids and I’d spend my summers here with Grandma and Grandpa.”
