Claire narrowed her eyes and put her fists on the table, leaning closer to him. Jared automatically angled his body protectively in front of me.
“Wow! I am starving!” I said, a bit too loudly.
Jared and Claire both looked at me with their typical polar-opposite reactions. Jared was amused at my attempt to avoid bloodshed, and Claire appeared to be contemplating a way to choke me to death before Jared could stop her. I sat down and opened the flip-top box Jared had placed in front of me.
I watched him rummage through the other sack, pulling out boxes of appetizers, and I tried to mimic his casual demeanor. Claire stood there for a moment, glaring at both of us, and then sat down to her meal.
After a few minutes of silence, Jared and Claire began discussing their day. I caught on after a while that they were being vague. I didn’t press the issue, from the path of the conversation I assumed it was about Claire. At least they weren’t speaking a foreign language.
“It looks like I’ll be leaving in a couple of weeks,” Claire grumbled.
“Spring Break?” Jared asked.
Claire nodded. “Ich hasse diesen See,” she said, leaning back in her chair.
That was when my patience faded. “I’m going to have to learn German,” I grimaced.
“I’m sorry,” Jared said, “we’re not trying to exclude you. We were just discussing Claire’s training.”
“I gathered that,” I said, picking at my food.
Jared smiled at me with adoration and then leaned over to kiss my cheek.
Claire rolled her eyes. “Sie bilden einen Dummkopf von selbst.”
“I’m not making a fool of myself. She’s right, we’re being rude.”
I smiled at Jared’s complimentary translation. He leaned over again to quickly kiss my forehead before going upstairs.
Claire rolled her eyes again and then took her plate to the sink. “I’ve lost my appetite.”
I had to look twice when Jared returned downstairs. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of red soccer shorts and well-worn running shoes. He stood behind me as I rinsed dishes at the sink, and then wrapped his arms around my waist.
“You don’t have to do that. I’ll get to it, later,” he said, pressing his cheek against mine.
“Don’t start,” I said, trying to sound tough.
Jared left me to retreat to the corner where he kept his home gym. I loaded the few dirty dishes in his sink into the dishwasher while Claire walked into the downstairs bathroom and closed the door behind her. Suddenly the door opened again and my suitcase was hurled with incredible precision from the bathroom, landing directly beside me.
“This is my bathroom,” Claire warned.
I swallowed nervously, staring at the suitcase that sat an inch from my foot. I offered a meek smile. “Nice tub.”
Jared puffed from the corner. “They’re both my bathrooms, and you’re welcome to either.”
Claire glared at him and slammed the door, making my shoulders shoot up to my ears.
“Don’t let her push you around. She’s all bark and no bite,” he puffed, pushing an absurd amount of weight.
I eyed the bathroom door. “She bites, Jared. She’d chew me up and spit me out.”
“She can’t hurt you. She just loves to see you squirm,” he chuckled.
“I thought you said you weren’t like the Archs, that you could hurt humans if necessary?” I looked back at him, trying to concentrate on the subject at hand instead of his perfect form.
“She could, but she won’t. Claire knows better than anyone what you mean to me. Besides the fact that she would have to come to blows with me to even come close to you—and she would never cross that line—she wouldn’t make me choose between you and my family. She’s just rattling your cage,” he said, repositioning himself on the bench.
“I wouldn’t let you choose between me and your family,” I murmured, knowing he would hear.
“Nina,” he said in that familiar frustrated tone, “you’re not listening to me. She knows how I feel about you, so you can stop worrying about Claire.”
I raised an eyebrow. “She might know how you feel about me, but one of these days she might over look it.”
“You’re the love of my life, Nina. There’s no overlooking that.” Jared spoke the words casually, but my legs disappeared. I had to steady myself against the counter to keep from hitting the floor.
“You okay?” he asked, continuing his workout.
“Me? Er…yeah. I’m just fine. Perfectly fine. Why?” I sighed at my utter failure to fool him. Jared simply smiled with a knowing look, never slowing his repetitions.
Claire emerged from the bathroom in a hooded sweatshirt and sweat pants, her hair pulled back into a wiry bun. She looked like a seventeen year old girl, for once. She fell into the couch, feet hanging over the arm, flipping through channels of the flat screen.