Mr. Imperfect

chapter 16



Pancakes. Bacon. Eggs. Chatter. The rich aromas and happy noises woke Rori up the next morning. Before she even opened her eyes, she realized she had fallen asleep fully dressed the night before. She didn’t even remember returning to bed. The tramp must have done its job well.

Forcing herself out of bed, Rori decided on a quick shower before joining the Cannon clan for breakfast. Stepping out of the guest room, she spotted Kris across the hall in the bathroom, already dressed and finishing up her perfect hair.

“Morning,” Kris said easily, setting down the curling iron. “I’m done. Left you some clean towels on the counter. Breakfast is ready whenever.”

“Thank you,” Rori said, wishing she felt half as awake as Kris looked. “You look great.”

“Yeah?” she said, looking playful. Gone was her serious demeanor from the previous night. “Hot date on a golf course. Takes a little extra effort to get a look that will last eighteen holes.”

Rori gestured helplessly to her hair. “Tell me about it. You don’t want to see this mess when humidity strikes.”

Kris mouth curved into a one-sided smile that reminded Rori of Mike’s trademark grin. The family resemblance was uncanny. Perfect skin, perfect teeth, and eyes so vivid they looked like the water of an untouched, remote island. Totally striking.

Under her scrutiny, Kris’s face scrunched in confusion. “Are you checking me out?”

Rori blushed. “No!” she said a little too loudly, earning another look from Kris. It was obvious that neither of them believed her denial. “Okay, maybe a little. It’s hard to believe that Luke never made a pass at you. You’re beautiful.”

Kris actually laughed. “Under Mike’s watchful eye? No way. Luke slapped my butt once when I was seventeen and Mike broke his nose for it.”

“Broke it?” Rori asked in disbelief.

“Totally,” Kris said, looking proud of the memory. “There’s still even a bit of a blood stain that never came out of the carpet downstairs.”

“Is your brother always that protective when it comes to you?”

Kris sent her a wink. “Why do you think I went to college out of state? Where else does an eighteen year old girl go to meet guys who don’t worship and fear her brother?”

Rori’s laugh came out sounding forced, which Kris seemed to pick up on even though she said nothing. “I should probably let you grab a shower.”

“Yeah,” Rori said, wondering why she didn’t feel more awkward around Kris. On every level Kris was competition for his affection. So why were they both being so damn pleasant?

Pursing her lips in thought, Kris leaned against the door frame again. “Hmm. I can see why Luke didn’t want to let you go in that airport.”

“E-excuse me?” Rori said, feeling a light blush creep over her.

“Those stormy eyes of yours,” Kris said, as if it was obvious. “You’ve been hurt. Luke would tune into that and want to help you.”

The words hit Rori like a slap. “That’s not his job.”

“Doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to do it,” Kris said easily. “And sorry if I over-reached there. Didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Not offended,” Rori said, although she wasn’t quite sure if it was the truth. There was a beat of silence between them before Kris gathered her makeup bag.

“Don’t let Luke be lame today,” she said. “Mike works weekends and I’m on a day date, so no one is here to get him to behave. If you don’t watch out you’ll spend the entire day in his basement getting schooled on the Zelda alphabet.”

Zelda? Rori had no idea what that meant even though she’d thought she was familiar with all the alphabets of the world.

“Does he work?” the question left Rori’s mouth before she could think better of it.

Kris shrugged, moving toward the stairs. “He’s highly invested in video game stock so he claims playing them is work. You know, like market research.”

“I see,” Rori said and saw Kris smirk.

“Well, if you don’t then you will soon enough. Have a good one!”

Then Kris was off.