“I know you better than that.”
“You can’t say anything about home, Mia. Or Grace, because—”
“Relax, Gray. I’m not here to dish out your secrets. Why you keep it secret is beyond me, but if you need to compartmentalize, I get it.”
Sam waltzed into the room and came to an abrupt halt, her gaze flickering between me and Mia. “Oh, I can come back.”
I lifted up the empty coffee cup. “No, you can’t. You’ll drop dead on the floor or something if you don’t get a fix. You’re not bothering us, I promise.”
Sam bit her lower lip, and damn, I wanted to suck it out, then caress the little indentation from her teeth with my tongue. Shit. “If you’re sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” About both.
She gave Mia, who was unabashedly taking in every detail of Sam, a shy smile and loaded a K-cup. While it was brewing, she passed me on the way to the fridge. “Ugh. I forgot I was out of creamer.”
“Look behind the milk,” I suggested.
Her squeal was well worth the extra effort it had taken. “How the hell?” She turned with wide eyes, presenting her bottle of peppermint-mocha creamer. “Did you do this?”
Her eyes were lit up like a kid at Christmas, and her smile could have sailed a thousand ships, easy. “It was nothing.” Just a matter of checking a suitcase full of gel packs and praying TSA didn’t think I was out of my mind.
She jumped at me, and I swung my arm around her back as she noisily kissed my cheek. “Thank you! I will ration it, I swear.”
I scoffed. “That bottle will last you about three days at the rate you inhale your coffee.”
She landed back on her feet and grinned. “Well, it will be a glorious three days.”
A corner of my mouth twitched upward, disobeying my order to keep a straight face. “A glorious eighteen days.”
Her eyebrows shot up as the Kuerig hissed at completion. “Huh?”
“Check the freezer.” I gripped the counter behind me, ignoring Mia’s eyes boring holes into me. “Behind the second bottle of tequila.”
Sam’s mouth dropped for a millisecond before she opened the freezer door to see the five other bottles I’d stored there yesterday. “No way!” She jumped, bouncing on her tiptoes. She shut the freezer door and spun, this time directing her smile at Mia. “Your brother”—she pointed at me, like there was any other guy who could have been mistaken for Mia’s brother—“is a god among men.”
“So I’ve heard,” Mia answered, her smile nearly consuming her little face.
Sam passed me on the way back to her coffee and squeezed my bicep. “Thank you,” she whispered, sneaking a look up at me before she turned her attention to her coffee.
“Sam, will you bring me a clean plate?” Jagger called out as he slid the glass door open a fraction.
“Right on it!” she answered, and took her coffee and a plate back outside.
Mia started laughing, snorting in between gasps.
I leaned back against the counter and crossed my arms. “What is so funny?”
“Just a roommate!” She leaned over, holding her stomach. “Oh, you have it so bad, big brother.”
“Just a roommate,” I reiterated, but she headed into the backyard, her laughter louder than before.
Whatever. She could think what she wanted. Yes, I was insanely attracted to Sam, who the hell wouldn’t be? But having it bad? Not in the least.
I opened the freezer and pulled out one of the bottles of creamer, taking note of the manufacturer. Maybe if I ordered a case, they could just have it delivered.
Wait. Was I seriously contemplating this?
“Damn,” I muttered, shoving the bottle back in the freezer.
Bad, indeed.