Free Tart by Lauren Dane Page A

was pretty shitty at it, as it happened.
    His sister snorted at him. Staring right past his excuses.
    One of her brows slid up. “Really? So your feelings for Jules are brotherly . This is the bill of goods you’re trying to sell me right now? I’m insulted that you’re actually saying this to me. I’ve let you go on this subject for too long. You’re being a dookiehead. God.” She punched his arm pretty hard.
    “Ouch.” He rubbed the spot. For a little thing she was totally strong.
    “I don’t want to ruin the connection we have. I appreciate your concern and all, Mary, but things are better this way.”
    She blinked at him, saying nothing for a long time.
    And then she sighed. “What to do with you, Calvin? What would you do without me? Don’t even try to pretend you don’t know I’m right. Poop! I call total poop on you for this lame-ass excuse.”
    He started laughing before he took a risk and leaned in to hug her, kissing her cheek. It wasn’t that she was afraid to curse, she did and often quite creatively. But between the three Whaley siblings, their old childhood insults often reigned.
    “I’m duly chastened. But I’m not going to ruin what I have with Jules. Sure, there’s a little spark. But I’m not going to act on it. If things went bad, I wouldn’t have her in my life. I like having her in my life. But not to date.”
    She actually stomped her foot and glared at him. He backed up a step, his hands up.
    She pointed at him. “You are a serial monogamist. Oh, you like one guy or one woman at a time, you’re not a cheater. But you always have an expiration date in your head. I know you, Calvin. You can be a dick sometimes. You’re messier than you should be. But you’re smart. And you’re good and kind and you help people when you don’t have to because that’s who you are. You don’t normally pretend away the truth.” She stood and smoothed the tote, folding it carefully.
    “I want you to think carefully on this. Because if you lose her because you’re too . . . whatever it is that keeps you from admitting just how much you want Juliet, you’ll hate yourself for it. And her eventually. Maybe even Gideon for doing what you didn’t have the courage to.”
    She headed to the front door. “Stay for a late dinner with me.” He tipped his head to the table where the food lay. “I have wine. We can hang out and not talk about Jules.”
    “No. I need to go home. I’ve got a long day tomorrow and I want to go to bed. Plus you’re harshing my mood.” She opened the door and turned back to face him. “I see the way he looks at her. He is not the kind of man who will miss what an extraordinary woman Jules is. He’s moving in on her. They’re forming a relationship right now. He’s taking her on a picnic! I shouldn’t even be telling you this.”
    His stomach twisted a moment.
    “Don’t be a dumbass, Cal. Don’t let her go.” She waved and left him there alone with the thought of losing Jules.
    Jules Lamprey was a person he’d always loved having in his life. She ran with his sister and had pretty much been a fixture in his house from an early age. Over time they’d grown close and at this point in his life he counted her as one of his very best friends.
    But when he’d just about finished high school there’d been more . He saw her as she’d grown and developed as a woman and he’d found it pretty irresistible. There’d been a kiss. But she was so young and he left for college right after. And then he’d thrown himself into his life as a student. He’d developed a taste for men as well as women. He’d learned a lot about himself and he wouldn’t trade that for anything.
    His family had always been accepting of who he was, but it was when he could be that accepting that he’d felt like he’d truly grown up. Heartache had been part of that process and he couldn’t imagine making her hurt the way he knew he’d hurt other people when he’d broken things off in the