Free Too Close to Resist by Nicole Helm

didn’t get that sick, nervous feeling over the prospect of something new?
    “Do you know what happened to Kyle?” That wasn’t what she’d meant to ask, but, well, why not ask?
    Jacob pressed his lips together, his tell. Lying had never been his strong suit. “What do you mean?”
    “When we were kids. I mean, I guess everyone in Carvelle knew his parents were into drugs and stuff, but what happened to him? What makes him...the way he is? Spill it.”
    “I don’t know much, Grace. Kyle’s not big on sharing. Why?”
    She shrugged. “I just don’t get him.” And the fact that she wanted to get him wasn’t something she wanted to analyze.
    “Give it time. He warms up after a while. You get kicked around most your life, being a little standoffish is how you cope.”
    “How come nobody ever got him out of there?”
    Jacob sighed, got up and then pushed her legs to the side so he could plop onto the bed next to her. “I don’t know. Bad stuff happens. You know that better than anyone.”
    Yeah, she did. Maybe it would be best to leave it at that, but Grace didn’t really have that kind of self-control.
    “Should I be worried about this weird thing you and Kyle have going on?”
    Grace studied her toes. “What weird thing?”
    “Give me a break. You’re sitting here asking about him. Then there’s the staring, the bickering, the very careful not staring. I may be a guy, but I’m not blind.”
    “You’re a sensitive guy, though.”
    Jacob elbowed her calf and she laughed. “You’re a catch, little brother. Stop dating anyone who walks by and maybe you won’t keep ending up alone.”
    “She wasn’t that bad. All the time.”
    “I wanted to tell her to go to hell every time she pranced around on those fancy heels wrinkling her nose at me.” Grace smiled blandly. “But because I love you, I didn’t.”
    “I wanted to punch Kyle in the nose when I caught him staring at your ass.” Jacob smirked. “But because I like both of you, I didn’t.”
    “Kyle was staring at my ass?”
    “You’re happy about that?” The disgust in his tone delighted her even more.
    “It’s flattering. Besides, I do have a very nice ass.” Grace flashed him a grin.
    “Gross.” Jacob pushed to his feet. “On that note, I’m going to take a shower and erase this conversation from my mind.”
    Grace knew she probably should erase it from her mind, too, but she didn’t want to. Not even a little bit.

CHAPTER SIX
    S QUEAKS , LAUGHTER AND chatter booming from the kitchen could only mean one thing. The whole McKnight clan had descended upon the house.
    Kyle sighed. They were a loud, gregarious, demonstrative bunch, and he avoided them as much as possible. Mrs. McKnight always, always hugged him. He never knew what to do about it. Mr. McKnight would pat him on the shoulder and tell him the same joke he’d been telling his high school baseball players since the beginning of time. “A man with a wood eye asks a girl with a harelip to dance. She says, ‘Would I? Would I!’ He replies, ‘Harelip! Harelip!’”
    Then there was Grace’s music teacher aunt who preferred singing to actual speaking, and a cousin who was always sneaking out for smoke breaks, not always of the tobacco kind. Added to all that noise and touching, the cousin’s four-year-old daughter always insisted on crawling into Kyle’s lap anytime he sat.
    Kyle turned in retreat. He would hide away in his office for a bit longer. His grumbling stomach would just have to wait.
    “Where do you think you’re going?”
    Kyle winced and turned to see an all-too-amused Grace standing in the hall between living room and kitchen. “Well, I...”
    She shook her head. “Who knew you were such a coward?” She advanced on him, and he would have backed away, but he wasn’t that big of a coward. Her hand latched on to his arm. “We’re all going out to dinner and you have to come.”
    “Oh, no, no.” Kyle tried to pull his arm away, but her grip was firm.