The Trouble with Dating Sue (Grover Beach Team #6) (16 page)

“Hi, um…guys?” Sue stuttered by the door.

Since Ethan and I not only looked alike but were also wearing almost the same clothes today—he in a white polo shirt and I in a black one—I immediately felt bad for Susan and her dilemma of not being able to tell us apart. Having mercy, I reached for the chains that had given me away to her in the past and pulled them out from under my collar. It should be enough to make her understand.

Ethan then pushed his king into a corner at his side, away from my queen. Apparently happy with that move, he tore his gaze away from the board and said, “Hi, Susan.”

Her reluctant footsteps drew nearer. The smell of her coconut perfume, body lotion, or shampoo drifted to me. Whatever it was sneaked up my nostrils and drove me crazy. Dammit, if only I had won this game already and could concentrate on her instead of how to slay a frosty king with my queen.

To my surprise, Susan’s hand appeared in my vision. She took my rook and slid it along the line to the very end. “Checkmate.”

Checkmate? What the freak?
How? Where? When? I scrutinized the game one more second, then my eyes widened. “Hah!” I held out my hands, presenting Ethan with the awesome end of this terrible game and beamed at him.
I fricking won!

Without thinking, I snatched Susan’s wrist and yanked her down onto my lap. “That’s my girl!” I laughed and hugged her to my chest.

Sue draped one arm around my neck and joined in my euphoria. Was she serious? Holding on to me like that? The fact that she didn’t wiggle out of my embrace filled me with an extra shot of delight. But of course, Ethan had developed a talent for ruining any moments I had with her, so why not now? “Why did you do that?” he snapped at her, incredulous.

That was Sue’s cue to calm down and get off me. I was reluctant to let her go. She felt good in my arms. I wanted to keep her.

Her voice sobered as she stood, facing Ethan. “Because I need to talk to you. And it has to be now and not in twenty minutes.” Damn, I hadn’t heard her sound this earnest since I met her. Trouble?

My brother pressed his lips together for a moment. The shock in his eyes vanished fast, overridden by concern. “Okay, talk in my room?”

Sue gave a quick nod and walked ahead. Ethan followed her, but before he left the living room, he shot me a warning glance over his shoulder. “You did
not
win. We’re going to repeat this when you’re on your own. No cheating!”

Great.
I knew he’d worm out of this if he could. Leaving the Kobe Bryant ball and the board on the coffee table, I strode to my room and started packing my duffle bag. I had basketball practice in thirty minutes. Better to get out of the house, anyway, instead of shuffling about, wracking my brain over the things he and Sue might be doing in his room right now. Like fooling around and making out and laughing together and…

Gah!
The idea became more irritating by the minute!

I’d never been jealous of my brother before. He could have taken any girl he wanted. But with Sue… Dammit, something was going on here that was totally screwing with my mind. I couldn’t deny the edgy feeling I’d had when she sat on my lap and I’d held her. And not only then. It had begun a few days ago. Maybe not as intense at the start, but the wish to touch her—to kiss her—had been there ever since the weekend. It was new. And so awkward.

The mystery to solve was why I couldn’t just shake this longing for her away. I could do it with Lauren, and Tiffany, and Theresa, and the devil knew who else. Only, this particular girl with the plain ponytail wouldn’t get out of my head these days. She made me think and do stupid things.

I was starting to worry…

Had I lost my head in this challenge?

Playing ball worked wonders in clearing my mind of all images of my brother kissing the girl who haunted me. The only thing I concentrated on was making baskets. Unfortunately, practice was over within minutes—okay, maybe not, but it certainly seemed that way to me—and I had to return home. Mom hadn’t lifted the restrictions on my house arrest. Too bad.

Susan’s car was gone by the time I got there.
Done kissing my brother?
I thought, annoyed that I’d missed her but glad at the same time because I wouldn’t have to endure watching them being sweet to each other.

Shrugging off my jacket, I kicked off my shoes and then dumped my sweat-soaked jersey and shorts in the laundry. On the way to my room, Ethan emerged from his. My throat tightened in annoyance, because the bastard looked flipping happy. Unable to bear his grin, I avoided his gaze altogether and slammed my door closed behind me.

It didn’t take long—I had hardly glared at the wall over my desk long enough—before the door opened without a warning knock and my brother strode in. My Kobe Bryant ball clutched under his arm, he towered over me, standing at the foot of my bed. My scowl did nothing to send him away.

“What?” I snarled after a while.

Ethan shot the basketball at me. Even though I caught it, the toss was so hard it knocked the air out of my lungs. His face in hard lines
,
Ethan snapped at me, “One. Freakin’. Question.”

“I don’t un—”

“You have one,” he cut me off sharply. “Ask now or never.”

Slanting my head, I studied him for so long, I got a kink in my neck. Was he for real? Sue had won the chess game for me, but he was still going to let me ask? What in God’s name had changed his mind?

My mouth fell open as the truth sank in fast and hard. Ethan had known from the beginning what I wanted to ask him. And the one thing that had changed in the past couple of hours must have been his answer.

Sue had been here, and he was happy when he came out of his room. They’d sorted things out, no doubt. They’d talked about relationships and shit and now they were together. Ethan had finally figured out that he wanted Sue. Great.

“Go away, Ethan,” I mumbled, letting the ball roll out of my hands. It bounced on the floor and rolled toward the open door. “I don’t know what I could ask you that matters now anyway.”

Hesitantly, my brother walked to the ball, picked it up, and studied it for a moment while spinning it slowly in his hands. “That’s it? You pull off this bullshit, offering your holy basketball in a wager, and then you back out?”

What would it change to hear that he wasn’t gay? Nothing. The challenge was lost, and Sue was no longer free.

Why did this simple truth hurt so bad? I’d had no intention of getting too close to her from the start, so a fair retreat for my brother’s sake should be all right now. It should be easy, goddammit.

A sigh escaped me. I dropped my gaze to my hands in my lap, sadly picking at my fingernails. “It is what it is.”

“Yep. So go ahead and ask your stupid question now. Because if you don’t, I’m going to keep the ball anyway.”

Lifting my head, I locked my stunned gaze with his.

Ethan prompted me with an arched brow. But I didn’t need to ask him whether he was gay anymore. The answer was self-explanatory—he was dating Sue. I should get over it and be happy for him. For her, too. After all, she’d gotten what she wanted—the nicer twin. Hopefully Ethan appreciated her. She was someone special and deserved a great boyfriend. Someone who saw more in her than a challenge. Someone who loved her.

And there it was all of a sudden, the one thing I really needed to know. Swallowing hard, I licked my lips and angled my legs to sit Indian-style. After a final, dry cough, I asked my brother, “Are you in love with Sue?”

Ethan sucked in a breath to answer, but then he held it and tilted his head. Yep, he wasn’t prepared for that one.

Almost apologetically, I pressed my lips together and lifted my brows, sighing. It wasn’t cool to admit you’d been chasing after your brother’s girl behind his back, but since this was a moment of pure honesty, it would be unfair to hold back, right?

Narrowed eyes scrutinizing me, Ethan expelled a breath. “No,” he said then, grimacing even more. He made that one word sound like a goddamn question, like it was the last thing on earth he’d expected to have to answer today.

My head started spinning. What in God’s name was going on here?

Shaking his head, Ethan tossed me the ball again and walked out of my room. In the doorway, he hesitated. We stared at each other, both obviously mystified. Then he asked quietly, “Are you?”

Seconds ticked away, and I had no answer. Only the sound of my heart beating loudly in my chest filled my ears.

An odd smile appeared on my brother’s lips before he nodded slightly and disappeared from the threshold, leaving the door open.

“Ethan,” I called out after him. He poked his head in once again, brows lifted in question. A worried sigh escaped me. “If I were…would you mind?”

He laughed and stepped forward, leaning one shoulder against the doorjamb. “Don’t be stupid. If you were, it would hardly be something you could turn off by will, right?”

It felt like he was trying to tell me more with this simple answer than was obvious. That he couldn’t turn off whatever he felt… Was that it? “Probably not,” I agreed in a low voice. “See, it all started with this silly challenge. She was always so snappy, and I just wanted to tease her a little. But now…”

“Now what?”

I inhaled a deep breath and hugged the ball to my chest. “Now, I hate to think about her kissing someone else.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me then. I’m certainly not going to kiss her.”

“Seriously? Because I… I’d really like to go out with her.”

Ethan smiled. “I think you should.”

Ah, if only it was that simple. Courting Sue had seemed like the ultimate challenge to begin with. And then there was still their friendship. “It wouldn’t be a problem for you? I mean, if I tried to steal your girl? You know, I wouldn’t do it if you told me not to,” I added.

Kind of playing the big brother here, Ethan crossed his arms over his chest. “I told you, I’m not in love with her. She understands that we’ll never be a couple. That’s all you need to know, right?”

Jeez, he made it all sound so easy. Could it really be? Warily, I answered, “Rrright.” It wouldn’t be stealing anymore if he gave me permission. But that didn’t mean Susan would let me take her out on a real date in the first place. I hung my head. “I don’t see how I can even start to convince her I’m worth a shot.”

A throaty bark erupted from Ethan’s chest as he laughed at me. “You’ll find a way, bro.” He closed the door, and I was alone in my room, totally derailed.

Spinning the Kobe Bryant ball—which, thankfully, was still my possession—on my finger, I tried to sort my thoughts in a way that made sense. Ethan was no longer mad at me, and his playing around with Sue had come to an end today. What the hell had he told her if not that he wanted to be her boyfriend? He’d looked far too happy for having just had a serious chat like that.

Whatever it was shouldn’t trouble me, as long as Susan Miller was still single and I had the green light to officially court her. Now I needed a plan. Talking to her at school often backfired. She obviously didn’t want to be seen with me, not least of all because of the challenge, I assumed. Even if she started to like me, it would probably be her main plan to hide it and stick with her stubbornness.

Fine. I could be stubborn, too.

The nicest reactions I’d gotten from her were when I talked to her alone, like on the phone or when she was in my house. Best would be if Ethan invited her over again. But I didn’t plan on missing any chance I had to sneak under little Sue’s skin, so I decided to text her tonight as well.

After eating dinner, cleaning the kitchen for Mom since she cooked, and doing my homework, I turned off the ceiling lights in my room and switched on my bedside lamp. It was close to ten. I’d been waiting for hours for this moment.

Settling on my bed, I navigated to texts on my phone and typed a message.

Have fun with my brother today? He came out of his room a happier man. About time too, his cranky mood all Sunday was a pain to cope with.

Staring at the screen after sending it off, I counted the seconds until her reply. The display light went out a couple of times. Each time I swiped my thumb across the glass and waited.

Beep. There! A message from
Ponytail Sue
. My heart beat faster.

We had the best date ever
.
Guess what, we played video games. :P

Ethan had rejected her, and she called it the best date ever? How was that possible?

I began my next text with an emoticon that scratched its head in confusion, because that’s what I was actually doing, too.
I’m starting to believe that playing
Mario Kart
is the only way to seduce you. Never done that before with a girl.
Hmm, maybe that was the crux of the matter.

Sue answered faster this time.
Oh, you should try it. You might be surprised.
And then the corners of my lips tilted up involuntarily as I read her last words.
Sleep tight, sweetness.

Ah, she had me on my knees with that. Shaking my head, I chuckled and wrote:
You stole my line
.

See you tomorrow.