Page 2 of The Pinkie Pact

She opened the door, and someone tall strode in, his back to me. He slammed the door behind him. "Jesus Christ, Kara, it smells like a damn dispensary in here. I could smell it in the hallway."

Kara nudged the towel into place, covering the crack under the door. "What areyoudoing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?" he asked, clearly disgusted.

I studied the back of his head and body, trying my best to be invisible. He towered over his sister, his head of brown hair looking down at her with what I could only imagine as complete loathing.

"You know Mom will kill you if you do anything out of line right now, so close to her re-election," he said.

Her re-election? Even my slow-ass brain had caught that.

"I'm not going to get caught, so you can just relax," Kara said, hands on her hips, returning his angry tone. "Don't you have some studying to do or something?"

"This isn't about me. This is about you. Mom and Dad asked me to look after you. No one wants a repeat of last year."

I sat there staring and trying to follow the conversation. Last year?

"That's not going to happen again. And you know what? You can go fuck yourself, Mr. Perfect. I don't need a babysitter. If Mom and Dad have a problem, they can tell me themselves."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure they have. And that's why I'm here, just to remind you because they have even less time than I do."

Kara looked down. "Yeah. You don't need to remind me."

That was interesting.

The brother dude sighed. "Look, I don't mean to be such a hard-ass. I just know how important this election is. Not just to our family, but to the entire country. Mom really, really,reallyneeds to hang onto her seat. I don't have to explain the political ramifications to you if she doesn't, do I?"

At that last condescending little bit, Kara raised up her head, the fight back in her. "Believe me, I know. I know all about the politics of it all, you asshole."

He sighed again, and I couldn't help noticing the tension in his broad shoulders. And then I noticed all of him, the way his arms strained against his shirt, how fit he looked from behind.

And even though I was crouching still unnoticed on my bed and apparently forgotten completely by Kara, I was kind of dying to see his face.

He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "Sorry. I'm just beyond stressed out. Between law school and helping Mom campaign, not to mention dealing with Christina..." he muttered that last part under his breath. "I'm just..."

He didn't finish the sentence, and I wondered what he was going to say. But I never found out because right at that moment, Kara made eye contact with me and let out a gasp like she'd finally realized I was there.

Oh, shit. I'd just been made.

The nameless brother whirled around to face me, and I couldn't breathe because the greenest eyes pierced mine. Glancing away, I bit down hard on my lip, my heart pounding out of my body.

Shit, shit, shit. Why did he have to be so damn gorgeous?

"Let me guess? You're the new roommate?" he said, his voice dripping with disdain.

Kara rushed over. "Take it easy on her, Kieran. She's really nice."

"I'm sure," he said, staring me down with icy eyes as he moved toward me. "And a great influence I see."

Yeah. I'm right here. Just really stoned.

He walked even closer and stuck out his hand. I stared at it. Did he really expect to shake my hand after saying that? I returned his glare, refusing to say a word or take his hand.

"This is Sky," Kara said.

I glanced away again, not able to take that intense look as he studied me. I really regretted smoking that jay right about now. Because if I hadn't, I would have totally kicked his ass.

After a few heartbeats, he finally turned around and walked back toward the door, shaking his head. "I've got to go. Don't forget the event tonight. You can bring a friend if you want. Preferably someone nice who won't get into trouble," he added pointedly right before he kicked the towel aside and wrenched open the door.

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