Page 12 of I Hate You More

He shouldn’t let himself get goaded into it, Spencer knew, but there was something about Caleb’s expression that got under his skin. It was the satisfied smirk of a man who wascertainSpencer wouldn’t do it. Of the two of them, Spencer was the responsible one, the boring one, the one who knew better than to show off in front of a woman who was the walking definition of trouble.

He was all those things, it was true, but he was still flesh and blood.

And that blood burnedhot.

“Fine.” He didn’t bother rolling up his sleeves or removing his shoes this time. “Thirty more? Go ahead and start counting.”

This time, the push-ups didn’t come easily or make him feel relaxed. He was too aware of Ruby’s presence, of how fixedly she stared at him as he went through the motions.

Thirty push-ups wasn’t a huge strain on his physical resources, so it was over with fairly quickly. He sprang back up to his feet to find that while his brother had moved on to more interesting things, Ruby was still staring.

He expected something caustic to come out of her mouth, but she tilted her head and asked, “How many can you guys do? Like, how high does the number get before you have to give up?”

“I don’t know,” Spencer said honestly. “It was one thirty today, which means it’ll be one forty the next time. I’ve never done more than that.”

“So there’s no forfeiture rule? Like, you have to pay double the money if you fail, or the duct tape line gets moved over a few feet?”

Spencer groaned. “Please don’t give Caleb any ideas—”

It was too late. Caleb already had them. “A forfeiture rule? That’s genius! You’re a genius!”

Ruby started to murmur a protest, but Caleb swooped close and pulled her to his side of the living room. It was such a Caleb thing to do, this impulsive and easy burst of affection, that Spencer wasn’t the least bit surprised when his brother whirled Ruby in a circle and planted a kiss on her parted lips.

“If one of us can’t do the exercise, it’s double the money or the line moves six inches, agreed?” Caleb said as soon he released his hold on Ruby. She looked a little bemused but was otherwise silent.

Which made sense. Caleb had that effect on people. He dazed them,dazzledthem. The only thing Spencer had ever dazzled was a black Lab’s fingernails when she was under anesthesia for a tumor removal.

Caleb extended his hand over the line toward Spencer. It had been so long since Spencer had voluntarily touched his brother that he didn’t immediately reach back.

“Come on.” Caleb wiggled his fingers. “I won’t bite you, and we need a little something to spice up the routine. It’s the perfect solution. I’ve had my eye on that bathroom for weeks.”

Spencer couldn’t think of a way to refuse without looking like a bad sport. Maybe if they didn’t have an audience, if Ruby wasn’t watching to see what he would do… Who was he kidding? He’d have given in anyway. Even after everything Caleb had done, everything he wasstilldoing, Spencer was unable to resist the magnetic pull of him.

He had just slipped his palm against Caleb’s when Ruby interrupted.

“Wait. You don’t have access to the bathroom?” She turned to Caleb with a look of horror. “As in,anybathroom? Ever? Where do you…?”

She followed the line of Caleb’s gaze to the kitchen where, unfortunately, Spencer had caught him using the oversized farm sink as a urinal on more than one occasion. When Caleb’s house arrest was over and he finally moved out, Spencer was going to have to haul out his surgical sterilizer and put every item in that kitchen through it. There was a portable bathroom in the garage, but most days, Caleb was too lazy to go out there.

“Uh, I’ve decided to pass on that drink, thanks.” Ruby shook her head and started inching toward the back door. “We should get started on the dog training.”

Spencer couldn’t help but laugh. At the sound of his deep chuckle, Ruby glanced over. When she’d first come inside, her eyes had seemed to hold all the light in the room. Now that they’d fixed on him, he could feel the air leaving his lungs to join it.

“You’re the one who hired the first dog trainer you could find,” he said, forcing the words out despite the sudden tightness in his chest. “Don’t be mad at me if you get what you pay for.”

With that, he turned on his heel to leave them to their work—or play, if Caleb had anything to say about it.

Which he usually did.

Chapter 5

“Oh, thank goodness, darling. You’re just in time.” Ruby’s mom popped her head out from the kitchen, a beige phone receiver in her hand. “Will you please talk to these people about the electric bill? They keep saying they’re going to cut the power off and plunge me into darkness. It’s inhuman, the things they’ll do to make a buck. Down with capitalism! Eat the rich!”

As these last two remarks were shouted into the phone, Ruby wasn’t surprised to find an incredibly annoyed woman on the other end.

“Yes, ma’am, I am aware that you make minimum wage. No, ma’am, I don’t think it’s effective to shout at customer-service workers.” Ruby stuck her tongue out at her mother, but not until she was sure her mother’s back was turned. Sticking out a tongue was right up there with nail-biting, fidgeting, and blinking too much—all things that marked a pageant score down and were therefore banned under this roof.

Even with her back turned, her mother was a sight to behold. She’d had Ruby at a young age, so she was only forty-six to Ruby’s twenty-eight, but she could easily pass for a decade less. In fact, shedidpass for a decade less. One of her favorite pastimes was to visit bars with her daughter in tow, telling everyone who’d listen that her younger sister had come for a visit. Her hair was a more brittle platinum than Ruby’s honey-tipped curls, and her figure more carefully honed by celery sticks and regular visits to the gym, but no one who saw them standing side by side doubted the sincerity of this claim.