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Kian glanced at me. “I’m your loved one, huh?”
I didn’t answer.
He parked the car and got out, striding off so gleefully I was surprised he wasn’t skipping and clicking his heels together in midair. I trudged along behind him.
He glanced back over his shoulder. “You could just learn to love browsing the aisles. Picking out new power tools makes every day better.”
I begged to differ, but whatever. Kian shoved a cart in my direction with a warning not to ram the backs of his heels like I’d done when we were in ninth grade.
The memory amused me. “I was hoping if I injured you bad enough, we’d get to leave before you moved into aisle twenty-seven and built yourself a nest.”
He shot me a look. “Ha ha. Hilarious.” But then his eyes got a faraway expression in them. “If I lived here, I could make so much stuff. I’d be the king of DIY.”
I grabbed the list from his hand, knowing if I didn’t take over the show we’d be here until closing. “Batteries. Tile adhesive. Oxy-something or other…”
“Oxyanedride. It’s a pool cleaner.”
“Right, I knew that.”
“You’ve never cleaned the pool once in your thirty-one years. How would you know that?”
He had a point. “Fine. I’ve never cleaned a pool. I’ve never had to cook or clean for myself. I’m spoiled white trash. Happy?”
Kian sighed. “No, not happy. I don’t live to piss you off, Vaughn. Though apparently, I’m not the only one who makes you all grouchy. What was with you not even saying goodbye to Rebel this morning?”
“Didn’t realize that was in our roommate handbook.” I strode away with jerky steps, taking the trolley with me. I wasn’t even sure why I was being so pissy. Might have had something to do with Rebel. Might have been the uncomfortable feeling I got in the pit of my stomach every time I thought about taking her to that party tonight.
Might have been Kian potentially murdering my father.
Or him checking out a guy right in front of me. None of them were exactly my idea of a good time.
When Kian caught up to me, he had a bucket of tile adhesive in his hand. He put it down in the shopping cart, then jumped in front of it so I couldn’t push it any farther. I tried to reverse, but he wouldn’t let the cart go.
“You like her,” he declared. “You like her, and it’s killing you to watch her with another guy.”
That was easier than admitting I was still gutted from the way she’d pulled away from me this morning. And that him checking out guys kinda pissed me off.
“Yeah, well, you like her too,” I grumbled.
To my surprise, Kian nodded. “She’s gorgeous. And funny. I like having her around.”
“She hasn’t got a dick,” I added on bluntly.
He raised an eyebrow. “Could you be any more jealous?”
“What the hell do I have to be jealous of?”
“That guy out there in the parking lot… Just ’cause I check out a guy doesn’t mean shit. And anyway, how do you know she hasn’t got a dick? She could be trans.”
“And I could be the fucking prime minister of Mars. I’ve seen her naked, Kian. Trust me, there’s no dick.”
Kian could barely conceal his grin. “When did that happen?”
I shrugged. “At Fang’s clubhouse the other night.”
“You get her off?”
“What? No. He did.”