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Lucas jumped from his chair as he rushed to comply. He paused by the door though and turned back to Cole. “I’m watching you, Kingston,” he warned. “Don’t mess around with Madi.”

“I won’t,” Cole agreed.

“Good,” Lucas said, smirking as he disappeared from the room. I frowned as I looked after him. I’d never heard him talk about me like that before.

“It really was nice to see you here, Cole,” Mom said, hovering at the kitchen counter for a moment. “Please remember you’re welcome here any time.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Matthews. I will,” he replied. “And thank you for the cookies. They really are the best.”

She nodded, a small blush warming her cheeks at his compliment, before following my brother from the room. Cole watched her leave, and as soon as the front door closed behind her, he turned to me with a cocky smirk spread across his face.

“Your mom loves me.”

“My mom doesn’t know the real you,” I replied.

His smile grew broader, and he pushed off his chair, taking several steps around the kitchen bench to come and stand before me. I had to reach my head back to look him in the eyes, and I tried to ignore the way my stupid heart stuttered at his closeness. He was making me nervous, but I couldn’t understand why. It wasn’t like I was afraid of him. Maybe my pulse had quickened because my body was readying for a fight.

He moved in closer to me, and I took a step back, jarring up against the wall behind me. He placed one hand against the wall, just above my head, and leaned in close. “What’s not to love?”

“You want a list?” I replied.

“Sure,” he gave me an indulgent smile. “Let’s hear your list.”

I huffed out a breath, again wishing he wasn’t so close. His proximity was distracting me, and I was so focused on the fact he was invading my personal space that my quick retorts were becoming sluggish.

“Well, to start with, you’re rude,” I eventually said.

“Only to you, kitten. Everyone else loves me.”

“You’re arrogant,” I continued, marking the quality off on my finger.

“I have every right to be. I’m brilliant.” He grinned.

“You’re a man-whore.”

“You listen to too much gossip.”

I shook my head in disagreement, but I refused to be derailed. “And you’re not as hot as you think you are.”

He laughed out loud and stood back, giving me room to breathe once more. “Now you’re just making things up.”

I shrugged. “You just don’t do it for me.”

“Sure I don’t. I bet you have naughty thoughts about me just like all the other girls do.”

“You’re disgusting.” I scrunched my nose up. “Every word that comes out of your mouth is riddled with dirty undertones. I’m going to need to sanitize the kitchen and my ears.”

He laughed; smiling at me like it was cute I thought he was a scumbag.

“Okay, you need to leave now,” I said. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. His smile was genuine and totally disarming, and I wanted it nowhere near me. He needed to save it for the girls in his stupid competition.

“Aren’t you enjoying my company?” he asked.

“You barged into my house, flirted with my mom, stole my cookies and now you’re invading my personal space. You think I enjoyed all that?” I asked.

He paused and tilted his head as if he was thinking the question over. “Yeah,” he replied. “I think you enjoyed all of it.”

I shook my head at him. “Get out of here, Cole.”