Page 72 of Dual Surrender

“You don’t even know him,” I snapped.

“I don’t like what he does to you.”

“He makes me happy.”

Colton rolled his eyes. “The other things.”

“Iaskfor those things. If you don’t like him then you can’t like me. And if you’re going to be like this the whole time I’m here, I’ll just get a hotel.”

“You came out here to stay with me, you’re staying with me,” he said.

“I don’t want to stay with you if this is how you’re acting.” My fingernails dug into my palms. “I have too much going on at home. I can’t do this with you.”

Colton exhaled loudly, but didn’t say another word the rest of the drive and neither did I.

Cherry Creek was a gorgeous town, with a big hotel and a typical looking Main Street. Colton didn’t point out any landmarks as we drove through and out of town to the house he and Darius had bought when they relocated. It was cute and small, and Colton parked and exited the car without a word.

This was the Colton I remembered from college. Impulsive and tempestuous, and I was curious to see if Darius had managed to throttle him at all. I grabbed my bag from the back seat and followed the path Colton had taken as he stormed into the house, lugging my suitcase up the front steps.

“You made it,” Darius’s honeyed voice said from the front door, and I looked up, finding a sympathetic expression on his face.

“I can go to the hotel we passed.” I gestured over my shoulder. “I don’t want things to be weird.”

“He’ll get over it,” Darius assured me. “He’s just protective of you. He always has been.”

“Yeah, and we’re adults now.” I followed him into the little bungalow and didn’t fight when he took my suitcase out of my hand.

“Let me show you the guest room,” he said.

I followed him down the hallway, past two closed doors and through the only other doorway in the house. I assumed we’d passed their bedroom and the bathroom, which meant Colton had locked himself away rather than face me.

“Home, sweet home.” Darius rolled my bag into the room and set it by the door.

The room was quaint, like the rest of the house. A full size bed took up most of the room, but a big window offered a lot of light and a lovely view of the mountains. I sat on the edge of the bed and the frame creaked and groaned beneath my weight.

“Thanks, Darius,” I said, scrubbing my hand down my face and looking out to the mountains. “I really appreciate you letting me stay here.”

“You’re practically family. You always have been.” He leaned against the door frame. “You don’t need an invitation or a reason.”

“Debatable,” I muttered.

“Do you want to chat a bit? Have some food? Or do you want some time to settle in?”

“If you want to show me around the kitchen, I can make something for myself. I don’t want to put you out.”

“Nonsense.” He gestured over his shoulder. “You’re family, but you’re a guest. I can make us some sandwiches.”

On the way back down the hallway, he banged on one of the closed doors with the side of his fist, yelling, “Lunch in ten.”

Colton answered him with the same silence he’d given me, and I followed Darius into the kitchen. Small, like the rest of the house, with a breakfast bar and two stools that faced the sink and a butcher-block countertop. He pointed to one of the stools before walking into the kitchen and pulling open the fridge.

“Did you want a BLT?” he asked, not looking up from the drawers and shelves inside.

“You don’t need to go to all that trouble.”

“It’s no trouble. Besides, didn’t you know? Bacon is an aphrodisiac. Nothing thaws Colton’s heart like some fatty pork strips.” Darius tossed a package of bacon onto the counter and produced a head of lettuce and a tomato.

“I can cut,” I offered, but he waved me off.