Page 28 of Falling for my Brother's Best Friend

Nine

Liam

My gaze darts to the microwave clock—again.

Midnight.

Fuck, I did the wrong thing. I shouldn’t have stripped off my shirt. I shouldn’t have challenged her and sent her off with another man. What the hell was I thinking?

I throw myself on the couch and click on the TV with the remote to try to find something to distract me.

Denver barrels down the stairs, dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Nothing suggests he’s going out except for the fact that his unruly hair is styled. “I’m heading to Lucky’s. Wanna come?”

“Nah.”

He opens the fridge and grabs a beer, then sits on the couch before cracking it open. “Come on. I’m so sick of doing stuff by myself. Rome is busy all the damn time.”

I tip back my own beer. “He does have two kids and a restaurant to run.”

“Still. I only have Juno and Colton, and neither of them look at anyone but each other. I have no wingman anymore.”

I chuckle. “You’ve always done well on your own.”

“Agreed, but you know chicks always come in packs, or pairs at the very least.”

“Maybe you’ll find a new girl in town, like Austin did.”

He’s shaking his head before I finish my thought. “No, that was one of those damn once-in-a-millennium Hallmark movie moments.”

I don’t argue with him, though I’m not sure Hallmark starts their movies with a bang in a Jeep behind a bar.

There was a time I thought maybe Savannah and I would get our Hallmark moment. But the fact is that she’s five years older than me and I’ve been infatuated with her since I was thirteen. Add in the fact that I’m her brothers’ best friend, and I used to worry that she’d never actually notice me. I’ve yearned for her from afar for so long, but her eyes have opened and it’s worse than ever now because she’s purposely dodging me. The other side of the coin is that now I can’t jeopardize my relationship with the Baileys. They’re my family too.

“Well, good luck. Maybe you’ll find a stray cat.”

He downs his beer. “On second thought, I’ll just chill here.”

Hell no he won’t, because as soon as his sister returns from her shitty date, I plan on cornering her. Laying what’s going on between us on the table. Rip my shirt open and let her drool fall to the floor. I’m going to proposition her outright because I’m losing my ever-loving mind.

“Nah, there’s nothing on television and I’m going to head to bed soon.” I put my empty beer bottle on the table and sit up as though I’m going to do exactly that.

“Really? You’re turning into an old man.” He stands.

A good sign. Now he just has to walk toward the door.

“I’m just beat. Hours are killing me.”

“Why aren’t you at the shop tonight?”

His question is a good one. I should be at the shop, but my mind is so spun, I couldn’t work on people. I had no appointments, and Rhys was there for any walk-ins.

“Like I said, I’m tired. I shouldn’t ink when I’m not in the right frame of mind.”

He stares at me for a long time but nods and places his empty beer on the coffee table.

I won’t razz him about not throwing it away as long as he gets the hell out of here.

He stops at the door. “Oh.”

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