Page 68 of Falling for my Brother's Best Friend

Twenty-One

Savannah

We arrive at a bar on the side of a highway way out of town and park in the long line of bikes already there. From the huge building hangs a banner with a picture of the deceased trooper and his family. Liam fist-bumps a few people on our way to the registration table, but he doesn’t introduce me. I catch lingering gazes with silent questions in them. Spotting me in this crowd is as easy as finding a burned piece of white rice in a bowl. Maybe coming here was a mistake.

At the table, he says, “Liam Kelly,” and the woman places a checkmark next to his name and hands him two tickets. “Thanks.”

He leads me away, only millimeters of space between us, and we end up in a circle of guys who look super familiar, but I can’t place them.

The big one with a black leather vest that doesn’t cover his stretched stomach raises his water in greeting. “Kelly!”

“Hey, Slim,” Liam says. “I had no idea you guys were doing this one.”

Slim eyes me up and down with a slow creeping grin. “This your girl?”

“Me? Oh—”

“Yeah.” Liam places his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side.

I draw back and look for some silent non-verbal reason why he’s lying. But with the way Slim’s vision has zeroed in on my chest, I think I’ll go with it.

“Didn’t know you’d put the handcuffs on,” another guy to my right says. He isn’t as scary as Slim. At least he smiles at me and looks me in the eye.

“News to me too.” A brunette two people over from Slim, standing next to another brunette, examines me as though I’m less than nothing.

Liam’s hand grows tighter on my hip. “Nina.” Her name comes off his tongue like vinegar.

She’s wearing a leather vest, but it’s shorter than Slim’s. All she has underneath is a halter top that barely contains her boobs and shows off her flat stomach. I glance down at my jeans and plain white T-shirt. I was going to wear a black T-shirt, but Liam said that it would be too hot. Now I just feel out of place.

“Liam,” Nina seethes.

My gaze shifts between them. I’m uncomfortable with whatever subtext is going on that I’m unaware of. I realize in this moment that Liam has or had a whole other set of friends I knew nothing about.

“I told Kathy we’d find her before the ride starts. I’m sure we’ll see you at a stop or something.” Without waiting for a goodbye, Liam walks us away.

“Who is Kathy?”

“An old friend,” he mumbles, his hand still not leaving my hip.

“An old friend like Nina?” I snipe.

He stops me by the end of a table where they’re serving fresh fruit, pastry items, and drinks. Turning me so my back is to the table and he’s in front of me, his hands land on my hips. “Nina was a long time ago, so you don’t have to worry about her. I lied because Slim likes the new girls. He wouldn’t have left you alone the entire ride even if Nina’s riding on the back of his bike. This way he knows you belong to me, and he’s not one to try to take what isn’t his.”

I lean back to look in his eyes, and there’s sincerity there. “I wouldn’t have allowed him to take me anyway.”

He shakes his head. “I know that, but it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t try. Is it so horrible to act like my girlfriend all day?”

No. Not at all.

Shit.

Yes, it is.

“All those people, aren’t they your friends?” I ask.

“Not much anymore. I run into them sometimes at a bar or something, but I cut ties years ago.”

“Why?”

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