Page 7 of Falling for my Brother's Best Friend

She shrugs, never one to let out her secrets. Juno truly believes she got handed the gift of matchmaking through our genetic ancestry. The other eight of us have either struggled or are currently struggling to find our Mr. or Miss Right, but Juno—

“Hey, ladies,” Colton says, sliding into the booth. Juno’s best friend smiles at me, raising his hand to Nate at the bar.

“Colton, how’s the internship going?” I sip my wine and straighten in my seat as though anything Colton is going to say is the most fascinating thing I’ll hear all night. Anything to distract me from the shrill laughter coming from the pool table area.

“Good. You know Dr. Murray. Stickler for the rules. Mrs. Klein came in with her cat today…”

Colton’s boring story about being a vet intern turns into background noise as Liam’s deep voice sends a shiver up my spine. He’s razzing Denver about playing another round. One last game before they head out.

Head out? As in back to our house, er, his house? I inwardly reprimand myself and make a mental reminder to drill a new asshole into my contractors tomorrow. My entire focus is off. Even at work. Living with Liam is not an option anymore. But if I leave, then I’m admitting defeat. I can already see his cocky smirk as he helps me load my last box into my vehicle.

Screw him.

“Couples?” The woman’s voice is as grating as Janice’s from Friends. I can’t be the only person annoyed by it.

“Perfect,” Denver says. “Can I pick my partner?”

As Colton makes eye contact with me, I shake my head and smile, pretending I’m still paying attention. It’s great that Juno’s so enthralled with his vet stories, but since I’m not much of an animal person, they don’t really excite me.

“And then the cat pisses and Mr. Dweedle’s dog, the German Shepherd…”

Seriously, I can’t sit here anymore. My body is full of nervous energy and I just want to move around.

“Who wants to be my partner?” Denver yells.

Without thinking, I stand. “I’m in.”

“What? Sav?” Juno whines, but I have no control of my body as I make my way over.

Liam’s wearing his classic smile as he tips back his bottle of beer. For a moment, I think I’ve fallen into some trap he’s set, but this is him. Drinking, messing around with my brother, and picking up women. It’s the Liam I haven’t witnessed since I moved in a few weeks ago, but it’s classic Liam Kelly.

“Perfect.” Denver points at me with a big smile.

The girl on the bar stool looks me up and down and whispers something to the one who currently has her fingers resting inside the waistband of Liam’s jeans. I eye her hand and shift my gaze to my brother.

“Who’s this?” the girl who seems to be interested in my brother asks. She must be from a few towns over.

Denver turns back toward her. “She’s my big sister. This is Savannah.” There’s pride in his tone.

“You haven’t picked up a pool stick for a decade,” Liam reminds me. One good thing about looking at Liam now is he’s stepped away from the girl and her hand is on her fruity drink instead of halfway to his junk.

“It’s like riding a bike.”

We used to have a pool table at my parents’, which is now Austin and Holly’s house. Everyone hung out at our home when we were younger. Dad would come downstairs and challenge the guys, which only made them better players as they grew older. Mom would feed everyone snacks. We were the house. Most of our friends would sit and talk with our parents before ever finding whatever sibling they were there to see.

“Let me grab you a pool stick,” Denver says.

“Sav can just pull the stick out of her ass and use that one,” Liam says with a bite to his tone.

“Another?” Nate asks before I can respond.

“Sure.” I have a feeling I’m going to need more wine to get through this.

Nate picks up the empty beer bottles and heads back to the bar.

“I thought we were having a conversation?” Juno says as she and Colton join us, taking a seat at the bar-height table next to the two women.

I shrug. “Well, I wanted to play pool.”

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