Page 18 of The Sweet Spot

“Nope. Stop. I don’t want to know. This way I don’t have to lie later.” I take a few steps back. “You stay here.”

He nods but follows my order the same way he would if he was coming to see me at work. Ares is a good guy. A good man, really. He just gets a bad rap from hanging out with the wrong people. He lets people assume the worst and never corrects them. But I see him, even if very few others have taken the time to look past the party boy headlines.

“For what it’s worth, you’d be good for her.”

Ares’s ever-present grin slides into place. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Doc.”

It’s my turn to smile. “Don’t hurt my friend, god of war,” I warn before turning down the hall.

Gracie’s door is cracked open, and I knock once, then pop my head in. “Hey. I’m heading out.”

She’s lying on her bed in a white robe, her skin pink from the shower, looking as drained as I feel, but she manages to push herself up when she sees me. “You look pretty. Going somewhere fun?”

I walk over and tug her hair out of the messy bun on top of her head and fluff it around her shoulders.

“What the hell?” Grace laughs as she smacks my hands away.

I quirk a brow and purse my lips to hold back my laugh. “Don’t ask me where I’m going, and I won’t ask you why Ares is standing in our new living room,” I offer her as a truce instead.

“What?” She pops up to her feet, straightening her robe and giving me her complete attention now with that new small nugget of information. Grace’s eyes grow wide before settling into their own deviousness. “Wait... so you’re going to see a man?” Gracie may be the quiet twin, but she’s certainly not a stupid twin. Neither she nor Everly could ever be called that.

The thing is, I’m not ready to talk just yet.

Instead, I shake my head and place my pointer finger in front of my lips. “See you bright and early tomorrow for your evaluation, good twin.”

I walk away, smiling.

If all goes well tonight, maybe it won’t exactly be bright and early...

BRYNLEE

Some girls grew up wanting to be the princess saved from the dragon by the handsome prince. I wanted to be the dragon slayer. Now... I want to be the dragon rider. I guess I can thank romance books for that evolution.

—Brynlee’s Secret Thoughts

Fifteen minutes later, I find myself listening to the last chapter of the epic fantasy romance I’m currently binging on Audible. And okay, so maybe... just maybe, I’m using it as a stalling tactic while I sit parked in front of the Kroydon Hills Plaza Hotel. The last few words of the book play out on my Bluetooth before I wipe an errant tear from my cheek. Damn it. I swear I always cry when I’ve invested so much time in a series, and the hero and heroine finally get their happily ever after.

I grew up watching the most modern fairytale imaginable play out between my parents.

Their love was tangible.

It had its own heartbeat.

My father encouraged my mother to be the strongest woman in any room but never let her forget he was always going to be there, standing next to her, holding her hand, and giving her his strength when she needed it.

Scarlet Kingston was the original dragon rider in my eyes.

You’d think that would make me a daydreamer, desperate for her chance at the kind of love I grew up watching. And maybe I was at some point. But life seems to have other plans for me.

Plans that might not look the way I thought they would.

Plans that I’m still trying to come to terms with.

As the credits roll on my book, I push the button to turn off my car and silently count to ten, giving myself an out.

Right now, Deacon Kane doesn’t know I’m here.

We haven’t crossed any weird work lines, and we don’t owe each other a single thing.

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