Page 3 of The Brothers Next Door

“It is indeed.”

“How do I know you’re just not saying that.”

“You don’t, but I’m sure she’ll be back eventually, so you can verify it with her when she returns.”

That did seem like something Misty would do. If he turned out to be a wack job, I’d blame her. Of course that would be little consolation if I ended up raped and dead in a ditch somewhere. Shit, I was beginning to sound like my mother. I groaned inwardly. Maybe Misty was right, I’d become too uptight. No matter where I met someone, bad things could happen. It was a chance you had to take when dating. Hell, it was a chance you took going outside each day.

But still… She could have at least told me where she was going to be. She was going to get a sternly worded text when I was through with Nate!

“Don’t worry. I’m sure she didn’t go too far.” He touched my bare arm, his fingertips lingering just above my elbow, and I felt a tremor of heat race through me. When I was with my ex, I hadn’t had physical reactions to other men. My heart, body, and soul had been his. It had been a long, long time since I’d had any type of reaction towards being touched by any other man. If I were to be completely honest with myself, the spark that had originally been with my ex had slowly faded. I wasn’t sure when exactly the attraction for him began to erode; it was such a slow decline that I hadn’t even noticed until we were more like roommates than lovers. Truth was, I’d forgotten how much I liked the feeling of exhilaration that pulsed through my body when someone I desired touched me. When Nate pulled his hand away, I sighed.

Damn, talk about feeling like a schoolgirl. But I didn’t care. This rush felt nice and it made me long for more intimate contact.

Best way to get over a man is to get under another one… Misty’s words rang out in my head. Over and over, her words cycled.

“You all right?”

Nate’s voice drew my attention back to him. I smiled and drank down the remainder of my cocktail, holding up the empty glass. “I think I could use that drink.”

“Great. Don’t go anywhere.”

Drawing my lower lip between my teeth, I nodded. “Promise.”

Turning, Nate began making his way over to the bar, and I watched him from behind. Damn, he was hot. The blue cotton t-shirt he was wearing stretched taut across his shoulders and defined his lean torso. And oh sweet Jesus, that ass. It was round, yet tight, under the dark jeans he was wearing.

“Lucky bitch. If you don’t ride that bronco I’m going to be sorely disappointed.”

I yelped, nearly falling off the stool I was sitting on at the sound of Misty’s voice yelling into my ear. Damn, that girl was stealthy!

“Where’d you go?” I hissed, my eyes narrowing at her.

“Giving you some space to work your magic.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “I have no magic, that’s the problem. If I had magic I wouldn’t have been dumped by my fiancé.” I wished the words hadn’t sprang to my mind, or left my mouth. I was bumming myself out.

“Oh lord, never blame yourself for that idiot’s bad choices.”

But I had. I’d blamed myself over and over again. Wondering what I’d done wrong. I genuinely hoped the self-blame would end soon. No matter how many self-help books I read, or ‘getting over your ex’ blogs I browsed all saying the same thing—“don’t blame yourself”—I still couldn’t help it. Why would he want another woman if I’d been enough for him?

“Oh shit.” Her eyes widened as she looked over my shoulder, and I followed her gaze to see Nate returning with our drinks in hand. “Gotta go. If you need me, text me. But unless you need a ride home after taking the hoochie walk of shame the morning after being royally fucked, don’t you call me.”

“Hoochie walk of fame, really Misty? Have you forgotten we’re no longer college kids?”

She didn’t respond, but spun and took off, disappearing into the sea of people.

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