Page 62 of Tulips and Lost Time

“Yes.” I hate that she makes me feel stupid. That she simplifies a lifetime of heartache and makes me feel like a fucking idiot. “I was trying to be noble,” I admit, switching feet and tying my second boot, “sending her out into the real world to date other people, even though she was in love with me.”

“And what did that achieve in the end?” She flashes a taunting, beautiful grin that’ll be the end of some other guy.

She’s smart. Witty. Bratty. Crazy. She’s going to make someone very happy someday. But I’m not that someone. Not when my heart belongs elsewhere.

“Luc?”

“It ended with her dating someone else, and me tossing my Thanksgiving dinner onto the ground outside this shitty house.” Done with my shoes, I push up to stand and pat my pockets to make sure I have everything I need.

Liquor bottles litter the floor, and blankets remain strewn in the middle of what I suppose was probably the living room at one point in this house’s lifetime. Random things we’ve left over the years lie around. Hair ties. Socks. Clothes. Pillows. The mess we leave behind today will be no different to the mess we’ve left behind before, so I don’t bother cleaning up.

Instead, I dig my hands into my pockets and skulk toward the door. “Let’s walk. I’ll come back later and get my bike.”

“Sounds to me like you’re bitter and jealous.”

“Yeah, smartass?” I hold the broken door and draw it shut as Britt steps out ahead of me. “How do you suppose that is?”

“Well… did you actually expect her to go out and date, like you told her to? Or were you hoping she’d wait for you, to prove you’re the one?”

I trudge down the front steps and onto the hard packed driveway someone will clear out someday. Maybe. They might even concrete it, before bringing this old house back to its former glory.

“Luca…?” Britt saunters, swinging her hips and glancing over her shoulder to search my eyes. “Bitter? Jealous?”

“Sad,” I clarify. “Because I’ve only ever tried to do the right thing by her. But every step I take pushes us further apart.”

17

LUC

WHAT WAS THAT THING I SAID ABOUT SURPRISES?

“You’re a whole Doctor Phil mess,” Kane rumbles. Though his lips curl high with playfulness. “Your entire family is chaos. And that includes the woman I coerced into saying ‘I do’.”

“Yep.” I glance out the windows as the early morning sun finally, barely tickles the horizon and teases the start of a new day. Billy has slept damn near the whole way through, and yet, I’m not sure she spent any of it not touching me or Bish. “This is what happens when a group of dudes all have sisters, and all those guys and girls grow up together. Relationships get blurry and sibling protectiveness feels weird when people cross the line.”

“Can’t say I’ve ever had that problem,” he chuckles. “I only have one brother. And I sure as shit have no sisters.”

“Two.”

He frowns, a deep line etched into the middle of his forehead. “What?”

“You have two brothers.” I feel, for a moment at least, a little humor flittering into my heart. “You forgot Griff.”

“Oh, well…” He shrugs. “I guess. Though we didn’t meet till we were adults. So it kinda doesn’t feel like it counts.”

“It would count if he was a chick, and you slept together.”

At that, Kane throws his head back and laughs. “This is true. Though thank Christ, neither you and Britt, nor you and Kari, share parents. Shit gets messy real fast in small towns.”

“Yeah. It does. Especially when you and your entire friend group stay in the same town forever. We’re forced to watch our sisters date. We’re limited in who we can date. And shit, in this town, sometimes we end up dating people our friends have dated, simply because the pickings are slim.”

“Which is precisely why you sent Kari away.” He picks up his coffee mug and glances inside, though I know the contents will be cold. “You wanted her to see what existed outside of this place.”

“Fat load of good that did me. She ended up with a dude with a ten-inch wiener, and I had another giant secret to keep from a different friend. That’s two.” I bring my free hand up and present two fingers. “Four guys in the band, Kane. Three of us had sisters. I crossed the line twice, with two different friends’ sisters.”

“Which is precisely why I’m thrilled I don’t have a sister.” He flashes a playful smile. “Luca Lenaghan can’t be trusted, evidently.”

“The secrets were kept, for quite a few years. And Britt held her tongue for a long time. Until she didn’t, anyway.” I bring my hand up and run my fingers over my forehead in remembrance. “Everything was mostly calm after that night.”

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