Page 31 of The Breaking Point

“Wrong? No, no.” I pasted a fake smile on my face. “I’m sorry, I just have a lot of things on my mind. But I do want to hear about your new job.”

Will had recently gotten a position at a promising start-up that was making some kind of medical-related app. He proceeded to tell me about how he was struggling to code something or other, while I struggled to stay focused on what he was saying.

And it wasn’t because coding didn’t interest me. It was because I couldn’t stop thinking about Brady. The look on his face when Julia had scolded him like a little kid. Or that he’d refused to say why he’d punched Riley.

I knew he’d done it to defend me. I’d nearly bitten my tongue in half not to say anything, but I could tell that Brady would’ve been pissed if I’d spilled the beans.

Why? I didn’t know. Men were idiots.

“So what is his deal? Your foster brother?” asked Will.

I blinked. I stared at Will, confused. “My brother?” I’d never talked about Ben with Will before.

“The hockey player,” Will clarified, his eyes narrowing. “The jerk at your parents’ place.”

“Oh. Brady. He’s not my brother.” I let out an awkward laugh. “I mean, he’s part of the family, kind of. But he’s not my brother.”

Apparently, “the lady doth protest too much” because Will didn’t look convinced. He cleared his throat and stared at his glass of wine.

Will had chosen a nice little Italian place that I’d always wanted to go to. I’d been impressed that Will had remembered because I’d mentioned this place only once, offhandedly.

It also made me feel guilty. Will clearly paid more attention to me than I paid to him.

“Okay, well, Brady. Whoever he is.” Will waved a hand. “What was his deal? Is he always such a jerk?”

“He’s not a jerk,” I snapped. “He’s got a lot going on, that’s all.”

“Okaaaay. But you have to admit, he acted like a Neanderthal. I know he’s a jock ... they’re not known for being that intelligent—”

“Brady is smart. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Will closed his mouth. A blush climbed up my cheeks. Why was I so defensive about Brady?

Hehadbeen an asshole at dinner. He’d acted like he had some right to order me around or that I was out of bounds for bringing my boyfriend to dinner with my parents.

“He has a lot of pressure as a hockey player,” I explained, floundering now. “If the team does badly, they all feel it. They could lose sponsorships, and ticket sales could tank. It’s a lot of money on the line. And then because he’s famous, people always want something from him. He doesn’t trust people. Would you, if everybody thought they could gain something if they got close to you?”

Will looked uncomfortable. “I wasn’t born yesterday, babe. I know that a lot of people are shitty.”

I was glad when the server came with our appetizers right then. I busied myself with eating the bread while Will gazed morosely down at the antipasto platter.

After that, Will avoided the subject of Brady and hockey. Which meant he didn’t ask me about my internship. Instead, he asked me generic questions: my dream vacation, my favorite restaurant lately, my favorite authors, and whatnot.

I felt a bit like I was being interviewed. I nearly teased Will about it, but I stopped myself. For whatever reason, I didn’t feel like I’d earned that right.

After our entrées, I mentioned that I could go for some tiramisu. But when the server asked whether we wanted to see a dessert menu, Will told him no.

I was about to call the server back when Will put a hand over mine.

“I have dessert for us at home,” he said. His gaze was earnest now.

His hand felt overly warm on top of mine. “Oh. Really?”

“I made tiramisu.” He cleared his throat. “And, um, no pressure, but I wanted to see if you’d like to stay. The night, that is. Not just come over for tiramisu. No pressure, though. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Will knew I was a virgin. I’d been up front about that early on because I knew that it’d freak out some guys. Will had told me that he wasn’t in any hurry.

So why the suggestion now? He said no pressure, but at that moment, I felt a little pressured. Then again, we were at the point in our relationship when a lot of people would’ve slept together already.

---