Page 20 of Last Round

No fucking way.Did he know who I was the entire time? Was he actually flirting withmethat night? Not whoever he thought I was? No, he just assumed I was one of the random floosies he could charm into the back office.

The oxygen is sucked out of the room as it spins around me. This is too much. It’s unbelievable.

“I can never have you.” His words pour over me like a bucket of ice water. “But if you think I’ll allow you to dress like this and flirt with douchebags in my bar, well, then you really have been gone too long,firecracker.”

I hold my breath. Desperate for him to make a move. His nose traces along my jaw until he hovers above my lips. I force my eyes to remain open, locked with his. He’s going to kiss me and I don’t want to miss a single detail. I’ll scorch it into my memory, relive it on constant replay for the rest of my life.

He grumbles something under his breath. Something I don’t hear, though I wish I did. It must have been important since he pushes off the shelf. The three steps he takes back feel like a million. “Fuck,” is all he says before storming out the closet.

Like an idiot, I hesitate before chasing after him. Because when I rush out to the bar, he’s gone and doesn’t return for the rest of the night.

As Good as Dead

Killian

Stupidisnowherenearstrong enough an adjective to describe just how royally fucked I am. Dead is more like it. I’m six-feet deep, rotting, a grand feast for all the creepy-crawlies.

Yup, I’m on borrowed fucking time.

Why Sean hasn’t already killed me? I don’t know. All night, I sat in my kitchen as I waited up for him. Prepared to have my best friend bust through my front door, guns blazing. If it weren’t for the bottle of whiskey I grabbed on my way home, I doubt I would’ve gotten any rest. That’s if you can classify barricading yourself in the bathtub and eventually passing out drunk…rest.

Now, here I am, at my bar, what used to be my sanctuary. Looking over my shoulder, waiting for the attack to come. I can’t believe I cornered her like that. Molly looking up at me, her eyes wide as she shivered in terror, is forever engrained in my memory.

I was wrong to assume that the second Molly ran and told her brother what I did, he’d come and murder me straight away. This is Sean. He doesn’t go for the kill when he can sting with the hurt first.

When Molly was thirteen, some jackass senior, who felt emasculated by Molly’s kickass skills at the park, tossed a stick in front of her board. She went flying and broke her arm. After Sean got the call and checked in on her at the ER, her friend gave us the play-by-play of what the fucker did. I vowed to never speak of what happened that night. But let’s just say that the full-ride scholarship that kid was about to have was no longer obtainable, given his hockey career ended abruptly.

So, no, Sean will not go easy on me. He’s going to hit me where it hurts. The only question is where? The bar, the gym, my home. I gulp.My dick.

“Are you okay?” the man himself asks. I look up from the lemons I have been mindlessly slicing to prepare for opening today. His brows are pulled together as he studies me. He leans in, taking a whiff. “Dude,” he scolds. “You smell like a fucking brewery. Go home and sleep it off.”

“I’m good.” I hesitate. My fist clenches around the handle of my pairing blade, just in case things get messy.

“Really?” He quirks a brow at me, crossing his arms. “Are we preparing for a lemon take over?”

“What?” I look down at my station.Shit. I have a giant mountain of wedges. Way more than we will use before they go bad. “It’s summer. They’re refreshing,” I explain with a shrug.

“Yeah, but, dude, that’s a ton. Are you sure you’re feeling all right? You’ve been on edge lately and now you’re coming in drunk at ten in the morning. Not that this is the first time you’ve shown up trashed from the night before. Just… this is different. What’s up?”

Sean’s poker face is top-notch. Usually, he has a tell. When he’s about ready to strike, the left corner of his mouth will lift. His expression has remained… concerned.

“Nothing.” If there’s the slightest chance that God hasn’t forsaken me and by whatever miracle Molly didn’t tell him what I did, what I said, well, I’m not about to confess. Perhaps that’s what the good Lord is giving me an opportunity to do. But I can’t—won’t. If Sean doesn’t know, then he never will. I’ll just apologize to Molly for yesterday, and the other days, and probably the days to come… Drop to my knees, beg for her forgiveness, and do whatever it takes to smooth this over.

Visions of me kneeling with my face buried between those milky thighs sends a signal straight to my dick.Damn it, Killian.I squeeze my eyes shut. Will my mind to think of anything but her.

Sean leans forward and whispers, “Is this about the wedding?” His tone reminds me of Da when he would try to comfort me as a kid. “I know this seems like a big change. But it’s not really. I promise I’m not going to abandon you or anything.”

Risking that this is some kind of setup, I open my eyes. He still has the same worried expression as before. “The thought’s crossed my mind.”

It hasn’t.

Well, not until now. But, shit, he’s right. I’ve been so focused on how Jessica is going to get her claws into our businesses, I never thought about the fact she’s going to steal my best friend in the process. That woman can’t fucking stand me.The feeling is mutual.Still, she’s not going to want me around and will be looking for a way to push me out.

“Dude, we’re brothers. Things will be different, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. We should all do something together. Fuck, that’s perfect.” Sean smiles and pats me on the back. “Tuesday, Dani can manage on her own, and I know Jess is off. We’ll have dinner at the house, all of us, Molly too. Like a proper family.”

Crap, the last thing I want is to be stuck in a room with his she-bitch fiancée and the little sister who’s bound to send me to a special circle of hell Ma never warned me about.

“Sure,” I say and simultaneously seal my fate.

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