Page 13 of Possession

“She’s never going to fill the void. You should cut her loose.” I watched his jaw tick, and I gave him a minute to calm down before I spoke again, “It’s not that bad being alone.”

“Speak for yourself. I think at this point you’d be a better priest than Kieran,” he joked but I could hear the worry laced within the words. He rolled his stool back to admire his work.

“I’m feeling better, Liam. You don’t need to worry about me.”

He placed his machine down on the worktop. “When was the last time you got laid, little brother?”

Paige. It was always Paige. My silence was answer enough.

“That’s what I thought. You don’t date, you don’t fuck, and it’s making you crazy.” He stood, removed his gloves and threw them with force into the trash.

“I’m feeling—”

“Better, yeah, I heard you the first time.” He grabbed the ointment and threw it at me. I caught it and he shook his head. “You have to try. Just try, Dex.”

He was right.

Who will want you?

I closed my eyes briefly, willing away that nagging voice.

“I will.”

Liam stared at me for a few seconds and then nodded. “Alright, then. Let’s get this place cleaned up. Kieran left thirty minutes ago. He texted and said he saved us a table.”

I opened the tube and spread the salve on my skin before I stood to look at it in the mirror. My flesh was red and angry around the thick, dark letters. It looked badass, though, and I allowed myself to smile.

“You going to help me clean or stare at your ugly mug all night?” Liam’s smirk made me laugh.

“Grab my shirt, dick.”

Both of my brothers were drunk. I nursed my bottle of water as I watched them prowl around the bar. Tana sat in the corner eyeing Liam with a sour expression as he whispered into some slutty looking girl’s ear. This wasn’t an O’Connell norm. My brothers didn’t get wasted, and seeing Liam whore himself around, in front of his current girl, it was pissing me off. Kieran was just on the other side of the bar. His smile was fake, and his jaw pulsed as he talked with a few guys I recognized. He’d gone to school with them and, if I remembered correctly, they were assholes. My eyes scanned the group to see if anything seemed off and it was then I spotted her. The girl from the other night. Kate. She stood next to one of the guys, and I swallowed when her dark brown eyes spotted me, too.

Shit.

I dropped my stare back down to my sketch pad. I chanced a glance up again and she was no longer standing by the guys, but I noticed my brother, Kieran, seemed more at ease. I checked on Liam again and my eyes narrowed. He was standing between the stranger’s legs with his mouth on her neck. He stepped away from her and took her hand in his. He looked over his shoulder and gave me a knowing nod. He was leaving with her, and didn’t give a shit about the wake he would leave with Tana who sat alone in the corner. If this was him moving on, I didn’t want any part of it.

“Hey, you.” The voice was familiar.

I turned my head as Liam left through the front door. “Kate, right?”

Her smile was simple. The pink shade of her lips reminded me of the sunset as they pulled up into a dimple. I made myself notice her details. I’d promised to try and she was attractive. I liked that she wore old band t-shirts. Tonight it was a black Joy Division tee. It tented over her tiny frame. She took the seat across from me.

“You remembered.” Her voice was full of hope.

“I did.”

She smiled again, this time it was flirty and it made me uncomfortable. “Drawing?” she stated the obvious and let her eyes fall to my work.

Kate’s black hair was pulled into a loose bun. Stray strands fell every which way, and it reminded me of how Paige’s hair had looked when she would paint. It wasn’t a thought I wanted to have, but the longer I looked, the more I wished her black hair blonde. Kieran’s eyes met mine from across the room. His jaw was pulsing again. For a minute, I thought he wanted to leave. The look he gave me almost pleaded, for what I wasn’t sure. He scanned the room to where Liam had been and then shook his head before resuming his conversation. His posture no longer easy, but steel straight.

Kate’s admiration of my work was short lived as she noticed my attention was not fixed on her, but on someone behind her. She looked over her shoulder and then back at me. “I went to school with those guys.”

“Kieran’s my little brother.”

“Oh, yeah? I can see a resemblance.” She smiled. “Kieran hates those guys, not sure why he’s chatting them up. I used to date the idiot with the fauxhawk.” She rolled her eyes and laughed.

I shrugged. The silence fell between us too easily, and I hoped she would recognize it, but instead she watched me with a quiet effort.

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