Page 42 of Bad Luck Club

She’d texted Lee earlier to offer him a ride, explaining the Cluster’s tricky location, and it had taken him a half hour to respond. When he finally did, it was with a simpleOK, followed by a more confusing message.I’m here alone.

She’d given herself heart palpitations trying to parse that—did he want her to come over early so they could finish the first step of Bad Luck Club? While he’d shared parts of his story, there was plenty that had been left unsaid.

Or maybe he wanted to talk about what had happened between them last night.

Before she could ask if she should come over early, for whatever reason, he added,I’ll see you at two forty-five.

I’ll be punctual, she typed back. No backing into me this time.

She’d hoped he’d respond to that in some way, but he hadn’t even sent an emoji. Not that he seemed like the emoji type. Maybe he was holding back because he thought she still had a boyfriend. Or he might regret the whole enterprise.

She’d arrived at his house at two forty-four. He hadn’t invited her in. In fact, he’d emerged from his house the moment she pulled into the drive, locked the front door behind him, and then silently climbed into the car. He hadn’t said anything at first, so she hadn’t said anything—she’d just started driving.

He was a tall man, and his presence was a warm throb next to her. Every now and then, she couldn’t help but look at him, taking in a flash of his strong chin. His high cheekbones. That thick hair. Those hazel eyes stippled with a mesmerizing whirl of colors she was tempted to use in one of her pieces.

“We didn’t really finish last night,” she said, her mind immediately flashing to the moment before her phone rang, when Lee’s breath had feathered her neck, his arms wrapped around her, pressing her against him. His arousal. Hers.

He grunted. “No, I guess we didn’t.”

But he didn’t rush to say anything else, and she didn’t think it would be appropriate for her to voice any of the questions she hadn’t had a chance to ask.

“Let’s just tell Bear that we did.”

He grunted in assent, and it was silent between them for a few minutes as Blue turned onto the twisty road that would get them to the Cluster. She felt Lee next to her, but those vines that had grown between them last night, twining them together, had slackened. Or maybe they’d even slipped off.

She’d done that, with her talk of Dan.

Radical honesty.

If she was going to ask for it, she had to give it.

“So…” she started, then found herself blurting out, “I haven’t told Maisie or your sister yet, but I met Dan for breakfast this morning to break up with him, and I found out he was married.”

“What? Seriously?” His attention snapped to her, and she shot him a quick glance before looking back at the road. “And you didn’t know?”

“No!” she said emphatically. “Absolutely not. I mean, he never invited me to his house, but I didn’t think it was a big deal. It…it wasn’t serious. I liked that he didn’t seem to want much from me, that he always gave me the space I needed.”

“Because of Remy.” He said it with complete understanding, and just like that, she felt those vines perk to life.

“Because of Remy,” she agreed. “It never occurred to me he might bemarried. He says they were separated, but I have my doubts. It makes me sick to think his wife doesn’t know about any of it.”

“I’m sorry, Blue.” He said the words intently, with meaning, and she felt them in every inch of her body.

She also felt what he didn’t say.

He was sorry for what she’d been through, and for what it had made her feel, but he wasn’t necessarily sorry it was over between her and Dan.

“You said you intended to break up with himbeforeyou found out.” It was a statement rather than a question, and when she chanced a quick glance at him, she saw he was staring at her. There was heat behind that look, but it was the kind of heat that made her shiver. Eyes back on the windshield, she kept going.

“I did. Sharing my story with you last night helped me realize there was nothing between Dan and me. It only felt safe to date him because I wasn’t really invested in it…but that’s the same thing as giving up. If I don’t want you to do that, I can’t do it either.” She smiled ruefully. “Plus, I didn’t want to mislead him. Funny, isn’t it?”

“No, I wouldn’t call it funny.” His voice was low and husky. “Last night helped me realize a lot of things too. Things between Georgie and me haven’t been good for a long time, not since we were kids. My dad was always after me to get better grades than her, to be tougher than her. It created a wedge. I didn’t support her like I should have when she launched her first company. I actually tried to talk her out of it. And I never congratulated her when she sold it for a huge profit.” He was quiet for a few seconds, then added, “The stupid thing was, I really was proud of her. I just didn’t know how to tell her.”

She felt his eyes on her again, and her heart leapt up, somewhere in the vicinity of her throat. Those vines were cinching tighter.

“I talked to her last night,” he continued, “actually talked to her. And I un-quit my job. Temporarily at least. So…thank you for that.”

“I didn’t do any of that, Lee.Youdid. You had it in you all along.”

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