Page 64 of Bad Luck Club

Adalia had the grace to give her a slightly guilty look. “He likes you, Blue. You’re good for him, whether it’s as a friend, or a…” She gave her a big, cheesy wink. “Whatever you two crazy kids decide to get up to. And I can tell you care about him too. There’s no other reason you’d go to such lengths to avoid talking about him. Will you please just sit with him for a minute? No longer than it takes me to bring Tyrion around the block. I figured maybe he could sit in on our meeting too. If you’re comfortable with it.”

Blue took another deep breath—in and out—before nodding. “Okay, but please don’t back me into things like this, Addy. It brings up memories that aren’t great.”

Not that she thought Adalia was anything like her father, or Remy for that matter, but even so.

A little more guilt flickered in Adalia’s eyes. “I’m sorry. Next time I set you up, I’ll tell you first. Unless it’s a glitter bomb. Those should always come as a surprise.”

“I find that strangely reassuring,” Blue said, stepping aside as her friend slipped past her with Tyrion.

Adalia glanced back. “Does it count as part of the original setup if I have something else up my sleeve?”

“No.”

“Well, consider this your fair warning that I’m not quite done for the day.” Then Tyrion gave her a tug, and she was off down the block.

Great. Not that she’d expected anything less.

Blue’s heart pounded as she walked in and shut the door behind her. When she got to the kitchen, Lee was pacing with a cup of coffee. He stopped in his tracks the instant he saw her. Her first thought was that he was in jeans and a button-down—the most casual outfit she’d ever seen him in and, truthfully, the closest he’d probably ever come to the graphic T-shirt look she’d challenged him to wear. Her second thought was that his soul was in better alignment. Still not where it needed to be, but the work he’d been doing for the past week and a half was good for him.

Purpose. Everyone needed one. She’d lost hers with Remy, so she knew.

Somehow Bad Luck Club had prompted this change, whether he realized it or not.

“Lee,” she said. “I didn’t know you were going to be here. Addy asked me over to discuss an issue I’m having with my studio.”

“Yeah. She said.” He opened his mouth, then shut it, like he wasn’t sure what to say. Was that all he was giving her?

They’d gone from radical honesty, to this?

Finally, he said, “I told you I was going back to the brewery. Working sales for them has turned out to be a big job.” There was a hint of defensiveness in his tone. “I’ve been going around to all of our old accounts, trying to get them to change their minds about us.”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, anger welled up in her—not unlike the anger that had leaked out in An Egg-Cellent Adventure. The thick, molten wave of it shocked her. She thought she understood what Lee was going through, the complicated layers of what he was feeling, but why wasn’themaking an effort to understandher? Why should she always have to be the one to bend, to be accommodating, to benice? “Well, you don’t need to worry about me trying to get you to change your mind about the club, or me. You’ve made itveryclear you want nothing to do with any of us.”

His eyes filled with surprise, followed quickly by regret, but defensiveness and anger were quick to follow. “That’s rich. One minute you were kissing me in the car, the next you were pushing me away and announcing to your friends that I was a project.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” she asked, hearing her voice rise. Her arms cinched closer to her sides, creasing the folder. “I didn’t mention you by name! Intentionally! None of them had any idea what I was talking about. Augusta tried to get me another demerit.”

“Bear knew what you meant,” he said, his nostrils flaring.

“Because he’s my sponsor. He’s the one who gave me the challenge.”

Another grunt. “The challenge to find a pity case and rope him in as a new recruit?” He set his coffee cup down on the island with a resounding clack. “Is that why you kissed me?”

Rage washed through her again, even hotter because she found herself soaking him in—his slightly ruffled hair, the way those jeans hugged his legs in just the right places, the slight opening in his shirt. Those hazel, star-flecked eyes. Over a week later, she could still feel his lips on hers, on her neck. She wanted to tug him to her again so it wouldn’t just be a fantasy. “Youkissedme! And there are about a dozen different ways I could have fulfilled that challenge that wouldn’t have entailed bringing in a new recruit. I could have given someone a cup of coffee. I could have offered to walk Tyrion for Adalia. I didn’thaveto bring you. I brought you because Ilikedyou. And if you think the club’s just for pity cases, that we’re all pathetic, then you’re saying that’s true of me too. This wasn’t about controlling you. I didn’t strong-arm you—Iinvitedyou. I thought it would be good for you, even if it meant…”

She felt herself flushing, which only made her angrier.

“Likedme, past tense?” he asked, tilting his head. There was a different look in his eyes now, almost predatory. She found herself remembering the way he’d pulled her onto his lap, the confidence of those strong hands.

Some of the anger melted away, the heat of it transforming into a desire she was no more comfortable with. “You know I liked you. Itoldyou. Which is why you shouldn’t have immediately assumed the worst of me.”

He rubbed his forehead, as if cleaning his third eye, and everything in her attuned to the motion. That was good.

“Yeah, maybe. It’s hard for me to trust people, Blue. You know why. It’s not just…I’m not sure I ever learned how.”

“It’s not going to get any easier for you if you keep pulling away from the people who want you in their lives. Trust me. I spent a year and a half doing that after I left Pennsylvania, and I’d never felt so alone in my life.”

His eyes fixed on her, studying her, seeming to see into her soul. “And do you still want to be in my life after I screwed up?”

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