Page 30 of Quiet Beautiful Things

“Dude.” Dax elbows me. “You’re hot for teacher.”

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t matter. She already shut me down.”

Cooper laughs. “Of course you already asked her out. You wouldn’t be Blake Montana if you didn’t.”

Guilt weighs on me like a ton of bricks. My reputation does precede me. But I’m not that guy anymore. Truth be told, I haven’t been that guy since I graduated. I’m sure it’ll take a lot more than my four-month dry spell to convince anyone else though.

My phone vibrates again, reminding me I didn’t check my previous text.

I pull it out and feel my face twitch when I see who it’s from. Ellie has been sending me links to ASL resources.

“You are completely fucking smitten,” Cooper bellows. “It’s from her, isn’t it?”

“Fuck off,” I snap, putting my phone away. “And who the hell sayssmitten?”

“Hey, you tell Dallas yet?” Dax asks.

“That I have a kid?” My head swivels sharply. “It’s not exactly the kind of thing he’d be excited about considering he lost his own family.”

“He’s your brother, he’d want to know. Even if it’s hard for him to hear.”

“I suppose I’ll have to tell him sooner or later.”

“Better he hears it from you than through the rumor mill,” Cooper says.

The security system chimes as my front door swings open. Lucas walks in, takes in the three of us, and barks at Dax, “Don’t you have a McQuaid to hang out with?”

“Give it a rest, Lucas,” I say, tired over the constant feuding between families in this town.

“Yeah, fuck off, Montana,” Dax says.

I flash Dax a scolding stare. “I said give it a rest. Jesus, there are more important things than the two of you being at each other’s throats.”

Lucas studies me. “As if you don’t hate his derelict brothers.”

“No,” I say staunchly. “I don’t.”

“Well you did last week. What the hell happened to change that?”

I glance at the hall. “A whole hell of a lot.”

Lucas scoffs. “You found out you have a kid and suddenly you’re the family peacekeeper?”

I sigh, tired of this conversation. “Lucas, is there a point to your visit?”

He gives Dax one final glare, then pulls something from his pocket and hands it to me. It’s a wedding invitation.Hiswedding invitation.

I look up, surprised. “Lissa finally let you set a date? I thought she said she’d see hell freeze over first.”

“I wore her down,” he says proudly.

Dax snickers. “Poor girl has no idea what she’s in for. Are you going to even make it to the church this time?”

While I may have a reputation as a player, my brother is the infamous runaway groom of Calloway Creek. He’s left twowomen at the altar—the actual altar, with processional music playing and all. And he broke it off with a third mere weeks before that wedding was to happen. Lissa is the fourth woman Lucas has been engaged to. There are actual bookies taking bets on when and if he’ll bail again.

Lucas points to Dax. “You’re not invited.”

Dax holds up his hands. “Thank God. You’ve just saved me from having to put on a suit and sit in a church wondering if you’ll have the balls to show.”

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