Page 24 of So Bad It Must Be Good

“Dinah, I don’t want to be bulldozed anymore.”

“Then don’t. Come to dinner, and if I start talking Gallagher’s, you have my permission to walk the hell out. Or smack me. Something. You don’t have to sit there and take it.”

Kayla opened her mouth to argue, but Dinah was already continuing on.

“Actually, screw that. You don’t need my permission to walk out because it’s your life and you get to do whatever you want. I’m just asking to spend my birthday with my best friend, and if you say no, I’ll let it be. But I wasn’t going to not ask.”

“I’ll think about it,” Kayla said meekly, then frowned at that note in her voice. This wasn’t about what Dinah wanted. It was about what she wanted to do. And it wasn’t . . . It wasn’t like Dinah was trying to do something to her. She was trying to repair a friendship.

Maybe, just maybe, one Kayla had been at fault for ruining. She’d blamed Dinah’s hardheaded obsession with Gallagher’s deep down, but maybe it was as simple as the fact that Kayla had taken it.

She’d never said no or walked away or stood up for herself. She’d cowered and let herself be swept along.

“Actually, I don’t need to think about it. I’ll come. I’ll be there.” And if Dinah tried to bulldoze her, she wouldn’t run away, and she wouldn’t lay down so it could flatten her so easily. She would be brave, damn it.

“Friday then, at six. Carter’s—well, our house.”

Kayla might have spent a lot of time away from Dinah the last few months, but she still knew her cousin. She knew she was excited.

“Dinah . . . Are you happy with him?” Kayla asked. Although she felt timid prying into Dinah’s love life, she was curious. And she was going to be brave in all things.

“I’ve never been happier,” Dinah replied earnestly.

“Even . . . Even though you aren’t director of operations at Gallagher’s?”

“Yeah, I mean, it’d be nice because your dad’s decisions leave a lot to be desired, but it’s not the everything I thought it was. Not the position anyway and it’s amazing to love someone and not have it be . . . conditional, I guess. Everything at Gallagher’s tends to feel rather conditional.”

“Yeah. It does.” She’d always thought that said something about her, but maybe it wasn’t about her at all. Maybe it was the way things were, and she needed to build her life regardless.

“Can I bring anything?” Kayla asked, more determined than ever to repair her relationship with Dinah.

“Just your beautiful self, sweetheart.”

“I’ll be there,” Kayla said firmly. “And for the record . . . I miss you too.”

Dinah was quiet for a few seconds. “You know, we could hang out tonight if you’re free.”

Kayla glanced at her fridge and Liam’s card. “I actually might have plans tonight, but what about tomorrow?”

“I’ll bring the wine. You supply the brownies.”

“Deal.”

They said their goodbyes and Kayla stared at her phone. She typed a text to Liam and waited for his response as she thought over her conversation with Dinah and the uncomfortable question it produced.

Because if she grew a backbone and stood up to people when she didn’t agree with them, would she really need to keep running from Gallagher’s?

* * *

Liam was a fool. And a moron. A fucking idiot. But he got home from work and went through the shower. Usually, he ate dinner and went straight to his workshop in his work clothes grimy from fixing things.

Today, he put on a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt and brushed his hair—something he barely did on a good day.

He was being the most pathetic of all morons possible. And he couldn’t quite stop himself.

He shouldn’t be excited or nervous or fucking primping like a teenager, because Kayla coming over meant nothing at all. She wanted to create something and maybe be friends so no big deal. He could be friends with a woman he found attractive. Especially ones who clearly liked his brother.

His brother who had essentially disappeared for two days as far as Liam could tell. Which wasn’t uncommon, but Aiden had been pretty dead set on Kayla that day of the farmers’ market.

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