Page 56 of Trip Me Up

I let a few seconds pass, trying to figure out what I could say to make it better, to make him not hate me, so we could rewind to our first night in New York when we’d talked and everything between us had been less fraught.

“Niall, I—” But words failed me, the way they usually did.

A heavy hand wearing a glinting wedding band landed on my shoulder. “Sam, a minute?” Jackson tilted his head toward the bar. I stood and followed.

My brother vibrated with something I’d seen often when we were growing up: a need tomove.Andfast.Back then, he’d hop on his bike and race away, seeking hills he could tire himself out climbing and then coast down the other side, the wind in his face.

“Alicia’s gone into labor. I need to get homenow.Fuck!” He ran his hand through his hair, the one that wasn’t gripping his phone. “Why thefuckdidn’t I take the jet?”

“Wait, what?Now?She’s not due until the end of the month.”

“Tell that to the baby.” He gripped my shoulders. “I took care of the tab. You guys stay and enjoy your dinner. Make my excuses. Donotapologize on my behalf to that—Niall. I was kidding—mostly—earlier, but still. Looks like you’re playing a dangerous game. You’re trampling on his livelihoodandbreaking his heart? Pretty cold, Sam.”

Trampling on his—I stared down at his western boots, toe-to-toe with my combat boots. “I didn’t mean to—”

“I know. Neither one of us is all that emotionally aware. In tune with feelings and shit. Just think about what you’re doing, okay? And how it might affect your new friends.”

I nodded. He squeezed my shoulder, and then his boots were gone, pounding the floor to get home to his loved ones as quickly as his wealth and connections could get him there.

I glanced back at the table, where Gabi and Qiana turned back to each other like they hadn’t been staring at us. Niall didn’t bother pretending. He held my gaze.

I couldn’t. I couldn’t go back there and deal with the fallout of the grenades my brother had lobbed.

“I’m sorry,” I mouthed. Turning, I followed the path Jackson had taken out of the restaurant. But instead of heading home to people I loved, I found a taxi that’d take me back to the hotel. Where Bilbo Baggins didn’t have any expectations of me. Where I wasn’t ruining everything that was important to him.

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