Page 133 of Hidden Ties

He managed to weave through the crowd to stand next to her and saw he wasn’t the only one shocked at the show of emotion between Twister and Sage.

“My girl is almost grown up!” Catching Sage mid-air, he pulled her into a hug, his massive arms bulging as he held her tightly off the ground. Everyone around stared with open mouths as Sage laid her head on his shoulder, burying her face into his neck.

Twister’s reaction was just as emotional. Kent would have sworn the man he had grown up knowing would kill anyone who looked at him the wrong way was holding his date as if she was the most precious thing on earth.

“I went by your house when I moved back. The woman living there said your house had been sold at auction.” Raising herhead from his shoulder, she stared, as if memorizing his face. “I thought you had died.”

Laughing hard, Sage bobbed up and down in Twister’s arm.

“I was locked up. My shit attorney took my house when I couldn’t pay my legal bills.”

“I’m so sorry. I know how much you loved that house.”

“It’s okay. The best part of living there was gone after your dad passed away and you moved.”

Was that a fucking tear escaping Twister’s eye as he gently placed Sage back on her feet?

Sage gave Twister a smile that was like a rocket punch to his gut. She had never looked at him that way.

Gruffly, Twister placed a hand on her chin, lifting her face so he could get a better look. “You look just like Judith. I told your dad I don’t know how he ever managed to catch her.”

Sage leaned into Twister’s side, placing an arm around his waist to maintain the contact between them. “Mom was on the track team in high school. Dad joined so he could sit with her on the bus when they went to track meets. He also said it prepared him to keep up with her.”

“Son of a bitch told me she chased after him.”

Sage’s face filled with amusement. “He lied. Dad wasn’t about to tell you the truth, not when you always had women chasing after you.”

Kent barely prevented his mouth from dropping open when Twister’s face turned ruddy in embarrassment. “Yeah … well …” Twister cleared his throat, threatened by the snorts of laughter coming from the Phantoms standing beside Sage. “Those days are long gone.” Patting his belly straining the threads of his T-shirt, he gave a self-deprecating grimace, which no one fucking believed, aware that Twister still had a string of women at his disposal. “I haven’t seen you since your mom’s funeral. Whathave you been doing since you graduated Julliard? Are you playing around here … I’ll have to come to a—”

When Sage started shaking her head, Twister broke off.

“I didn’t graduate,” she said quietly, stepping away from Twister’s side. “I don’t play the piano anymore.”

Twister’s flummoxed expression made Sage glance away, becoming aware others were watching and listening. Her face turned guarded. This was the Sage he was more familiar with. A pang in his chest made him wish the other Sage he had caught a glimpse of had stayed longer.

“Life doesn’t always turn out the way we want it to.”

“It sure as shit doesn’t,” Twister agreed, sadness filling his eyes. “I missed you, little Chopin.”

Sage’s lips tightened. Kent could tell she was having a hard time holding back her feelings at what Twister had said.

“I’ve missed you, too.” her voice trembled. “The happiest parts of my childhood were spent in my basement with you and Dad making your concoctions.” Nodding to the stall behind them, she gave him a questioning glance. “Is this your business?”

Twister’s chest swelled with pride. “Sure is. You want to try a sample?”

“Of course.”

As Twister swung around to move back behind the stall, he saw him standing with Sage, and the realization clinked that they were together.

“What in the fuck are …?” Twister growled.

Fuck. How in the hell was he going to get his ass out of the mess he had found himself in?

Sage’s eyes widened at Twister’s reaction.

“My girlfriend”—quickly, Kent reached out to pull Sage back to his side—“loves beer, so I brought her to the festival.” Taking his eyes off Twister, he stared down at Sage. “He used to goto the same bar I did before I went to law school. He was thebouncer…” Raising his eyes back to Twister, he dared him to tell the truth, knowing it would delude the woman whom neither of them wanted to make aware of their pasts.

“I got in a fight with one of the regulars, and Twister threw me out. I haven’t been back since.”

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