Page 100 of Luck of the Draw

He cocked one eyebrow. “That makes two of us, doesn’t it?”

She scowled at him. “Our situations are totally different.”

“No, they’re not.”

“They totally are. Inmysituation—” Her severe expression hastily retreated, and she turned to leave the bathroom, and he followed her. “Okay, fine. Not the police. Don’t your parents have money? Like a ridiculous, stupid amount of money?”

Skye sat on the bed and pulled one knee under her. He kicked off his shoes to climb on the bed and sat cross-legged in front of her.

“Yeah.” Brennan already knew what she was going to suggest, and he already knew it was one-half of what he needed to do.

“We need to talk to them about this,” she added, rubbing her palm over her knee like she was cold or nervous. “We need to ask them for help.”

Her use of the wordwewas so easy she didn’t even notice she said it. But Brennan noticed. And it was a glaring reminder of the fact that there was nowe,and there never would be.

“I’ll talk to them at brunch.”

She hesitated. An expression that he couldn’t place played on her face, and she looked in his eyes. “Do you want me to be there when you do?”

“I want you to be a lot of places, Skye,” he clipped, his words sharper than he intended. “The problem is you don’t.”

Her brows drew together, and she dropped her gaze away from him. He couldn’t even look at her anymore either. Not right then. No more for that night. He’d reached his fill of the bullshit and heartache and mother fucking unrequited love for one day.

He turned away from her and lay down with his back to her.

Silence was heady in the room. A minute or so later, the mattress gave slightly as though she way lying down close to him, but not touching.

“I’m so sorry, Brennan.”

He clenched his jaw for one second before releasing it. “Don’t apologize for doing what’s best for you.”

“What if I don’t even think I know what’s best for me?” she asked in a small voice.

“Well, honey…” Brennan sighed. “Then you’ve have to figure it out.” He closed his eyes and attempted to relax all his tensed muscles. “You’re the only one who can.”

24

FRENCHMEN STREET, NEW ORLEANS

Skye sat on the couch in the living room at the record label house with a laptop Brennan had let her borrow and wracked her brain for different search terms to find what she was looking for. There wasn’t a whole lot available. At least not for her situation. Most options were specifically intended for recovering drug addicts, people recently released from prison, or battered women.

She was sure there actually were more options available, but the search terms that would find them on the internet were things she didn’t want to type into the Google bar. The laptop was helpful, but after all this searching, it was clear that she was going to need internet access on a computer that didn’t belong to the record label, lest one of the employees use it and see her search history.

A public library. That’s what she really needed.

Gales of laughter echoed through the house from behind her. Skye turned around to peer at Brennan, Liza, and Connor chatting with Jimmy. The sight stung just a bit for stupid reasons.

In the aftermath of the freakyteethincident, Brennan had withdrawn from Skye. She knew it wasn’t just the teeth. It was his feelings for her that she’d rebuffed on several occasions. His behavior was understandable and actually good in the long run. Better for him to start disliking her now, so that later when he dropped her off at a place specifically intended for women like her, he could drive away in his fancy fucking car believing he’d dodged a bullet.

Still peering at the happy group of friends, Skye noticed Luke enter the house. He caught her gaze, so she turned back around. She silently prayed he wasn’t about to come over and say,“Hey, remember that time I fucked you a couple of years ago? Well, since you’re here, I’m ready for round two.”

Skye shuddered. It was really time to hit up a library. But how would she be able to do that without Brennan becoming suspicious about why she’d want to go by herself? She could try walking to one. That would take about an hour, and she doubted Brennan would just let her do that, paranoid as he was about everything.

Maybe nobody would notice if she just slipped out the back door and left for a bit.

She closed the laptop with the intention to do just that, but then Luke dropped himself onto the couch next her.

“How’s it going, Skye?” he asked, more to the space in front of his eyes than to her.

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