Page 45 of Luck of the Draw

Liza’s eyes slid away from his, and she was staring off into space with a tight expression. Her eyes flicked back to his after a second, and then she gave the tiniest shake of her head. Connor rubbed his mouth and turned away. Jimmy slapped his palm to his forehead and shuffled off to where Oscar was chatting with an elderly couple.

Brennan squinted at all of them. “What?”

Liza cleared her throat and stepped past Brennan, causing him to turn. Skye was standing about half an arm’s length behind them.

Fuck.

His stomach instantly bottomed-out. Before he could say anything, Liza placed her hand on Skye’s back and nudged her off to the side.

Connor turned back toward Brennan and pitched slightly forward, hands in pockets and wearing a shit-eating grin. “If your entire intention in taking her out like this was to get laid, you should probably just give up right now. Because she heard all the worst parts of what you just said.”

“Hey, Connor,” Jimmy called from where he was standing with Oscar and the elderly couple. “Come meet Mr. and Mrs. Batiste. They were family of Uncle Lionel.”

Connor spun on the balls of his feet, marching off without saying another word.

Brennan gulped while he eyed the two women. Liza was speaking in Skye’s ear. Skye wore a completely placid expression. Even though he’d definitely fucked up right then, he was briefly captivated by the sight of the two women standing together and talking. The women were about the same height and build—a little on the short side, slender, but with just the right amount of captivating shapeliness. Liza with her rich, dark chocolate hair, lightly tanned skin, and looking like a total girl-next-door, albeit one that was out-of-this-world hot, and Skye with her fair, alabaster skin and shiny cascades of fiery red hair that made her look like Irish royalty or even a beautiful, otherworldly Celtic fae. Both of them were absolutely stunning—and likely plotting exactly how they were going to lay his ass out for every word he shouldn’t have said.

“I appreciate that, Liza,” he managed to overhear Skye say when Liza had finished. “But there’s no need to worry.” She met his eyes with an intentional, piercing glance, and she spoke slightly louder. “I have absolutely no expectations of him at all, and I honestly couldn’t care less what he really thinks of me.”

Liza picked up Skye’s hand, wearing knitted brows, and said something too quiet for Brennan to hear.

“That’s probably just because you guys are all friends,” Skye said to Liza. “I’m not his friend. I’m just someone he picked up in a bar last night.” She forced a smile. “But it was really nice meeting you, and congratulations again on the baby. I think that’s just wonderful.”

Liza nodded and slipped her hand away, letting it fall at her side. Skye stepped away, making a wide curve around Brennan and heading for the exit. He immediately turned to go after her, but a hand snagged his elbow and jerked him back.

He pivoted and was chest-to-chest with Liza.

“That was cruel, Brennan,” she snapped. “What in the hell possessed you to say something like that?”

He flinched. Her sudden use of his full name stung.

From the very first day they met, Liza was L. and he was B. Brennan had christened them with the lame nicknames in a straw-grasping effort to cheer up Liza after a round of verbal fisticuffs with Connor. He couldn’t even remember the last time she called him by his full name.

Liza was pissed at him. She’d never actually been angry at him before. Between that and being so blatantly, yet accidentally, callous toward Skye, it seemed possible to drown in how much of an asshole he could apparently be.

“I honestly didn’t mean any of that,” he insisted. “There’s a lot more going on right now than you guys realize, and I don’t need the added drama of you giving me shit about the woman I’m seeing.”

She scoffed loudly, throwing both hands down at her sides. “When? When did I give you shit about her?”

“Ever since y’all came by the table,” Brennan said, lowering his voice and angling his face over hers. “You’re chomping at the bit to make something serious happen between me and her, and I’m telling you, this is one-hundred-percent not the situation you need to be doing that in.”

“That was not me giving you shit,” she said through her teeth, voice low and severe. She gripped the crook of his elbow and angled her face upward so that her mouth was right next to his ear. Extremely close to him, but not in an intimate way. This was more like she was about to serve up his ass on a platter and wanted to avoid making a scene. “I am not stupid, B. I’m not blind. I know you a lot better than you give me credit for, and I know you’re not happy. I know you want things that you would sooner drop dead than admit. I’ve known that for a long time. So you’re wrong.”

Liza paused and leaned away from him just enough to look him in the eyes. “I wasn’t giving you shit. I’m trying to help you see the potential of what has been sitting right next to you all morning. I have seen you with other women, and I can see you with her.” She let go of his arm and pressed her index finger against his sternum. “Something is different in here. I know all the reasons why you’re afraid of it, but they’re stupid reasons to throw it away before even giving it a chance.”

“Liza,” he said, intentionally use her full name as a jab at her even though he hated that they were fighting in the first place. “Honey. Sweetheart. I love you, but you are completely in the dark right now.”

A look passed between them. One he’d seen before. In those one or two moments when he was sure he’d outed himself and his deep, dark, secret feelings.

I wonder if she knows.

Did she have any idea? All this time, he’d been nearly one hundred percent sure she didn’t, but right then he wondered.

The thing was, even if she knew, it wouldn’t make any difference. It’s not like she would say anything, and it’s not like either of them would ever do anything about it.

As if Liza could perceive his internal thoughts, her expression fell into disappointment, and she removed her finger from his chest to return her hand to her tummy. “I know the things you want, B. I also know you’ll never admit it. But please believe me when I tell you there’s no reason you can’t have all this, too.”

Brennan took a step backward from her. “Actually, I can’t have that,” he said, barely restraining his spite at fate and the mother-fucking universe for always,alwayskeeping him from the things he longed for deep in his soul. “The only thing I could ever have is something like it.” He cut his eyes at Connor across the room. The words leaving Brennan’s mouth were too candid. The entire confrontation was dangerous and excruciating. “All I’ll ever get is the cheap substitute that’s just quick and casual. I can’t tell you what’s going on with Skye but believe me when I say I can’t have anything approaching all that with her. And not because of my choosing.”

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