Page 72 of Legacy of Lies
Oh shit, she was warming up for a list.
“First of all, Sara’s a lovely person and you’d be lucky to hang out with her. Second, she’s a hell of an upgrade from Tiffani.” Shelby raised her hand as his mouth came open. “And third, you’re a guy.”
“What’s that have to do with it?”
“Your kind is always wrong. You should probably open every conversation with Sara by saying ‘I’m sorry,’ if you know what’s good for you.”
Kerr piped up, “I already reviewed that information with him, sis.” He pointed at his head and twirled a finger. “Didn’t sink in.”
“Obviously,” she spat.
Eric, with his fist pressed hard to his mouth, looked ready to perform his own tonsillectomy. Unfortunately, it didn’t keep his shoulders from shaking with suppressed laughter.
And Kerr, that traitor? His contribution included siding with Shelby and sipping on a pop. Give the man a scorecard and he’d probably rate this confrontation on a scale of one to ten, just for something to do.
“But it was her, not me—” He had no leg to stand on with this conversation, especially with Shelby kicking at his ankles.
“You freaking moron, don’t you get it? It’s always you.”
Eric’s mouth dropped open.
Kerr laughed his ass off.
“But—”
“Now I’m going back inside to take some ibuprofen because you’re making my head hurt. If the two cells in your pea brain manage, by some miracle, to find each other in your empty, idiot skull, maybe you’ll realize that you need to call Sara and beg her forgiveness.”
She stormed off, righteous puffs of vapor in the cold air punctuating her stomping stride. When the front door slammed, Garrison jumped.
Holy cow, Shelby was a force of nature.
At least she was on his team. Mostly.
• • •
Sara didn’t know which hurt more: stuffing herself with too much fried chicken from the Hungry Moose or laughing herself silly at Izzy’s ridiculous jokes.
She didn’t care, either. Izzy’s generosity, combined with her warped sense of humor, worked wonders for Sara’s bruised heart.
“So how did you two leave it, then?” Izzy leaned back and groaned as she nipped the last morsel of meat from a wing. She’d protested the last two pieces but kept eating like she had a hollow leg.
Sara shook her head. Amazing. Somehow Izzy managed to look country glam, with her tight jeans, form-fitting western button-down, and waves of long, blonde hair, all while she sucked sinew off a chicken bone.
Propping her arms on the table edge, Sara sighed. “Somewhere during that night, he mentioned how I calm him. And I ignored that statement until after the super-hot sex.” She sighed. “Then I kind of ran with the phrase and might have embellished it into him using me as a stress reliever.”
“Lemme guess. Buyer’s remorse forced you to reach for that stress-relieving line.”
“Oh yes. But even if I was just a way for him to relax, I went along with it, eyes wide open.”
“Can’t claim bait and switch, huh?”
“If I’m being honest, no.”
“So?”
“I kind of blew that statement way out of proportion about five seconds after he woke up from a dead sleep.”
“Yikes. How’d that go over?”
