Page 10 of Fear of Love
I hated how drawn I was to her. Hated how my eyes sought her out whenever we were all together, as if they had a will of their own. It made me feel weak. Powerless. Like I was being dragged behind something I couldn’t name. Something I hadn’t felt in a very long time.
Lydia’s eyes flicked up to meet mine for a brief moment before moving back to Tasha. I didn’t miss the flash of hurt in her eyes, though. I stifled a groan. While Lydia might have gotten under my skin, the last thing I wanted was to truly hurt her. I needed to apologize, and soon.
“Okay, let’s try some pizza.” Mila turned to Lydia with a paper plate in her hand. “Try a slice of each and pick your favorite. Easy as pie.” She snorted at her own joke.
I stayed off to the side as she started taste testing. It was comical watching all the guys wait with bated breath as she ate.
As soon as Lydia was done, Mateo leaned forward in question.
“So, your favorite was mine, right?” he asked.
I took a sip of my beer as Lydia looked at everyone, her eyes only briefly connecting with mine before she finally spoke.
“My favorite is the one with banana peppers, pepperoni, and onions,” Lydia announced, letting the words linger in the air for a second.
“That’s bullshit,” Wyatt said.
“No! Try them again!” Tasha exclaimed.
“What the hell?” Trevor looked from his pizza to Lydia like he couldn’t believe he wasn’t picked.
“I thought we had an understanding, L.” Mateo shook his head at Lydia.
Mila wrapped her arm around Bryton’s middle. “Good job, babe.”
“My second favorite was the dessert pizza.” At Lydia’s praise, Josie grinned.
“Told you the Nutella, strawberries, and a little peanut butter would work.” Josie stuck her tongue out at Wyatt. Wyatt just rolled his eyes, but the way he held her close to his chest showed he didn’t fully care.
It was still a bit surreal seeing my brother happy and engaged. Felt like just yesterday that I was teaching him how to ride a bike, and here he was, three months away from marrying Josie. I had no clue how my brother managed to snag someone like her.
When I first met Josie Scott, I was an ass. I had reservations since my brother’s last girlfriend used his name and their relationship to sell an article to the tabloids. Aside from the PR nightmare it caused, I saw what it did to my brother. When you were as popular as him in the hockey world, people used that fame to their advantage, women especially.
It didn’t take long to see that Josie wasn’t like that. She was a hockey fanatic, but she loved my brother for who he was, not for what he did for a living. Apparently, getting stuck in an elevator helped you find the love of your life.
“Better luck next time.” Bryton shot all of us a smug grin. I flipped him the bird before moving to grab the pizza I made. Lydia didn’t say it was the best one, but it looked damn good if I did say so myself.
“Hey, you good?” Wyatt saddled up to my side, speaking softly. Unconsciously, my eyes darted to the one person in the room they shouldn’t have. I quickly looked away and gave Wyatt a nod.
“I’m fine.” And I was, aside from the growing guilt building in me, but Wyatt didn’t need to know that. It was my fault for making the atmosphere weird and uncomfortable. Wyatt looked from me to Lydia but thankfully left it alone.
“Alright then. You’ll be at the tux fitting on Tuesday, right?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be there. There’s junior hockey practice that day but that won’t be until later.”
“Who wants to be the one to pick up Mateo?” The two of us looked at our younger brother, who was currently shoving a piece of pizza in his mouth without a care and zero manners. For fuck sake, I taught him better than that.
“I’ll do it.” Wyatt sighed, making me chuckle. We both knew it was in a joking way. Mateo was that annoying little brother who always got on your nerves, but he wasourannoying little brother.
“Thanks for making a point to come to the tux fitting. I know you have a lot going on,” Wyatt said after a moment.
“Of course. Your wedding is in a few months. Are you ready?” I watched as he turned to look at Josie, a glazed expression overtaking his face.
“More than ready. I would have married her months ago if a wedding wasn’t so important to her.”
“You’re lucky she wants to marry your ugly mug.”
Wyatt shot me a glare. “First, fuck off. We all know I’m the best looking brother.”
