Page 103 of Play Fast (Brooklyn Dawn 2)

“I do?”

He stared at me, his eyes glowing from the flaming tip of his cigarette. “Lila, dumbass.”

“Right.” I rubbed my forehead with the side of my fist. “That name feels fitting right now. I fucked this shit up bad.”

“Nothing you can’t fix.”

“How?” I shook my head. “Don’t answer that. Weak moment. I don’t want to fix it. I don’t. She’s better off. Kerry didn’t want her near me.”

“You know that for a fact? And even so, your sister couldn’t make your choices either. Or Daisy’s. That’s not how this works.” He smudged ashes off his fingers. “Gonna guess that if she loved both of you, she would’ve wanted you happy. Also, chicks love when everyone they care about pairs up. It’s probably better than sex for them.” He shuddered. “I think The Bachelor has warped young minds.”

“The Bachelor is garbage.”

“Some women love it. Not my Li, but she’s a woman of exceptional taste.”

I grinned. “Not always.”

He flipped me off and took another drag. “You fix it by being honest.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Of course you don’t think so, baby Yoda, because you still think you are wiser than those of us who have gone before. Tell her the truth about how you feel, including how messed up you are about possibly hurting her down the line. So, you figured you’d be expedient and do it now.”

“That’s not—” I fisted my hands at my sides. “God, I really am a dick.”

“Can’t argue.”

“But it’s not just that. I’m nobody’s prize, but my life isn’t what she’s used to. She’ll have to deal with paparazzi, and I go off the handle. Goddammit, I bruised her cheek when she tried to wake me up from a nightmare. I’m a fucking beast, and she’s like sunshine. I don’t want to put it out.”

“Aww, that was so sweet. Try setting it to music and you’ll have a top ten pop hit. The Bieber set will love it.”

I ignored him. “Then there’s what happened with Kerry. I don’t really blame her for not saving her, because you’re right, my sister made her own choices. I didn’t save her either. But are we just thinking something’s there that isn’t, that has to do more with loving Kerry than—”

“Loving each other?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“You hadn’t seen her in a while, right? Before she joined the tour.”

“Yeah. Five years.” I tucked my hands in my pockets. “She’s the same, but different. Everything she was back then is just more now. She’s stronger, funnier, smarter, sexier…”

“And you’re in deep. The ship has a hole and it’s taking on water and you don’t have a bucket big enough to bail your ass out.”

I frowned, but I couldn’t really argue. “It can’t work.”

“Okay.”

“I’m a huge guy. She’s so small. I didn’t mean to hurt her, but I still did.”

Nick held up a hand. “If this is about to divert somewhere I would never want to go without a bottle of something 100-proof in me, do not go there.”

I chuckled. “Not sexually. I had a crazy dream about my sister. Daisy tried to wake me up and I—”

“Strangled her?”

“Uh, no.”

“Cold-cocked her?”

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