My stomach twisted, watching them. Watching him have what I could never have. Not just with Paige, but withanyonehere in our home town. Not that I wanted anyone else here in Maple Grove. I gulped and looked down at my own half eatentiramisu.
I finished what was left of my whiskey and stood to get another as Paige’s hand rested on my forearm. “Maybe you should slow down,” she whispered, her eyes darting to my emptyglass.
How many had that been? Three? Even still, I scoffed at her concern in a stupid, chauvinist way that evenIhated myself for a little. “Sweetheart, the team and I put down twice this many whiskeys and still won the Super Bowl lastyear.”
She tugged her hand away from my arm, and though I immediately missed the feel of her touch, I could breathe a little easier without her hands on me, without her silky soft fingertips tracing little strokes on my forearm. “Is that supposed to impress me?” she said, her eyesnarrowed.
“It’s notsupposedto do anything. It’s simply thetruth.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but I spun and made my way back to the bar and ordered anotherdrink.
Why did I care? Why was I obsessing over this woman? Yes, she was beautiful. Yes, we had shared a mind-blowing kiss more than a decade ago… but I’d had my fair share of kisses since then. Why her? Why now? And why God, why, did it have to behere?
“Did it really take you almost thirty years to realize how awesome she is?” A voice asked behind me. The whiskey glass was warm in my hand and I spun, finding Kyra standing there, her armsfolded.
I grumbled and took a swig. I needed to numb these feelings quickly, but the burn of alcohol didn’t seem to be helping. “No,” I grumbled, staring into the swirling amber liquid of my glass. “It took me eighteen years.” Which was still pitiful. I just never looked at her that way. She was Scott’s older sister, the same age as me and Cam. We all joked how cute she was, but that was mostly just to piss Scott off. It wasn’t until the show. Until we were paired opposite each other that I started looking at her—truly looking at her. And by then, I didn’t want to trust anyone. I didn’t want to get attached to a single other person in this goddamned town. “The second rehearsals started, I knew how awesome she was, even though I pretended to hate her back then.” I glanced over at the table where she and Dave seemed to now be sitting in silence. Dinner was winding down and I wondered, no,prayedthat that meant the party would be coming to an end, too. “Then I spent twelve years trying to forget how amazing she was, secretly hoping she had moved on. Gotten married so that I could put the nail in this damncoffin.”
I cleared my throat and lifted my gaze to Kyra’s bright, brown eyes. “There,” I said, lifting my brows. “Youhappy?”
Kyra sighed, shaking her head. “Taylor Wilson. You’re an idiot. Even the fact that it took you until the end of high school to pay her any attention is beyond me. She was literallyalwayssitting in front of you or next to you in every class. Williams and Wilson,” she said, adding our last names into theconversation.
I shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you,” I said, lowering my voice. I didn’t think anyone could hear us, but I definitely didn’t want this shit spreading around town. “She was Scott’s sister. And then Tiffany and I started dating freshman year and I…I only had eyes for her. Until... well, you know therest.”
“Til she banged every guy on the footballteam.”
I nodded. “Don’t forget themascot.”
Kyra huffed a laugh and shook her head. “Sure, sure. Can’t forget Mitch Donalds. And of course I know the rest. Everyone at school knew the rest of the story. Because you were the football star, you didn’t get expelled when you beat the shit out of Sam Sullivan. You got detention for the rest of the school year, which eventually was shifted to time served in the schoolmusical.”
I was entitled. And privileged. I knew that. And I was fucking lucky the school understood why I lost control. Getting expelled or even a prolonged suspension could have cost me my scholarship and in turn, I may have never been scouted for the Patriots. That one event could have completely derailed mylife.
Kyra blew out a breath and grabbed a glass of wine the bartender handed her. Leaning in, she whispered, “So, if you know she’s awesome—and it’s pretty clear you do from the way you’ve been staring at her all night—what’s holding you back from going forit?”
I chugged the rest of my drink and fuck, it burned going down. The buzz flowed through my body, making my fingers and toes feel numb. “A million things,” I slurred, hating that I was to that point where the alcohol was catching up to me. I pushed the empty glass away, shaking my head when the bartender offered me another. Paige was right. It was time to slow down. “I live in Boston, she liveshere.”
Kyra rolled her eyes. “Hereis only an hour from Boston. You could commute. Or you two could live somewhere between the two towns. Or…” she fadedoff.
“Or?” I prodded, narrowing myeyes.
Kyra sighed. “Or maybe she would move to Boston.” Her brows dipped in what looked like momentary sorrow. “I’d hate to see her leave. But maybe it’s the push she needs to finally pursue acting as a career instead of teaching. She has talked about auditioning down in Boston for years, but every time, she comes up with some excuse. Either her students need her here, or she gets a rental at hercottage—”
“I didn’t know she still wanted toact.”
“She does. She doesn’t admit it much, if ever. Not to anyone. Hell, I don’t think she even admits it to herself.” I swallowed and the idea sunk in that she might be willing to move to Boston. Did that change anything? The spiral of energy swirling in my chest told me it did. “So anyway,” Kyra continued, “what’s the next reason? Cause that one was stupid. And I swear to God if yousay—”
“Scott,” I blurted out. “It’s Scott. How the hell can I be with the sister of my half-brother?” I hissed a sigh. It sounded gross. She and I weren’t related. Not even a little. But my dad fucked her mom; he cheated on my mom and got Paige’s mom pregnant when I was less than a yearold.
“She’s notyoursister, younincompoop.”
I was taken aback by that. I hadn’t heard that insult since fifth grade. “Seriously?Nincompoop?”
“Seriously? Using your dad’s affair from twenty-nine years ago as an excuse not to be with an amazingwoman?”
“It’s not just that,” I shook my head. “Scottknew. He knew we were brothers for years and never said anything. How could he do that? How could he lie about that to my face for thatlong—”
“Because,” Scott’s voice behind me made my spine turn into cement. “I had hoped your dad wasn’t still having affairs. And I didn’t want to be the one to break up yourfamily.”
I closed my eyes. Scott, Cam, Steve, and I had been inseparable almost our whole lives. And as much as I hated to admit it, I missed Scott. I missed them all. “Go away,” I hissed. “I made a promise that I wouldn’t start any drama at Cam’s party as long as you stayed away fromme.”
