"Good." Whitney pulled her chair in and settled back down. "Some things are better left unsaid. And un-thought about."
"I agree." I picked up my drink, toasted her in thanks and took a sip.
"You two are no fun," Fiona complained.
"We're lots of fun," Whitney said. "Do you want to hear about your brother's sex life?"
"Why would I want to hear about that when I can hear about yours?" Fiona teased.
"You're such a fucking brat," Whitney said but she was laughing. "Maybe I should seduce your brother so you know how it feels."
"If your taste is that bad, go for it." Fiona grimaced. "Don't come crying to me when he can't make you orgasm."
"He can," Holly said softly.
Fiona's mouth dropped open. She pressed it closed again and raised her hands to either side of her face. "You know what, Whitney's right. We don't need to talk about any of this."
"What was that?" Whitney turned her ear toward Fiona. "Say that again. Actually, wait a minute so I can record it on my phone." She picked up hers from the pile we'd made to the side of the table and turned it on.
"I'm not saying that again," Holly said. "You heard me the first time. I won't mention Fiona’s your brother again if you don't mention mine."
Whitney grinned. "Deal. Let's never talk about them again. Leah, did you say something about having a stepbrother or two?"
They all looked at me with interest.
"Can I add him to the list of guys we don't talk about?" I asked.
I wanted to put Brooks behind me as much as possible. That was my old life, in the city. My past. Right now, I wanted to live in the present and let the future take care of itself.
"Can we say no?" Holly looked sideways at the other two women.
Fiona adjusted her ponytail. "I don't think we can. Not tonight anyway." She gave me a sly smile to suggest the topic would come up again at some point.
Of course it would, until I managed to convince them my stepbrother wasn't particularly interesting. I couldn't imagine Brooks being interested in them anyway. He'd think they were country girls, beneath him to even talk to.
The truth was, they were too good for him. They were better people than he'd ever be. Shame he'd never admit that. Not out loud anyway. Who knows what went on inside that head of his? He was a closed book if I ever met one. Speaking with disgustedlooks instead of words. Looks that suggested he wished our parents never met.
Honestly, me too.
28
CONNOR
"That was brutal."I threw the washcloth in the sink and went to lock the door behind the last of the patrons. We'd called last drinks an hour ago, but it took that long to get them to leave. The till was overflowing, but I was wiped out.
"Time for a couple hours of sleep before we do it all again," Riley said.
"Fuck." I groaned and ran a hand over the back of my neck. "Yeah."
"You okay?" He looked worried. Like maybe if he poked me with his finger I'd break. He should know better.
"Course I am." I pushed myself off the side of the bar. "Let's get out of here."
"Okay," he said slowly.
"What?" I pushed out the back door and took in a breath of fresh air. Pine and rapidly approaching fall was better than stale beer and sweat. What wasn't?
"I dunno." He closed the door behind him and waited for me to lock it.
