Rider looked down at his coaster, but his jaw tightened like Ryan had just admitted this mattered more than he wanted anyone to know.
Ryan glanced toward the back hall where Charm had disappeared. “She’d have to accept it first, and I’m not sure she’s ready for that fight.”
The distinction landed harder than his first sentence.
He wasn’t worried her family would scare him off. Ryan had survived people and places that would have broken most of us before adulthood. He was worried Charm would never choose him loudly enough to make the fight worth having.
Cade’s phone buzzed on the bar. He looked down, and whatever he saw softened his face while pulling the attention off Ryan. For now.
“Bliss says Aura left.”
My almost-smile disappeared.
I knew she had hidden out after our fight, but I hated knowing I had made the Sin Bin feel less neutral for her. That had never been my intention.
Rider’s eyes flicked toward me. “You going after her?”
I stared at the door to the back hall even though she wasn’t there anymore. “No.”
Briggs looked disappointed. “Why?”
“Because if I go after her tonight, I’ll make it worse.”
Ryan nodded. “That might be the smartest thing you’ve said.”
“I still need to apologize.”
“You do,” Cade said.
“Not tonight,” Ryan added. “Tonight you’ll either yell or kiss her, and both seem like poor leadership.”
Briggs held up a hand. “For morale, I vote kiss.”
Rider sighed. “You are the reason team meetings need agendas.”
Cade looked at me, his voice lower now. “Your mom and sisters are coming in. Get through that. Get through the game. Then talk to Aura when you can do it without an audience.”
I wanted to argue that I didn’t need a plan, advice, or four guys and Bliss watching me like I was a pipe one hard hit away from bursting. Aura had made her choice, I had made mine, and what happened in this bar wasn’t supposed to change anything.
Her sentence was still there anyway, cutting around inside me.
“You don’t get to take what I survived—when you don’t know what I survived—and twist it into a personality flaw.”
I looked at Cade. “If she tells Bliss what it was…”
“She won’t tell you.”
“I know.”
“No,” Cade said, holding my gaze. “Bliss won’t tell you either.”
“I know that too.”
“Good.”
The fact that I liked him more for saying it made me hate the whole night.
I pushed away from the bar and pulled my jacket from the back of the chair. “I’m going home.”
