Page 53 of The Fake Out

“Oh, my God. Get a room,” another deep voice sighed exasperatedly behind us.

I pulled away and felt heat rise on my cheeks. Blaise gave me a wicked grin before turning around and gesturing to the man behind us. “Veronica, this is my asshole brother, Eli. Eli, this is my girlfriend, Veronica.”

Eli was a few inches shorter than Blaise, and he didn’t seem as muscular, but he had the same blonde hair and blue eyes as the rest of the Holmstroms.

I side-eyed their dad. “Hal, tell the truth. Did you clone yourself?”

Hal laughed but walked to the other end of the bar to serve more customers.

Eli punched Blaise in the arm. “I’m not an asshole.”

“I thought that was Ayden,” I joked.

“Dude, I’m right here,” the third brother said from behind the bar. I gave him a cheeky grin while he got drinks for his older brothers.

“Is this asshole still not talking to Dad?” Eli asked Ayden.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Blaise snapped, but in a way that told me it was definitely something. I wasn’t really his girlfriend, so it wasn’t my place to ask him.

Blaise and his brothers talked shop, AKA hockey, which was like listening to a foreign language. I drank my beer silently, enjoying Blaise’s hand absent-mindedly rubbing the back of my neck. I wasn’t sure he knew he had been doing it until I closed my eyes for a minute.

“You tired, sweets?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Did you drive tonight?”

“Took the train.”

“Let me take you home.”

I waved him off. “Nah. Walk me to the train.” I cashed out with Ayden, and Blaise helped me into my jacket. He was so considerate; he’d make someone happy one day. “Hey, did you decide on a tattoo?”

Eli’s eyebrows raised. “Another tattoo?”

I shook my head and pointed to Blaise’s chest. “Nah, I want to cover this one up.”

“Oh?” Eli asked.

I pushed up my sleeve so he saw my floral tattoos peeking out. “I’m a tattoo artist. I want to fix it for him so he doesn’t have her name there anymore.”

“What are you going to get?” Eli asked Blaise.

“I suggested a maple leaf…for your mom.”

Eli nodded and looked at the flowers on my arm. “Mom liked hibiscuses.”

“That’s what Maja suggested,” Blaise said and fixed his coat over his nicely tailored black suit.

I fingered the lapel. “You look great in this. This would be good with the dress I’m wearing for the wedding.”

“What wedding?” Eli asked.

I cringed. “My ex’s.”

“Wait…” Ayden started from behind the bar. “That douchebag who left you a week before you were supposed to marry him? He invited you to his wedding?”