Page 40

Tonight, I planned to make myself a quick dinner and hit the books. I have a huge test Monday morning, and although I feel prepared, I wanted to spend some time reviewing my notes. Yet here I am, pacing the floor of my living room while one Sinclair brother snores on my couch and I wait for the other to arrive.

When Nolan reached for the bottle of tequila I’d placed on the coffee table and started drinking again, I disappeared into the kitchen to make him something to eat. It was the least I could do.

He was still nursing it when I left him, his voice carrying through the house as he continued telling me stories about Amanda and everything that had happened. By the time I returned with a plate of food, the bottle was empty, and he was sound asleep.

It was only then that I decided to call Bennett. I was completely out of my depth, and I had no idea what else to do. Bennett was going to find out eventually, and I wanted him to hear it from me rather than discover it another way. The last thing Nolan needed right now was a lecture from his brother when he was already hurting.

My stomach churned when I unblocked his number and made the call, just like it does now as I wait for him to get here.

He answered on the first ring and sounded so relieved to hear from me, but that changed the moment I told him why I was calling. ‘I’m on my way,’ was all he said before hanging up.

As soon as I hear Bennett’s car pull up out front, I’m so nervous I feel like I’m on the verge of throwing up. I’m not sure I’m ready to see him, but it seems like I don’t have a choice.

I wait until he knocks before I open the door because apparently, I’m a coward. The second our eyes lock, all the air leaves my lungs. He looks as handsome as ever, but there’s a tiredness about him that wasn’t there before.

Dark circles shadow his eyes, a few days’ worth of stubble lines his jaw, and the crisp suits I’m so used to seeing him in are gone. Instead, he’s dressed in a dark grey knitted sweater and black slacks, a more relaxed version of the man I know, but somehow it only makes my heart ache more.

“Poppy,” he says, although it comes out more like a whisper.

“Bennett.”

His hand reaches out on instinct, the tips of his fingers gently ghosting down the side of my face. I lean into his touch automatically, as if my body has been waiting for him to do this again, even if my heart knows I shouldn’t.

“I’ve missed you, sweetheart.”

I open my mouth, ready to tell him I’ve missed him too, but quickly close it again before the words can escape. I see the disappointment flicker through his eyes when all I manage to say is, “Come in.”

A faint grin tugs at his lips as he eyes the flowers that are lined up on the table. Is he pleased I kept them? I thought about throwing away the first arrangement when it arrived because I was so angry with him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

His gaze returns to me, and I see a dozen unanswered questions flickering in his haunted grey eyes, but thankfully, he sticks to the reason he’s here.

“What’s going on with Nolan and Amanda? Did he give you any details?”

I nod. “In a classic Sinclair move, he gave me the CliffsNotes version. Basically, when he arrived home from your family dinner, he found his fiancée and the pool guy in a compromising position.”

“Compromising position?”

I grimace. “Balls deep … his words, not mine.”

He rakes his hands through his hair. “I knew that woman was bad news, but this …”

“He’s pretty cut up about it, but I think he’s done with her.”

He arches an eyebrow. “You think? If he goes ahead and marries that woman now, I’ll knock him the fuck out,” he growls.

“You wouldn’t,” I counter, “but he said he wants her out of his house and his life, so that’s a positive.”

“She’s still at the house?”

“I don’t know. I think so. When he arrived here, he told me he had nowhere else to go. So I can only presume she’s still there.”

“He had nowhere else to go? Why the fuck didn’t he call me?”

“Because he wasn’t ready for the lecture he knew you were going to give him.”

“I’m not that fucking insensitive,” he snaps. “Jesus Christ.”

He glances over at his sleeping brother, and his expression hardens as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone.