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Liam held up the magazine. “Are you telling me the reason you dumped Riley and sent her on this man-hating tirade is because you thought I wouldn’t like it?”
Sam wanted to say yes. He wanted to tell Liam and the whole world that he pushed Riley away because he was a good and loyal friend. Hell, it was part of what he’d been telling himself.
But it wasn’t true.
Liam’s long-ago don’t-touch-my-sister speech hadn’t been the reason Sam stayed away from Riley. It had simply been the excuse.
If he’d had half the guts she’d had when she came to him and suggested they act on what had always been there … if he’d been a little less of a pansy-assed weenie, maybe he could have had it all.
His friendship with Liam, his relationship with the entire McKenna family … he could have had the distillery, and hell, even the little dog that had wiggled its way into his heart in such a short amount of time.
Most important, he could have had Riley.
His eyes fell on her article and her well-deserved disdain. “I’m an idiot.”
Liam nodded once, although he clapped Sam on the shoulder to soften the blow. “Another drink?”
“Will it make it hurt less?”
Liam looked a little stunned at the admission. “I was about to give you the required lecture about hurting my baby sister, but now I’m wondering if I need to have a talk with baby sister about hurting my best friend.”
“No,” Sam said, digging his fingers into his eyes and trying to sort out the unfamiliar feelings. “She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Really? Because she pretty much castrated you with words. I mean I’d die for Riley, but this article is—”
“Completely deserved,” Sam said, running his hands over his face and turning to look at his friend. “Things were going great, and then I pushed her away like a little boy who decided he’d rather play videogames than kiss the cute girl simply because it was easier.”
“Wait, is she the one who got you the dog?” Liam asked.
“Yup.”
His friend winced. “So that was her bra I saw?”
“You really want me to answer that?”
“No. No, I do not. So what’s next? Because I’ve gotta tell you, family dinners are going to be really awkward as long as she’s ma
d and you’re smitten, but you probably know that.”
“Yeah,” Sam said glumly. “I thought if we ended it quickly enough, nobody would get hurt, and things could go on unchanged, but …”
“But …?”
“I don’t know how I can face her. Not as a boyfriend, because I forfeited that right, and worse, not as a friend, because I’ve been a terrible one.”
Liam took another sip and put on his thinking face. “You care about her?”
“Yes. More than—”
Liam winced. “Okay, don’t get sappy.”
“Just wait until it happens to you.”
“Not gonna happen. I’m a lone stallion.”
“Yeah. Stick with that.”
Liam rolled up the magazine and tapped it against his palm. “I figure I’ve got two choices here. One: challenge you to a duel.”
