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Hearing him say it aloud has my heart thudding with a weird mix of pleasure and regret. For a brief moment in time, I’d had Brenna’s regard. And then I lost it.
“Yeah, well, I killed that crush forever.”
“Like I said,” Jax mutters. “Not the brightest penny.”
“I had to do it. She kept looking at me that way…” Tempting the hell out of me. “Even if I’d wanted…Shit. No. You both know Killian had laid down the law and told us in no uncertain terms to stay the hell away from his cousin.”
“He shouldn’t have done that,” Scottie says. “It wasn’t his decision to make.”
“No, it wasn’t.” I pick at the edge of the table where the black enamel is peeling off. “But hooking up with her would have led to hurt feelings and messed with the band.”
“You’re right about that.” Scottie looks at me with something close to hesitation before his expression smooths out. “Brenna and I kissed once.”
“What?” Jax and I shout together. Although Jax sounds scandalized while I’m just pissed.
Scottie shrugs. “It was still in the early days when we’d started working closely together. We got drunk and decided to try it.” He smiles fondly. The fucker. “A colossal failure. It was like kissing my sister, honestly.”
I should feel relief, but my petty side is sticking to the point that Scottie got to sample Brenna’s lips before I did.
He catches me scowling and lifts a beleaguered brow. “And we both realized how stupid it was because we both had to continue to work together.”
“It’s only stupid,” Jax says thoughtfully, “if Rye’s sleeping with Brenna to scratch an itch. Somehow I don’t think that’s why.”
They both turn their eyes on me. Dissected and left open in front of them, I fight the urge to cross my arms over my chest. When the silence grows, and I can’t stand it any longer, I let out a breath. “She’s the one that got away.”
I clear my throat and give them a belligerent look. “I know we bicker and snipe at each other. Honestly, it’s some messed up form of self-defense for me at this point. But you think I don’t know the risks in trying to change things? That I haven’t tried my hardest to stay the hell away from her all these years, when she’s the…Fuck it. She’s the only woman I’ve ever wanted to be around for more than a few hours, even when she’s hating me.
“So, yeah, I know. I know the risks better than you chuckleheads. But she’s finally let me in. And I’m going to take the chance, for however brief it might be. Even if I crash and burn and don’t survive the wreck. Because I can’t do anything less and still comfortably breathe.”
Birds chirp and cabs blare. And Scottie and Jax sit there with their mouths agape. Then Jax closes his. “Shit. It’s like that, huh?”
Understatement of the year.
“Yeah. It’s like that.”
Chapter Thirteen
Rye
TrueAceOfBass: So. I had this idea. I’d drop by your house, armed w/ Pringles & Diet Cherry Coke (even though it’s a disgusting drink) and offer you a foot rub. But, apparently, you’re in Atlanta.
Berrylicious: Diet Cherry Coke is delicious. Anyone with true taste knows it.
TrueAceOfBass: It’s the devil’s juice, Bren. Accept that your tastes have been compromised and let the healing begin.
Berrylicious: Never. In fact, I’m going on a tour of the Coke factory tomorrow. Will demand a crate of DCC.
TrueAceOfBass: You’re staying in Atlanta? Scottie is coming home tonight. And how is it that Scottie tells me these things and you don’t?
Berrylicious: You’re sounding suspiciously parental right now, Peterson.
TrueAceOfBass: If you want to call me Daddy, I’m surprisingly okay with that.
Berrylicious: It’s like you never want to have sex with me again.
TrueAceOfBass: Oh, I’m getting some. As soon as you return from Atlanta. Exactly when is that, btw?
Berrylicious: You’re pretty sure of yourself, buttercup.
TrueAceOfBass: I was there. You were two moans away from, “Oh, Daddy, please give me more.”
Berrylicious: Ugh. That’s it. I’m turning off my phone. I have to go take a hot shower and scrub my skin to rid myself of the ick.
TrueAceOfBass: You mean a cold shower because you’re hot for me. They don’t work, you know. I’ve tried. Several times since I left you. I’m still dying over here.
TrueAceOfBass: Bren?
TrueAceOfBass: You seriously turned off your phone?
TrueAceOfBass: Bren?
TrueAceOfBass: Damn, it’s like that, huh?
When Brenna doesn’t answer, I tuck away my phone and bite back a grin. Despite the fact she’s tuned me out, the small exchange gave me far too much enjoyment. Still, she did turn off her phone. That can’t be good.
“Question.” I turn to Jax who’s thumbing through my LP collection. “Do women truly frown upon the whole ‘call me Daddy’ thing?”
Jax pauses, his mouth falling open. “Please, for the love of vinyl, tell me you didn’t go there.”
