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We watch in comfortable silence for a while and when I’m licking the last of the tzatziki from my finger, he nods in approval. “Better?”
I nod. Meaning it more than I can explain.
“You want to talk about it?”
“What?” I ask, looking around for another napkin.
“Your brothers said you told them you were sick, but they know you aren’t.” He sits back into the cushions. “Asked me to take care of it.”
I don’t really know what to say. It’s astounding the boys noticed anything like that, but the truth is, they’re smart guys. Just… not the most mature. But that explains why I haven’t seen any of them since I came up here.
“So.” He smooths a hand over his barrel chest and then waves to the game. “Why you watching this guy? Something happen with that banker, and now you’re back to beating yourself up over a mistake in trusting a piece of garbage like him again?”
My eyes start to well, and my breath comes in little hiccups that have me hiding my face in my hands as my dad wraps an arm around me and pulls me in tight.
“Pop, there was no banker.”
* * *
Quinn
Need to see you.
That’s what George texted on the one night I couldn’t do a damn thing to get back to her. Heavy snow and wind had the planes grounded in Chicago and no flights coming in, so after waiting half the night to take off, we were finally ushered to the closest hotel for a few hours of shuteye before getting out early this morning. She understands about the travel and team commitments, so I know that’s not it. But I still haven’t talked to her and something about it feels off.
Enough that instead of collapsing when I finally make it home at seven a.m., I head into the kitchen and start pulling ingredients together with a plan to make up for not being around after her rough day.
By ten, I’ve slept for an hour, showered, and run a quick errand I’m counting on putting a smile on my girl’s face. The plows have been through already, making the roads passable but parking nuts, so I grab a Lyft and head over to the shop.
Hours are reduced in the winter, but they’re open now. Stopping out front, I balance the plate of lemon bars in my hand before tucking the flowers I picked up under my arm. My pulse starts to jack like I’m waiting to jump the boards with two minutes left on the clock and a single point needed to win.
I’m doing the right thing. George might not be nuts about whatever attention I attract in her shop, but this early after a storm most of the city hasn’t dug their way out of, I’m banking on business being slow enough that a surprise visit isn’t going to be an issue.
It isn’t. There’s one guy on the phone behind the counter as I walk in and the station where she was working last time is empty. I kind of hope she’s sleeping in, since I know she was up late waiting for me before I finally got word we weren’t making it out.
The guy behind the counter seems familiar. Gotta be one of her brothers. I don’t think anyone works here but Bowens.
He hangs up, looks my way, and—
“Jesus, fuck!” he barks, double-stepping back.
Okay, that’s not really the reaction I get from most people. The bunnies tend to step into my space, practically purring as they try to rub up on me. The dudes, hell, there might be a bark of surprise, but it’s usually accompanied by an eager handshake or a starstruck smile. This guy looks like he’s about to piss himself.
“Sorry to startle you, man. I’m looking for George. She here?”
His chin snaps back, his face twisting from disbelief to… hostility?
“What the fuck do you want with my sister?”
So he is a brother. And whoa. “We’re friends. I just wanted to give her these.” I turn to show him the flowers and then stick out my free hand to shake. “Quinn O’Brian.”
I stand there like an asshole for a few seconds until her brother of unknown name and douchey manners snorts and crosses his arms.
My jaw clenches. What the hell? I mean, fine,Iknow she’s too good for me. But this bag of dicks sure as shit doesn’t. “Look, man, is she around?”
“George would never be friends with you,” he sneers. “She fucking hates you.”
I blink. And then it clicks. The reason I haven’t met her dad. Why she doesn’t want me coming around the shop. Why this guy won’t touch my hand.
