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“Let’s do it,” she says decisively. “I may have paid for college with what I earned from winning dart games in a bar just like this.”
“Oh, really?” Damien grins, also standing up, along with a few other people. “Wouldn’t that be a form of gambling, which is illegal?”
Lucy looks nervous for a second, then realizes that he’s teasing. “Not when you do it right,” she shoots back and more people laugh.
“I’m shit at darts, but know my way around a pool table,” Luc says. “Any challengers?”
Some more people get up, too, and follow him to the table in the back of the bar, near the dartboards. I watch my brothers joke with our staff, glad that the awkwardness has faded, and look around the table.
Of the few of us that are left, two people at the end are in what looks like an intense conversation … and then there’s Emma, sipping her drink and looking at her phone. I stand up and move over to the chair that Janice was sitting in.
This is my chance to set things right with Emma, but now that I have it, I don’t know how to begin. Finally, I settled for just saying, “Hi.”
Emma glances up, then blushes and looks away quickly. “Um,” I fumble, her reaction unnerving me more than I expected. “Ah, I mean, are you settling in okay?”
“I am, thanks. I – um, I need to use the bathroom,” she says in a rush and jumps up. I watch Emma walk quickly away and shake my head. Idiot! I sounded like a lovestruck teenager, all fumbling and awkward. No wonder she walked away.
Sighing, I finish my drink in a single gulp. Then I stand up, too, and walk over to the pool table.
The rest of the night passes quickly. Now that the ice has been broken, my brothers and I have a great time hanging out with our employees. Damien and Lucy play three increasingly competitive rounds of darts, and Lucy wins each one. Luc fares better in pool, but still loses to one of our newer attorneys.
We order food and more drinks for everyone, putting it on the firm’s tab. And while I know there are other customers in the bar, it feels like our firm has taken it over, like we’re having an impromptu party. Sophia, who had gone home earlier, shows up after an hour or so.
While I’d never say as much to either of my brothers, I’m kind of jealous of what Sophia and Damien have. I never thought I wanted to settle down until Damien and Sophia got married, but watching how happy she’s made him has made me see how great life can be when you’ve found the one you want to spend that life with.
That, in turn, makes me think about Raven – the one I definitelydon’twant to spend my life with, despite what she thinks and wishes. And that reminds me of Emma, and how I still haven’t had a chance to talk to her.
I look around the crowded bar and see her near the pool table, laughing and chatting with Lucy and Gretchen. My heart sinks as I remember how she darted away from me earlier. I’m afraid that she’s already moved on from whatever we had, or could have had, before it had a chance to really begin.
I walk over and clear my throat. “Emma, could I talk to you for a second, please?” I ask.
Lucy and Gretchen exchange a look. “Let’s go see if a dartboard is free,” Lucy says.
“Yeah. Emma, find us later,” Gretchen says, and they leave.
“What is it?” Emma asks quietly but firmly.
“I just wanted to say …” I trail off, not sure how to finish my sentence.
“What?” Emma asks, and in that one word I can see her guard rise.
7
EMMA
Finn blinks in surprise, and I soften my stance a little bit. My question came out harsher than I intended, but his presence has had me on edge all night. When he tried to talk to me earlier and I bolted, it was because I didn’t know if he was going to explain the scene with Raven or ignore it entirely. And I didn’t know which approach I would have preferred.
“I mean, what did you want to say?” I ask in a gentler tone.
“Please hear me out,” he says, his own voice low and intense. “Hear me out, just for tonight.”
“Hear what out?” I ask, leaning against the edge of the pool table.
“I just want the chance to make things right,” Finn says. “I want to show you the real me, without any confusion or complications.”
I look at Finn, who’s angled slightly towards me. He’s still a respectful distance away, which I appreciate even as I wonder what it would feel like to touch his toned body.
Wait, why am I thinking that? Focus, Emma! I blink hard, willing myself to look directly at Finn. His gray eyes bore into mine, wide and pleading. I think he’s sincere. I think he really does want me to get to know him.
