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Drake understood that sentiment, but talking to Rafe had reaffirmed why he had to make Colt come around. He’d be damned if he would be drinking himself silly some point in the future and stewing about all the things he’d tried that had failed.
Colt might be stubborn as two mules, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d realize what he’d lost with Paige…and him. Drake had to believe it. And if he didn’t get there on his own in a reasonable time, well, Drake would just kick his fucking ass. Screw flowers and candles and candy.
Sometimes a good old-fashioned whupping was the only way to get stuff done.
“Yeah, but…sex,” Drake reminded him.
“Good point.” Rafe emptied his bottle. “You’re not drinking?”
“No, but since you are, you can tell me more about this girl.”
“Suffice it to say, she’s the biggest pain in my ass.”
Drake grinned and let his gaze drift to Colt. He was throwing darts at an electronic board someone had set up in the corner. “I completely understand.”
* * *
Paige sank onto a couch some considerate soul had dragged into the barn and dropped her purse beside her. Her temples were pounding. All the tension she’d been carrying around the past few days from first her conversation with Charli, then Colt’s increasingly odd behavior, was getting to her. She couldn’t keep her shiny, happy face in place much longer without risking a permanent crack.
She let her eyes close and drifted, just enjoying Wade’s music. He could really sing. Maybe someday the three of them could go to one of his concerts.
Or not, since she was pretty sure they were going to break things off with her anytime. At least Colt was. Drake—sweet, funny Drake—was being just as attentive as ever.
Could she deal with just one boyfriend? Could Drake deal with just her if Colt decided to bail on them both?
“So did you break up with my brother?”
Paige’s eyes popped open and she looked up into Hollie’s face peering at her over the back of the couch. “Jaysus Christmas, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry.” Like the monkey she was, Hollie climbed over the back of the couch and plopped beside Paige. “Not like I want deets or anything, because gross. But you’re not exactly spending tons of time with him tonight.” She glanced around. “With either him or nummy Drake.”
Paige frowned. “Nummy?”
“Yeah, you know, hot.”
Colt’s sister probably thought she had a minus twenty IQ. She felt it at the moment. “I’m not sure what’s going on, really,” she said, avoiding the nummy thing altogether.
“Everyone knows you guys are…” Hollie made a rather obscene hand gesture and Paige’s eyes widened. “So if you stop, it’s going to be a thing.” She leaned closer. “This isn’t because of Char, is it?”
Paige sighed. “No, I’m pretty sure she was right on that score.”
“What score?”
How to word this delicately? “She indicated perhaps they weren’t the best choice for long-term dating success.”
“Because Colt fucks and runs.” Hollie nodded sagely. “It’s a problem.”
“He is your brother, right?”
“Well, I haven’t ordered DNA tests yet, but from what I’ve been told, yes.”
“Okay, just checking. Because I don’t ever talk about my brother…fucking. It would probably break what’s left of my brain.”
“When your brother is Colton ‘I hit it and quit it’ Bennett, you come to terms with the concept early.”
Paige grimaced. “Yeah, he’s definitely dumping me then.”
What she didn’t get was why he didn’t just do it. He didn’t seem like a coward. What made it so hard for him to walk up to her and say, “Hey, Paige, it’s been real but it’s over”? She’d probably want to jab him with a pointy object a few times—just flesh wounds, most likely—but she’d handle it.
