Owen gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles ached, as he navigated the city streets toward Liv’s house. He was grateful she was as silent as him. His thoughts were in too many places to have anything that resembled a conversation.

Rage still spilled inside, urging him to turn the car around, go back to the wedding, and make sure Daniel got the message. No one talked about Liv like that.

The possessive anger swirled around the things she’d said to Daniel. Teasing, taunting, and tempting him. Calling to the part of him that wanted to forget she’d lied, and move forward from here.

Too bad it wasn’t that easy.

“I’m not sorry I said those things.” Her quiet voice shattered his thoughts. “But if I’d known you were listening… I would have liked to lead into that conversation with more grace and privacy.”

“None of that changes the lie. I can’t have this conversation right now. I need some time.” He spoke through clenched teeth, struggling to keep the chaos inside from spilling out.

“I understand.”

He didn’t blame her for sounding hurt. She’d stopped short of a confession of love, back there at the wedding. Fuck, they didn’t even have a relationship.

Then why did it gnaw at him to ignore her?

They reached her house, and he walked her to the door. Out of habit and politeness, not because he wasn’t ready to say goodnight. She unlocked the door, and hesitated, gaze flitting between her feet and almost meeting his eyes.

He knew what he wanted to say. Wanted to do. Tangle his fingers in her hair, press her to the wall and kiss her until they couldn’t breathe. Then promise her they’d figure everything out, but didn’t she want to invite him in?

Bad idea. Maybe if he’d stowed his libido earlier on, he would have seen the lie. Now, it was out there and he couldn’t ignore it. Her scent almost destroyed his resolve, but he managed to step back, and keep his voice cold. “I’ll talk to you at work on Monday.”

“Sure.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “‘Night.”

Going home, stripping out of his dress uniform, and flopping onto the bed, didn’t help calm his mind.

Her words to Daniel played on a loop in his head, colliding with the lie. True, she apologized, but keeping who she was from him—that registered as an epic deception.

Then again, the longer he thought about it, the more he understood why. He wasn’t upset about their time together. Every minute, even the awkward and angry ones, were worthwhile memories. Would they have had that if she told him the truth that night in the club?

No. He would have pushed her away without hesitation.

Did the fact that the outcome was incredible cancel out the dishonesty? He didn’t know.

The argument bounced in his skull all day Saturday, while he tried to get on with everyday life. By Sunday afternoon, he couldn’t pretend anymore. He wanted to talk to Liv. He needed to talk to Gabe. To repair that friendship. Even though he wasn’t sure what he’d say.

When he reached Gabe’s house, cars packed the driveway and were parked along the curb. Fuck. He forgot. Gabe invited him weeks ago, which might as well be a lifetime now. He was throwing a farewell party for Liv’s—Sissy’s—twin sister, Rissa, who was heading to The University of Chicago for law school.

Owen had always been welcome at Gabe’s house when they were growing up, but he suspected things would change. He wasn’t interested in finding out what kind of reception waited for him if he stopped in now.

He was about to drive away when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Gabe stood on the lawn waving.

Spotted. Owen found a parking spot, and made his way back to Gabe’s.

Gabe stood a few feet back, eying him warily. “You’ve got balls, showing up here.”

On another day, under other circumstances, Owen would joke with him. Say something like, An entire gathering of your sisters’ college friends? I’m not missing that. That seemed like exactly the wrong response now. “I’ll be honest, I forgot about the party. I’m looking for you.”

Gabe sighed, and it was a moment before he moved. He steered Owen toward the house. “We can talk in my office. This isn’t a conversation the rest of the party needs to hear.”

They cut through the house, and Owen couldn’t help but compare the décor to what he’d seen in Liv’s place. The pictures on the walls were of Gabe with his family and friends. That was all absent from Liv’s place, but that didn’t seem right given the closeness of their family. Did she go out of her way to hide her identity from him? Was it more than a simple now’s not the right time to talk about it?

They stepped into the bedroom Gabe had converted to an office space, and Gabe closed the door. “I’m a little torn here. Bro-code dictates I beat the shit out of you, but you didn’t know. How did you not know?”

“I should have.” Owen jammed his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall. “But the name, the hair color… I haven’t seen her for six years and—”she’s grown up and dresses so it shows. “I didn’t see it.”

“I’d ask if the two of you are in love, but given you didn’t even know who she was, I’d rather assume no than hear you say yes.”

Owen felt the same. “I’m not here to talk about Liv. Not directly. I wanted to apologize to you.”

“But, here’s the problem.” Gabe raked his fingers through his hair. “She’s in the back yard and hasn’t smiled at all since she got here. I think she truly cares about you. That leaves me torn. I’d rather you walk away now, than me have to choose between the two of you when you break up. But I also trust you’re not an asshole who’s going to cheat on her, and I’d like to see her happy again.”

“She lied to me about who she was.” Owen couldn’t believe the conversation was going this way.

“And you didn’t recognize someone who spent most of our teenage years tagging along behind us like a lost puppy, because she adores you.”

Owen raised his brows. Now he felt like a first-class heel. That first night, she knew who he was, because she’d crushed on him when they were younger, and to him, she was just a piece of ass.

“You never noticed?” Gabe’s laugh was dry.

“The tagging along? Yes. I was a bit lost in my own problems to see anything else.” He might still have a little of that in him.

“It’s up to you.” Gabe opened the door. “Let her apologize, and decide if you want to forgive her, or walk away now. But don’t hurt my baby sister.”

Owen started to laugh at the teasing, but cut it off when he saw the serious edge in Gabe’s eyes. “I don’t know,” Owen said.

“Dad’s got the grill going. Come have a burger while you think about it. Say hi to everyone else.”

Which would put Owen in Liv’s proximity before he made up his mind, and that seemed dangerous. But Gabe’s offer didn’t sound like a suggestion.

Gabe and Owen stepped onto the deck. There were about twenty people in the back yard, including Gabe and Liv’s father manning the grill, and chatting with Mr. Hanover. Of course the big boss would be here.

“You know almost everyone,” Gabe said.

“Yup.” Everyone knew everyone else in this town. Though Owen wasn’t interested in small talk right now. “I’m going to grab a beer.” Translation—see if he could stay on the sidelines while he worked through his thoughts.

Rissa stepped in his path. “Hey, handsome. Thanks for coming.” She threw her arms around his neck.

He returned the hug then let her go. “Wouldn’t miss it. Congratulations.”

She stepped back with a shrug. “Wasn’t my first choice, but everyone does Yale, right?” She jammed her hands in her shorts pockets, but it wasn’t a shy gesture. It tugged her waistband down, showing off a hint of skin.

“Oh yeah. Yale is passé, for sure,” he teased. If he’d seen her side-by-side with Liv before now, he never would have made the mistake of not recognizing Liv. The all-but identical faces were obvious, but Rissa’s was framed by blonde hair. Despite the similar appearances, he didn’t feel the same rush of need when he looked at Rissa. She was still only Gabe’s baby sister. “But there’s a lot to do in Chicago. If you find time to pull your head out of your books.”

“I might have to make time.” Rissa looked past him. “It was good seeing you.” She was already walking around him. “Jodie,” she shouted.

Owen didn’t mind her walking away. He scanned the crowd. As much as he tried not to, his gaze kept drifting back to Liv. Gabe was right, she wasn’t smiling. Her flat expression and dull eyes were a sharp contrast to the cheerful contradiction of shy and strong that Owen had started to fall for.

Could he forgive her? What if she did something like this again? And how could he have been such a douche, to treat her differently than he would have a friend’s sister, because he didn’t know who she was? No one deserved that.

His quiet contemplation was interrupted when Mr. Hanover approached, with a young woman by his side. She was about Liv and Rissa’s age. Hanover’s daughter?

“You look familiar,” the redhead said.

Recognition sank in, and he cursed his brain for picking now to be good with faces. She was the bride-to-be from the bachelorette party the other night. The one who urged him to take it all off.

“I don’t think I do.” Owen wished he could convey in some way, without cluing in Hanover, that this was a bad time for this conversation.

She studied him for a moment. “Oh, my God. I know… Loved your performance the other night.”

Fuck.

“What performance?” Mr. Hanover asked.

“Uh…” The redhead hesitated. “Night out with the girls. Open mic night at the comedy club.”

Owen mentally breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t the only one who’d rather keep the details secret.

“You do stand-up?” Mr. Hanover looked surprised.

“He really doesn’t.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the coolers.

Owen couldn’t hide his smile at the rapid retreat. When he looked up and saw Liv staring at him from across the yard, his amusement chilled. He turned away before he could see more, and headed inside.

He was halfway through the kitchen, when he heard the glass door slide open behind him.

“Owen, wait.” Liv’s voice was soft and pleading. “Please? Let me apologize?”

Despite the indecision that had warred in his head since the wedding, the simple request was enough to keep him here. He spun to face her. “I’m listening. But I can’t promise anything beyond that.”