I scowled at the food the retreat had provided, but not because it was bad. The pancakes were great, the fruit fresh, the bacon crisp. There was plenty of it. After everything that had gone on before, this should have been the best thing to happen all weekend. But I could barely taste it.

After I’d gone back to my room last night, none of my brothers had come after me. Not surprising. After all the shit I’d put out there, I wouldn’t have wanted to talk to me either. Cai and Slade had both been at the table when I finally came out of my room, and they’d given me polite enough greetings, but they hadn’t tried to talk to me about any of it. They’d also ignored my question about where Jax was. I hadn’t cared enough to ask it again.

I wondered how long they’d want to stay now that I’d finally said all those things. Maybe it was a good thing I’d blown up. Now they knew how I felt and that there wasn’t anything to fix between us. They could go back to Boston, and I could go back to my life. We wouldn’t have to see each other again. I’d talk to Miss K and let her know that they’d done what Grandfather had wanted. No need for them to get fucked over because I wanted nothing to do with them.

Finally, I pushed my plate aside and picked up a plum from the bowl. Apples, oranges, bananas – hell, even pears – I understood. Who bought plums for guests?

I leaned back in my chair and tossed the plum into the air. Cai and Slade ignored me, their attention on their phones. Judging by the idiotic expressions on their faces, they were texting their women. Girlfriends? I supposed that was a more PC term.

I remembered Slade’s high school girlfriend, Lizann. I’d always thought she was pretty. Then they’d broken up while Slade was in basic training, and that had solidified my decision not to date.

The suite’s door opened, but I ignored it. Once the others started talking again, I’d–

A hand darted out and caught the plum before I did.

“Hey! That’s mine.” I glared up at Jax.

“Mature response,” he said dryly. “But after how you’ve behaved this weekend, not surprising.”

“Bite me,” I snapped. “I never said I wanted to do this, so don’t blame me for getting pissed at you.”

“I’m not talking about what you said to us. We deserved that.” He sat down next to me, and the other guys put away their phones. “I meant how you’ve been treating Brea.”

Heat flushed my face. “That’s more of, not your damn business.”

“It is when her employee goes off on me for ruining the date she’d set Brea up on. By the time I was able to convince Lamb that I wasn’t the one she was pissed at, I’d learned that Brea went home last night and called Lamb this morning to cover the shop here. Apparently, Brea also apologized to Lamb for ‘some asshole acting like he had the right to butt into my life.’”

He held out the plum, and I took it, but I didn’t throw it again. I probably would’ve thrown it at his head if I had.

“You need to fix things with her,” he said. “Trust me. I almost lost Syll because I was an idiot. Remember? You saw how torn up I was.”

“We’ve all fucked up,” Slade said, “but trust me when I say that if it’s real, it’s worth fighting for.”

“It’s not like that,” I said. “We went on one date and fucked a couple times. That’s it.”

“If that’s all it was, why were you so worked up when she was out with that other guy?” Cai asked.

I glared at him. It figured. Cai rarely spoke, and one of the few times he did, it was to side against me. “All right. She’s hot. Great in bed. I wanted another go. You guys know how it is.”

“I know the only woman I’d be jealous of is one I cared about,” Slade pointed out.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. We’re done.”

I pushed back from the table and stood. I didn’t know where I was going, but I wanted to be away from this conversation.

“You need to fix it,” Jax said.

“I don’t want to fix it, Jax.” I turned to face him. “Don’t you get that? All I wanted from her was sex. Sure, it would’ve been nice to fuck her again, but it’s no big deal.”

“Do you really believe the shit that’s coming out of your mouth?” Slade asked, shaking his head. He pushed some dark hair away from his face. “I mean, I guess someone who didn’t know you might think you were being honest, but I know better.”

“Obviously, you don’t know me as well as you think you do.” I tossed the plum into the air and caught it, hoping the gesture came off as casual as I’d intended. “Because there’s nothing for me to lie about. Brea and I are done.”

“Then I’ll go downstairs and tell Lamb that her nephew should give Brea a call, ask her out on another date.”

I put down the fruit. I knew what Jax was doing. He was trying to get a rise out of me to prove his point, but it wasn’t going to work. Because he was wrong. I didn’t care. She could do whatever she wanted, go out with whoever she wanted. Touch and kiss and fuck…

My hands tightened into fists.

“Yeah, that looks like you don’t want her,” Slade said, raising an eyebrow. “I think you’re good to go, Jax.”

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said. “It shouldn’t take me too long.”

My self-control lasted until he got halfway to the door. “Wait.”

“Yes?” He gave me a knowing look. “Is there something you want?”

“Fuck you.” I flicked up my middle finger.

“I think you’d rather fuck Brea,” Slade said. “But to do that, you need to apologize for being an asshat.”

“Says the king of asshats.”

He gave me the same salute I’d given Jax.

“He’s right,” Cai said. “If you care that much about Brea, you need to fix things with her, or you’re going to regret it.”

He was right. They were all right. I didn’t want Brea going out with that guy or any guy who wasn’t me.

Dammit.

She meant something to me. I’d known it all along, but there was a huge difference between knowing it and admitting it.

“Blake, go.” Jax stuck his hands in his pockets. “Take all the time you need. We can talk more when you get back.”

Just because I was going to talk to Brea didn’t mean I was ready to discuss shit with my brothers, but that was a conversation for another time. I had to get to Brea and tell her I was an idiot.

Like she didn’t already know.