Thank God Alex insists on driving. I don’t think I can be trusted behind the wheel right now. Every inch of my body is humming like I’ve been holding onto a jackhammer for too long.
How does Lia do that to me?
How does just the sound of my name on her lips render me completely useless.
“There’s nothing to talk about, Grayson.”
Jesus. I nearly crumbled to ash.
I couldn’t not reach out to her. I couldn’t not touch her. And then once I was touching her—once my skin was ablaze with her heat—I couldn’t stop.
If Alex hadn’t walked in when she did, I don’t know what would have happened. Actually, I do know. I would have slipped. Again. I would have fallen into her irresistible gravity. Again.
This can’t go on.
For whatever reason, I clearly cannot be alone with Lia Smart. Ever again.
We’re not supposed to go home until tomorrow night but I won’t last another day. When we get back to the house tonight, I’ll tell Alex I have to return to the city first thing in the morning. I’ll say something came up at work. She’ll be mad but that’s the least of my problems. I can’t stay here any longer. I can’t be trusted to stay here any longer.
After dinner, Alex drives us to Hank’s Bar and my eyes immediately scan the small room for any sign of the guy I punched in the face the night before. The last thing I need is to get into a bar fight. Thankfully, the scum bucket seems to have taken the night off.
Alex settles us into a booth in the corner and orders a round of beers. I sip mine in silence, keeping one eye on the door. My pulse races, roaring in my ears. My hands are sweating profusely and I have to keep wiping them on my shorts.
Alex cozies up to me, resting her head on my shoulder and I absent-mindedly kiss the top of her head.
Act natural, I command myself.
If you can just get through one more night, this will all be over.
I can return to the city. To my normal life. To food delivery and late nights at the office. Maybe then I can finally get some time to think and figure out what the hell is going on with me. Because it’s not like I can spend the rest of my life avoiding my fiancée’s sister. Especially when she lives a two-hour train ride away.
I hear the door of Hank’s open and I quietly suck in a breath as I see Lia’s face appear in the doorway. My eyes trail across her slender neck and narrow shoulders, down her adorable polka-dotted sundress. But my heart suddenly plummets into my stomach when I see she didn’t come alone. Her hand is intertwined with someone else’s.
A second later, a tall guy with surfer blond hair and a broad frame follows her into the bar. I recognize him from Friday night when Alex and I came to the restaurant. He’s the bartender at La Bella Vita.
Well, isn’t that fitting?
Lia spots us in the corner and waves with her free hand. She leads Blake to the booth and slides in after him, practically climbing into his lap.
Alex looks equally surprised. But at least she is at liberty to show it.
“What’s this?” she asks, furrowing her eyebrows at Lia and then at Blake.
Lia shrugs. “I brought a date.” Then she looks pointedly at me as she adds, “I didn’t think you would mind.”
Alex shrugs and takes a sip of her beer. “I never object to adding cute guys to the equation.”
Blake winks playfully back at her before turning to Lia. “So, what are you drinking?”
But Lia is already on her feet. “You serve drinks all day. This one’s on me. What do you want?”
Blake flashes me a comrade smile. “She’s gorgeous and she pays. Lucky me!”
I have the sudden uncontrollable urge to punch him in the face.
He turns back to Lia. “I’ll take a Jack and Coke. Thanks.”
Alex slides out of our side. “I’ll get us another round.”
And then, just like that, I’m alone with him. And I have to remind myself to take deep, even breaths.
Blake’s fingers drum the table. “So, how’s your trip to Eastbrook been?”
So we’re really going to do this. Make the awkward small talk. Although to be fair, I doubt it’s awkward for him. And I’d do well to remember that.
I finish off my beer. “Good. Good. Can’t complain. Can’t complain.”
“Good to hear. Good to hear.”
What is this? The repeat game?
“So,” I say, trying to infuse a chill, Zen-like quality into my voice. “You and Lia? I didn’t know you were a...you were...”
“Me neither, dude,” Blake says, his smile growing. “I mean, I’ve been asking her out for months but she’s always said no and then suddenly tonight, out of the blue, she asks me if I want to get drinks. I guess it’s true what they say, good things come to those who wait.”
Did he seriously just wiggle his eyebrows at me?
This guy is getting on my last nerve.
I reach for my empty beer and begin peeling the label from the bottle. Just to give my fingers something to do. You know, in place of gouging his eyes out.
“I mean,” he goes on, “the girl is smokin’, isn’t she?”
I dig my nails into the corner of the label. “I haven’t really noticed.”
Blake slams his hand down on the table, startling me. “Bullshit! How could you not notice? I mean, I know you’re with Alex and all but...damn. That’s all I gotta say.”
Somehow I doubt that’s all he has to say.
“When she hired me to work at the restaurant,” he continues, “after that whole thing with her mom, I was like, whoa, I hope a weakness for bartenders runs in the family, you know what I mean?”
That’s it.
My fists curl into tight balls, my teeth bared. I’m just about to launch out of my seat, reach out and grab this little prick by the shirt collar and slam his head into the table, when Lia bounces up, drinks in hand, stopping my movement dead in its tracks.
She glances uneasily between us. She can tell something is wrong. “What are you guys talking about?”
Blake, on the other hand, is oblivious.
Douche.
“About you, of course,” he says, rising and taking his drink from her. He leans in and plants a kiss on her neck. She giggles in response and I feel my blood turn ice-cold.
Lia ducks back into the booth, her eyes catching mine on the way down. I can’t completely read her expression, but I’m almost certain it’s saying, “How do you like it?”
I bite down hard on my tongue.
Alex returns a moment later with our beers, and I guzzle half of mine in a matter of seconds.
God, what’s gotten into me? I barely even recognize myself right now.
Normally, I’m not a violent person at all. Normally, I’m the chill guy. The easy-going Grayson that never gets riled up. That never loses his cool. But in the forty-eight hours I’ve been around Lia, I’ve almost gotten into two bar fights. At the rate I’m going, I’ll be in a jail cell by the end of the weekend.
And that’s exactly why I need to get the hell out of this town as fast as I can.