Page 34 of Rival Hearts

Rising, Grady wandered to the island and leaned against it, close enough for me to catch the scent of his sweat and cologne, which brought back more memories than I’d ever admit. The smell of him, some mix of pheromones, made my stomach clench. I met his gaze.

“Talk to me, Maggie.”

“We’re not wading through the past right now.” Could I convince Trent to tell his mother and Grady the truth? I wasn’t sure he would agree to be honest with his mom. God, I couldn’t even decide. What was the right thing to do?

“Then let me help.”

“Why? Why do you want to horn in on this?”

“I miss my brother.”

“Easy. Call him and go for a beer.”

He pressed his palms into the granite top and his gaze seared me with his intensity. “You think he’d go?”

I searched his face. Sincerity was written all over him, but this was the first indication I’d had that he regretted the distance between them. “What happened? How did it get this bad?”

“You know what happened.”

My heart thumped. Deep down, I’d worried I’d had something to do with him drawing away from his brother. But to this extent? Didn’t make sense. “That can’t be the only reason.”

He held my gaze for a moment, his jaw tightening before his focus slid away.

With only a small hesitation, I trailed my fingers from his shoulder down to his hand. I’d missed him, this connection between us was thrilling and baffling. He’d been my secret shame for years, the one I’d never really had but who had gotten away, nonetheless. Now, he was back, but most of the time I was sure he disliked me. If he blamed me for the rift between him and Trent, it made sense for him to hate me. I’d hate anyone who drove a wedge between me and one of my siblings.

His fingers found a tendril of my hair. He looped it around his finger, and I tried to catch his gaze. The air around us hummed.

“I’ll strip for you if that’ll get me on the planning committee.”

Heat spread across my body at the pitch of his voice. His tone was meant for dark rooms and sweaty bodies. I angled towardhim, begging for something I’d never say aloud. He met my gaze. “You want to get on the committee that badly?”

“I want something that badly, yeah.”

My breath caught in my throat at the husky shift in his voice. I wanted to close my eyes and replay his words over and over. God, I was pathetic. “This is the best way to get it?”

He released the tendril. “I want you to help me get my brother back. After all, you’re part of the reason we’re not close anymore.”

The gate was lowering between them. I wondered if I could slip one more question in before the crack sealed shut. “Will you tell me the other reason?”

As though I hadn’t spoken, he turned his back and headed for the door, snapping his fingers at the dogs. They trotted obediently to him. I’d forgotten they were in the house.

“When’s the first meeting?”

“We’ve already had a meeting.” I followed him to the door but left enough space, so I wasn’t tempted to reach for him. He probably hated me. Better to keep my distance. I needed to keep focused on the election. This sexual attraction would fade, burn out, go away if I ignored it.

He scooped up the dogs’ leashes and met my gaze. “The next one?”

“Trent is going to be angry.”

“Let him be angry. We gotta start somewhere. And he has a right to be angry. I’ve been a shitty brother.”

I wanted to dig, to uncover what else lay buried in the past. “Why the sudden change?”

“It’s not sudden.” He ran his hand across the back of his neck. “Since I got here, I didn’t know where to start.” He shrugged. “Seeing him at the pharmacy the other day, it drove home how far I’d let it go.”

The urge to apologize was overwhelming. We’d made stupid choices back then. Maybe it was time we all stopped paying for them.

“Next Monday in the mayor’s office. We’re meeting next Monday.”

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