Page 43 of Rival Hearts

Shaking his head, Kelvin took another mouthful of beer and gave me a thoughtful look. “You two need to bang, get it out of your system.”

The temptation to admit we had already been there and done that sprung up, but as far as I knew, she’d never told anyone. Maybe Lila, but I doubted it. The words had never left my lips.“That wouldn’t work.” The last time she’d slithered along me, I’d turned myself in knots avoiding her until she’d fled to Florida. I’d let my anger build a wall between us. My emotional fortress had probably saved at least some of my sanity. Had I been right to be angry with her? Maybe not. The woman I was starting to know didn’t seem like the type to do the things I’d accused her of. But I still didn’t know for sure.

Stoking the ember that glowed between us wouldn’t snuff it out. It would ignite a blaze which would probably consume me whole.

“Screwing Sabrina isn’t going to make you forget about Maggie. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, my dick got that memo from my head sometime last night. Not to worry.”

“So, you came here ’cause she’s pissed at you, and you don’t know how to fix it?” Kelvin shook his head. “Look how far we’ve come, son.” He clapped me on the shoulder.

I slid my empty beer along the granite counter and scrubbed my face with my hands. Was I upset she was angry? All my thoughts were muddled, history and present lives mingling too much.

“I need some advice.”

“Go after her,” Kelvin said.

I sighed. “Beyond Maggie, I need to get Trent back. Going after her isn’t going to bring me closer to my brother.”

“Oh.” Kelvin took a few thoughtful sips of his beer. “In theory, if they were going to start something up, they already would have.”

“Brothers first.”

“Good brothers want each other to be happy. Would you be happy with her?”

“Who knows? I’ve only ever been miserable thinking about her.”

He let out a bark of laughter. “If you’re not sure how Trent will react, maybe ask him?”

“I thought you’d give me good advice,” I muttered. Talking to Trent about Maggie was more likely to cause an aneurysm in one of us instead of a truce. From the minute she’d started coming to the house, Trent had been protective of her. Before Maggie, Trent had gone for girls who wore crop tops and cutoff jeans. Her sweater sets and knee-length skirts had amused me until she’d shown up Sunday after Sunday. The first time she’d tried to call me illiterate, our verbal sparring had commenced. I’d never ever tired of listening to her speak. Pretty, smart, and Trent’s was an absolutely lethal combo for my mental health.

“You and Trent are already pretty far apart. Asking about her can’t possibly push you further away, right? They’re not together. Last I heard, she was dating some banker in Utica.”

A pit formed in my stomach. She was in a relationship with someone? Here I was contemplating all the reasons I couldn’t sleep with her and she was sleeping with someone else. The soul-sucking reality of another thing standing in the way made my head pound. I cleared my throat. “Is that still happening?”

“Nah. I heard she kicked him to the curb just before Lila’s birthday celebration. She never keeps them around for long.” He took a deep breath. “You know your brother better than me. Maybe you’re right to wait until you’ve mended some fences before talking to him about her.”

“I’ll think about it.” I grabbed my empty beer bottle and tipped it from side to side. Lately, thinking had been both a blessing and a curse. Songs bubbled up. I couldn’t quite grasp any of the words or the melody yet. Maybe if the song would come, I could pour some of these feelings into the lyrics, get some peace. At the back of my mind, her name and image were seared. She was a burn which blazed hot below the surface of everything I did.

“Why don’t we plan some of that concert? You got some RSVPs from a few of your industry buddies, right?”

I nodded and sat a little straighter in my chair. “Yeah.”

“I’ll grab my laptop. Be right back.”

A distraction was exactly what I needed. Forget Trent and Maggie for a while and get lost in something I could do.

Confronting Trent, confessing my sins, asking for his forgiveness might be the only way to knock down the walls between us. But I wasn’t ready. The sledgehammer of certainty hadn’t settled into my gut yet.

Chapter Seventeen

Maggie

We were four weeks into planning the concert and strip show, and Lila and I needed to get the promotional materials pumping out to fill the venue. The lineup was good enough, thanks to Grady, so selling tickets wouldn’t be an issue.

Lila had offered to meet with him today to get all the details, so I wouldn’t have to face him, but I declined.

After my confrontation with Grady, the fumes of my anger had carried me through to the end of the workday. I’d grabbed a bottle of wine and showed up at Lila’s house where we’d spent the evening commiserating.

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