Page 130 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

“He left,” Adam said, and I nodded. “Now that you’re nice and liquored up, what’s the deal with you two?”

“Absolutely nothing.” Wasn’t that the truth.

“That’s not what he says.”

My head snapped up and he grinned. He was just messing with me; he had to be. Before I could question it further, a couple others joined us at the empty spots at our table. I tried making small talk with them all, but my tongue kept bunching up the faster I opened my mouth.

“Hi, Perry.”

I jerked my head around at the familiar voice. “Jillian?” It was family night. I peered over her shoulder, wondering who else would pop up.

“It’s just me.” She laughed. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but would you like to have a drink with me? We can catch up.”

“Uh….” It wasn’t like I was ditching Adam since he had others around, but this felt a little peculiar. What was she suddenly doing there? “Okay,” I finally said.

“Great.”

We went to a small table in the corner, and I plopped down whileshe went up to the bar. I thought it best if I stayed in one place since I’d almost steamrolled someone just getting over there. She came back with a beer for her and something margarita-ish for me.

“Thanks.” I took a sip. “Strawberry?”

“Yep, with kiwi. Like it?”

“Mmhmm.” I set the drink down. “Why are you here alone?” Peculiar.

“I could make something up, but honestly? Stephen asked me to come.”

What? I narrowed my eyes. I didn’t need a damn keeper. Didn’t he trust me around Adam? He had no right. No. Right.

I shook my head, then stopped. Not the brightest idea. “You don’t need to—”

She held up her hand. “I wanted to, really. I’ve been hoping to talk to you anyway.”

“Why?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, because I really do like you, Perry. But I hate what you’re doing to my brother. When you were at my house that night, I got the strong impression that you cared a lot for him. What happened?”

My jaw scraped the floor. “What happened? Your brother is a lying dick is what happened.”

She looked as clueless as I felt. “I’m not sure what’s going on here because I don’t have details, but you hurt him, Perry. Badly.”

Um, were we talking about the same guy? I took a hearty sip of my drink. So much for taking a break. The iciness plowed straight to my sinuses, and I pressed my palm to my forehead. Fuck, that stung.

“Lemme tell you exactly what happened. We slept together and it ruined everything.Everything. He tried warning me about how he loses interest after sex, but did I listen? Nope. He promised that wouldn’t happen to us. Ha!” I took another sip, slower that time. “It was the best night of my life, but I’d erase it all just to have ourfriendship back.”

Jillian scrunched up her face. She was too damn adorable. “None of this is making sense to me.”

“Oops, sorry. Was I slurring too much?” It sounded right in my head, but who knew what my mouth was spitting out.

“No, that’s not it. I just find it hard to believe.”

“Well, believe it. And then he went off to sleep with fucking Stefanie right away. Whatever she’s got”—I waved my hand down my body—“I don’t got. I don’t see him losing any interest in her since they screw every few months. You could probably set your watch to it.”

She gave her head a quick shake. “Okay, I have no idea who this Stefanie is, but something about your story’s not right.”

“Yeah, it’s not right, all right. That’s what I get for falling in love.”

“What? You love him?”

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